Wednesday, January 28, 2009

"There's a lot of doubt about my future..."


Olaf Kolzig's season is over in Tampa Bay. The St. Petersburg Times has the news from Tampa...
"Lightning backup Olie Kolzig will have surgery on Saturday to repair a ruptured distal biceps tendon in his left forearm. The surgery will be performed in Washington by orthopedist Ben Shaffer, a Capitals team physician who treated Kolzig when he played in Washington. Lightning head trainer Tommy Mulligan said Kolzig will be out three to four months. Unless Tampa Bay makes the playoffs, his season is over. It is unclear how this will affect the 17-year veteran's career. Kolzig spoke during Wednesday's practice and said he will not make any decisions about his future until the summer. He admitted, however, 'In my mind, there's a lot of doubt for my future as far as hockey goes.'"

If this is the end of Kolzig's NHL career, he has compiled an impressive body of work:

303 wins (301 with Washington, 21st in NHL history)

2.71 GAA/.906 save percentage

2.14 playoff GAA (16th all time)/.927 playoff save percentage

35 shutouts (tied for 37th in NHL history)

6 playoff shutouts

One hopes Kolzig can return from this to play another season and retire on his own terms, but this news -- and his comments -- is not good news in that regard.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Should have retired on his own terms last year...period. Don't get me wrong - I love the guy, but he should have done the right thing while he had the chance.

Anonymous said...

Hope your surgery is a success, Olie. We wish you well.