No doubt Ott will be keeping his new teammates loose when he goes up against his former club for the first time after playing 42 games for the Red Wings during the 2016-17 campaign.
While the prospect of being on the other side of the ice so soon after switching sides might be nerve-wracking to some players, that isn't the case for Ott this time around. He's used to that experience, having been in a similar situation three times before since debuting back in 2002-03.
"Going back to Dallas or Buffalo or St. Louis, you play against your friends. They expect you to be you. That's the thing, I can be friends with them after the game, or still later on in life, but when the puck drops they expect you to play how you play the game," said Ott, who has one assist in six appearances with the Canadiens. "They would expect that, and I hope they would do the same thing."
Growing up in Windsor, ON just across the river from Detroit, Ott's childhood hockey heros were Hall-of-Famer Steve Yzerman and tough guy Bob Probert, so his connection to the Red Wings runs deep. Seeing the club struggle and be on the verge of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1989-90 is particularly tough for him.
"I know those guys over there are really taking it hard. It almost feels like you're letting down the city or the jersey or the players before you. They take a lot of onus on that. There's a proud dressing room over there with some great leaders with [Niklas] Kronwall and [Henrik] Zetterberg and Abby [Justin Abdelkader], and there's a lot of guys who've been there for a long time like Darren Helm and Jimmy Howard," said Ott, in reference to the Red Wings' remarkable run of 25 straight postseason appearances likely coming to an end soon. "When you have guys like that, that put a lot of pride into that streak, it's extremely disappointing and I know they feel it's a tough situation all around."