SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - After leading a mid-season turnaround and a deep playoff run, the Springfield Thunderbirds Head Coach Steve Ott is sticking around for at least two more seasons. Western Mass News spoke with Ott about his contract extension to hear how he plans to make these playoff runs a habit.

Two more years for T-Birds Coach Steve Ott, who took over the head coaching duties in January for the final 34 games of the season. At the time, it looked like a lost season that would end with the T-Birds at the bottom of the standings, “You know, at the end of the day, at some point during this year, it looked like we may not have even made the playoffs,” T-Birds President Nathan Costa said.

Over that span, Coach Ott led his squad to an 18-14-2 two record, good for the sixth seed in the Atlantic Division for the Calder Cup Playoffs. A run sparked from there — they beat the three-seeded Charlotte Checkers and the one-seeded Providence Bruins in separate best-of-five series before losing in the division finals.

It was enough to give Coach Ott looks on the NHL job market — but he wasn’t looking back, “(We) had a pretty successful season with some unfinished business to do. I just thought to be patient right now, to work on my craft as a head coach and continue to develop as well.”

He’s not just talking about his own development, Ott’s been in the Saint Louis Blues’ coaching system for almost a decade — helping the Blues win the Stanley Cup as an assistant in 2019.

With them and the Thunderbirds being so connected, he wants to oversee the development to get those players to the next level, “we’re one connected organization, and we’re trying to excel, you know, all our players to obviously reach the next level,” Ott said, “they’re going to take huge steps and huge gains this summer to be ready to go in training camp.”

Now, Coach Ott’s just ready for the squad to lace up their skates once again, “what I’m looking most forward to is just being around this team, our young players, our prospects, helping develop internally within our organization. You know, I’ve been a blue for a long time, and I want to help, you know, our young guys get to that opportunity to one day put that uniform on.”

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