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A Conversation With Olie Kolzig

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 10, 2008

WASHINGTON - Former Capitals goaltender Olie Kolzig gets the call in net tonight to face his former team for the first time. Upon the team's arrival in the nation's capital early Sunday afternoon, Kolzig took time to answer questions about his feelings heading into tonight's game, his feelings about how things ended in Washington last year and the role he's filling with his new team:

What do you envision tonight's game will be like for you?

A little anxiousness because I've never really experienced anything like this. Probably the closest thing is when we were over in Berlin playing against some ex-teammates and a former organization during the 2004-05 lockout, but nothing like this where I spent my whole career playing in one city. I really don't know what to expect, to be honest. But it's going to be weird.

Did you have to ask Coach Barry Melrose to play in this game or did he plan it this way?

He called me into the office last week and asked me if I wanted to play. He said he's had some players in the past who have been in this situation who didn't want to play, but I said that I definitely wanted to play and I appreciated that and he said that I was in. So that's how that happened.

What kind of reception do you think the fans will give you?

I don't know, I really don't. The players who have come back in the past, like Jeff Halpern, a former Washington captain came back with Dallas and he got the old Larry Murphy "whoop-whoop-whoop." So it will be interesting when I go behind the net to play a puck if I get a little bit of that. I expect to be received very well, but you always have to expect the unexpected.

How did the way last year ended affect your decisions over the summer and are there any feelings of wanting to show up your old team?

To be here 19 years and the way things ended last year, and honestly I was looking at retiring over the summer, but the further and further I got removed from the season I said that I still had a lot to give to the game and I wanted to play. And it's not about wanting to prove Washington wrong or anything like that. It's proving it to myself and a lot of other people that I can still play this game at a high level. I didn't really give this game much thought until I signed with Tampa in the summer and realized I was still in the Southeast Division and we were going to face these guys six times. It's going to be weird.

Do you hold any hard feelings with the way things ended in Washington last year following the team's acquisition of Cristobal Huet?

I still wish it didn't end the way it did, but having said that I hold no hard feelings, I hold no grudges. Everybody in that organization is a friend of mine and 20-plus teammates and I wish them nothing but the best, except obviously when we play them. But it is what it is. I wish it didn't end the way it did, but it's time to move on and I've come to grips with it. There's no bitterness. Obviously going out there tonight I want to beat them as bad as anybody, but I don't have any malicious feelings or anything like that against them.

Considering the circumstances surrounding how things ended for you, do you wish there was better communication from General Manager George McPhee regarding the trade?

To me, I don't really want to talk much about it anymore, but it could have clarified things a little bit more. The whole thing had nothing to do with the trade and Huet coming in. I understand it's a business and sometimes as a player you think you don't need to be replaced or you don't need to be challenged. So for me, it was like "OK, they made this decision so I need to just try to battle and if I'm not in there be supportive," but I was never told anything. With the relationship I had with George, I thought it was pretty close but we never talked. We had a conversation before the trade deadline and everything was great, and then the trade happened, and I understand the trade kind of fell into his lap, but there was really no communication after the trade deadline. George did try to reach out to me the day after Game 7 at the exit meetings, but at that point I had already made my mind up and there was no point for me to talk because I felt there was plenty of time in the weeks before the end of the season, but it never happened. I just kind of moved on and made my decision.

Are you OK with how the playing time has been split up this season between yourself and Mike Smith?

Obviously I'd like to play more, but I understand that he's a 26-year-old that the organization is trying to establish as a No. 1 and he's taken the ball and ran with it. So you can't really argue anything and I knew that going into this. They gave me a chance to come into camp and battle for it and he's played fantastic. So true to my word, I'll be there to support him and when I'm in I know he's supporting me and that's it. There's no bitterness or why am I not playing kind of thing. I've been around long enough and I've seen enough goalies come and go, so I understand how things go as far as player development. It's his time and I'll just be ready to play when Barry thinks it's time for me to play.

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