Kolzig still king of the crease in Washington

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2006

By Lucas Aykroyd

Since Ed Belfour has apparently been relegated to backup status this season in Florida, that would make Olaf Kolzig the only remaining starting NHL goalie to have played his first NHL game in the 1980’s (a 4-1 loss to Hartford on October 11, 1989).

However, the 36-year-old Washington Capitals starter is hardly a worn-out old man, and he gave a superb demonstration of his still-intact skills versus the Vancouver Canucks on October 28 at GM Place. Although Washington lost 3-2 on a Brendan Morrison shootout goal, Kolzig delivered a 42-save performance that enabled his team to come back from a 2-0 first-period deficit and get a point.

“That was one of the best games in goal I’ve seen,” said Capitals coach Glen Hanlon. “He made about four saves in the third period alone on what looked like sure goals. You guys don’t see him play very often out here in Vancouver, and it’s hard to believe, but he plays close to that level most nights.”

“He’s our leader and he’s a tremendous goalie,” said superstar Alexander Ovechkin, who had a goal and an assist. “He’s saved us lots and lots of times.”

Kolzig, who grew up in the small Vancouver Island town of Union Bay, did everything he could to impress his family in attendance. “It was great for me to play well, because the last few visits I’ve had here, I didn’t have good games. We had a lot of guys from British Columbia [like Matt Pettinger and Shaone Morrisonn], and they were so revved up with energy that maybe they just kept us going.”

Despite averaging more than 30 saves per game in the early going, the 190-cm, 102-kg veteran is happy with his workload: “I feel good. I’ve been accustomed to that pretty much my whole career. I keep myself in good shape in the off-season and actually came into training camp a little bit lighter this year. Doing that really helps your endurance on the ice.”

Overall, he’s also happy with how Washington’s young defensive corps is playing in front of him. “It’s just a question of how they approach certain situations,” Kolzig said. “Sometimes they’re not accustomed to dealing with the speed of opposing forwards in their own end, but we’re better than we were at this point last year.”

According to Kolzig, the ramped-up defensive effort combined with the scoring prowess of Ovechkin and Alexander Semin has given the Capitals increased confidence. “We expect to go out and win games this year. Last year, going in, our attitude was, ‘Let’s just give it a good effort and see what happens.’ Our mindset’s changed. In games like this [loss to Vancouver], last year we would have been satisfied with a point, but this year we’re disappointed.”

Many fans of Team Germany, of course, would be disappointed if they don’t get to see the South African-born netminder with German citizenship suit up in the black, red, and gold uniform again. After a decade of international play, Kolzig confessed he’s undecided about his future national team plans.

“I just don’t know, and I have to consider my family now. I hope we get to a point here where the Capitals are in the playoffs and I don’t have to worry about the World Championships. In 2010, obviously it would be ideal to come up to Vancouver and play in the Olympics, but we’ll see if I’m even still playing then, still competitive and still the best German goalie out there. It’s up in the air right now. I’m not going to commit to it, but I’m not going to say no either.”

However, Kolzig admits that he’s relished the chance to carry Germany’s fortunes against the world’s best.

“There have been a lot of highlights. Playing in the 1998 and 2006 Olympics and two World Cups was great. One game that stands out for me was against Finland in the 2004 World Cup quarter-finals, where the Finns scored with about a minute left to take a 2-1 lead. It would have been a hell of an upset in Helsinki if we’d won, and that would have given us the chance to come over and play Canada in the semis.”

For now, the 2000 Vezina Trophy winner will aim to lead his team to the Stanley Cup finals one more time, as he did in 1998.