[irbefan4life]

While the lesser known goalies are always super fun to add and write about for the museum collection as their journies in the NHL are usually unique, very few things beat owning a piece of a player whom I would consider one of the NHL's all-time best goalies!

As usual, don't forget to "LIKE" Bruce C. Goaltending Museum on Facebook to get more detailed photos, and to see the latest news in the museum.

Born on April 6, 1970 in Johannesbourg, South Africa (the first NHLer to hail from that nation), Olaf Kolzig played in multiple Junior "B" teams before cracking the WHL in 1987-88 with the New Westminster Bruins. After an uneventful season with them, he joined the Tri-City Americans in 1988-89, before being drafted 19th overall in the 1989 draft by the Washington Capitals. He closed out his final season of junior with the Americans in 1989-90, but not before he cracked the Capitals' roster and appeared in two games right in the beginning of the season on October 11, and October 21, 1989 respectively. Neither game went in his favor and he was returned to the juniors right afterwards.

Kolzig was a mainstay of the American Hockey League and sometimes East Coast Hockey League from 1990/91-1993/94, getting into only eight additional games of NHL experience with the Capitals, and still no wins to show for it. In 1994-95, Kolzig cracked the roster of the Capitals midway through the season with the full-time back-up role on the Caps, recording his first two career wins in the process over 14 games. He also got his first two games worth of playoff experience, posting fine numbers in his 44 minutes of play. The following season, he made the team's opening day roster outright, as back-up to flash-in-the-pan goaltender, Jim Carey. Kolzig appeared in 18 games that season, but had taken over the starting job in the playoffs. His role continued to grow with the team until 1997-98, when he became the undisputed starting goaltender for the team. Though it took him time to develop into it, Kolzig proved that year that he was among the best. He appeared in 64 games that year and recorded personal bests in all categories, including 33 wins, and five shutouts. He then shocked the hockey world by leading the Capitals into the Stanley Cup Final, where Kolzig and the Capitals were swept in four games by the Detroit Red Wings. Though Kolzig and the Capitals never managed to replicate that degree of playoff success ever again, Olaf remained the undisputed starter of the team, even winning the Vezina Trophy in 1999-00.

At the conclusion of the 2007-08 season, the Capitals decided to let the 37 year old Kolzig become an unrestricted free agent. Goaltenders of such veteran pedigree rarely remain on the market long so the Tampa Bay Lightning signed him in 2008-09. Unfortunately, after only eight games played, an early season injury shelved him for the year, so Tampa dumped his contract onto the Toronto Maple Leafs. He then retired shortly thereafter. After Arturs Irbe left the Washington Capitals as goalie coach in 2011, Olaf Kolzig took over that position and then earned the job of player development coach which he holds to this day.

In his 719 game NHL career, Olaf Kolzig recorded a 303-297-63-24 record with 35 shutouts, 17 assists, a 2.71GAA, and a 0.906% save average. On top of that, in 45 playoff games, he recorded a 20-24 record with six shutouts, a 2.14GAA, and a 0.927% save average.

As it stands currently (based on the time of this writing), among goalies, Kolzig is 23rd all-time in games played, 28th in wins, 15th in losses, 49th in shutouts, 31st in points (17), and 43rd in penalty minutes.

The jersey you are looking at right now is a 2008-09 Tampa Bay Lighting Alternate Set Sweater worn by Olaf Kolzig on November 23, 2008, the first ever game that this alternate set was worn by the team. This night marked the final home game, as well as the final loss of his NHL career, as he stopped only 23 of 28 shots in the team's 7-3 loss. Wear is light as can be expected and pretty much localized to some black marks on the right sleeve. Watching the game footage, some hard shots were fired at this area, so the wear makes sense.

Acquired from: Matthias Fries, including Lightning LOA

Dates of Game Use: November 23, 2008 v Devils (23-28, 7-3L)

Photomatched: Referenced to footage from that game.

[pens1fan]

Sweet addition to the museum. Kolzig was always one of my favs. Congrats!!