From the Buffalo Sabres official Twitter feed:
It was two weeks ago that Ott, who wore No. 29 in Dallas, said he’d reduce his numerical value by 20.
“Getting asked a lot,” he tweeted. “I’m excited to wear no. ‘9' my minor hockey number and I thought it would be easy for Blo [B-Lo] fans to replace the name bar.”
What a guy. So thoughtful.
(Fun fact: Over the last decade, Ott’s had a tough time getting his hands on No. 9. He couldn’t wear it in junior as it was retired by OHL Winsdor to honor Adam Graves. When he got to Dallas, it was in use by franchise legend Mike Modano and hasn’t been issued since Modano left.)
While a cool initiative, the nameplate swap isn’t entirely original.
Columbus had a similar initiative following the Jeff Carter-Jack Johnson trade, giving fans a free changeover when it was learned Johnson would be wearing Carter’s old No. 7 with the Blue Jackets.