“Before becoming a 'Cap' I was wearing number 33 because Patrick Roy was my idol," Kolzig explains when asked about his jersey number, 37.

"Upon arriving in Washington this number was already given to goalie Don Beaupre and I had to look for another one. So I picked 37 and I never regretted having done it."

At the age of 16 he stopped the pucks for the Abbotsford Pilots in the British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association (BCAHA). A year later he played major junior New Westminster (WHL) and then stopped pucks for the Tri-City Americans in the State of Washington, where he met his wife, Christine.

The scouts had become aware of this great talent between the pipes and so it was no wonder that the Washington Capitals took him as their first choice and #19 overall in the first round in 1989. Early on, he appeared in two games for his NHL-club but went back to the WHL Americans.

In the next six seasons, he guarded the goal 30 times in the NHL, but mainly served as the number one netminder for Capitals' the farm teams, first in the ECHL with Hampton Roads, and in the AHL with the Baltimore Skipjacks, Rochester Americans & Portland Pirates. In 1996 his dream became reality, and that season Kolzig backstopped Jim Carey together with Bill Ranford in 29 games with the best GAA (2.59) of all and became the starting goalie till now. In 1998 he helped the team to advance to the finals where the Caps lost to the Red Wings.

The disappointment was tremendous, but he quickly got a chance to play in the Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Because of his German parentage, Kolzig was eligible for his parents' home country. Hockey Germany was happy to get the help of “Olie the Goalie”. Kolzig was registered two victories in two games with a shutout, but couldn´t help the German team to advance to the next round.

Children Ashlyn, Kendall & Carson are always on family man Kolzig's mind.    Photo by author

The following six years up to the lockout season he had recorded 27 shutouts in 409 games. Then during the 04/05 NHL lockout, he went back to his wife´s roots in Tri-City and helped the team as a goalie coach.

It was there that Kolzig contributed to the development of a tremendously talented Carey Price, now a rookie with the Canadiens.

Then a junior player, Price was very grateful to be coached and helped by one of the best goalies in the world.

“It´s great getting advice from him," says Price! "He shows it to you – he´s my living idol."

During the lockout, Kolzig also received offers to play for teams across the ocean, and accepted an offer from the Berlin Polar Bears in the German Elite League (DEL). An knee injury limited his numbers of games he played – but backup Oliver Jonas made quite a good job and “Olie the goalie” won a DEL championship in 2004-05.

Back in Washington, Kolzig had knee surgery and was back in the team on time for the start of the new hockey era, the 2005-06 season.

“The new rules are not made for the goalies," says Kolzig! "They wanted to see more goals and action. But it´s not too bad because every goalie now has to face the same amount of shots and everyone´s GAA will increase. They changed the rules at the expense of us! But the goaltenders and defensemen adjusted to the new rules and now there are still many shutouts and low scoring games in the league!”

In this season's NHL opener on the road, the Caps selected backup Brent Johnson to start against Atlanta in a 3-1 Washington victory. Kolzig admitted to being a little bit mad about this decision, but he accepted it: “I think they don´t believe that a 37 year-old goalie is able to make three starts in four days," he said. Good times followed, however. In his first game he had his first shutout of the season and even in his first loss @ NYR (10/12; 1-3) he was chosen to the 3rd star of the game.

“I still have a contract for this year but I don´t know if I will get a new contract," says Olie. "We are feeling very comfortable here in Washington – we are living close to the Verizon Center and the training facility in Arlington´s Ballston Common Mall." (The team built two rinks and training facility in an impressive facility atop an eight floor parking garage).

"It would be nice becoming a franchise player – but who knows,” Kolzig wondered aloud.

Kolzig has seen the good, the bad and the ugly in his 15 years with the Capitals. Finally, a couple of seasons back, Kolzig went to chairman and majority owner Ted Leonsis to talk about a trade. Instead, Leonsis convinced the goalie that a new team would be built and the goalie signed a contract extension.

Now Kolzig is watching the rebuilding process bear fruit. Thanks to poor showings in the standings, the Caps drafted high and picked good players. With the payroll rising roughly $9 million, Leonsis fulfilled his promise of building a new team that has the ability to make at least the play offs. With Michael Nylander, Viktor Kozlov, Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Chris Clark, Niklas Backstrom and Kolzig, Capitals GM George McPhee built a team that can be in the post season this season.

Says Coach Glen Hanlon, “We felt we made some huge strides in terms of young players playing important roles!" As for Kolzig, "Olie is a very important person on and off the ice," says Hanlon. "He is a great example and unifying figure not only for the younger players and is winning us many games!”

Kolzig and his wife Christine have three children: Carson, Ashlyn & Kendall. Is the founder of the Carson Kolzig Foundation that supports the fight against Autism. “My son Carson is autistic and therefore a little bit different – but it´s good seeing him develop. Kids are so wonderful and special!” The names of his children are painted onto his helmet.

2008 Western Hockey Network
 

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