• “I like him as a person and hate him as a player.”
• “He is a prick on the ice.”
• “He is always chirping at you to try to get you off your game.”
• “He’s always in your face.”
• “He’s like a gnat that you can’t seem to swat away.”
• “No one likes playing against him and yet his teammates always like him.”
• “He seems like a quality person until the game starts, and then he makes you want to punch him the face.”

The above quotes come from NHL great and future Hall of Famer Jeremy Roenick.

They all refer to new Sabre Steve Ott.

What else do we need to know?

Will he punch Bruins?

Does he know that move where you pinch a guy’s nose closed and then slap him in the face?

Can he defy gravity?

If necessary, can he grow an elite-level beard?

Does he have a softer, fleece-covered side?

Did the lockout force him to stand in line for Powerball tickets?

Did he play “Steve the Pirate” in 2004’s Dodgeball?

Did he inspire the creation of a t-shirt?

So, we get all of this for Derek Roy?

Did Dallas owe us a favor or something?

Am I going to like this guy? (Let’s go back to JR.)

(Quote is an excerpt from the “Five Players I Hate” list in Jeremy Roenick’s book.)

11 for 11.

WELCOME TO BUFFALO, STEVE OTT.