Damian Cristodero of the St. Pete Times got a few words out of Olie Kolzig earlier, and I had a hard time figuring out which quote is my favorite.I enjoy the rich irony of an "I'm not about creating any kind of controversy. I'm all about the team," and the puppy dogs and lollipops of "I look at it as more of a partnership than a competition.... I hope Smitty supports me, and if it's Smitty in net, I know I'll support him." I can also dig the delusional "I can still be a dominant goalie in the NHL.... [Last season] was more an aberration than anything."
But ultimately I settled on Olie taking a big ol' swig of the Koules-Aid and proclaiming that "It's all about how we can bring the Lightning back to prominence."
Oh no? Oh yeah!
24 comments:
DC vs Tampa games are going to be sick this year.
going to get dirty. i wonder how Olie will be received in the VC?
with nothing but respect...i hope
This is what Norm McDonald thinks of Olie and his agent.
Ridiculous.
I'd be incredibly surprised and disappointed if the VC didn't give Olie a standing ovation before launching into a 60min chant of O-LIE.
I guess I should clarify that it'd be the mocking variety of chant. :)
Perhaps then we should be more formal and go with KOL-ZIG.
A little perspective here, please. What the hell is the guy supposed to say at this point? The guy has an immense amount of pride, like every other professional athlete. They all hold on too long, it's in their blood, it's all they know. All of you (and I) would do the same damned thing. Time on earth is finite, time on ice even more so.
How soon we forget that he stayed here through the lean years when most guys would have asked for a trade to a contender. The only significant mistake he made was spouting off to Wise in January. That was inexcusable. Once he was benched for Huet, he kept his mouth shut until the very end.
Is he going to dominate? All signs point to no. But he ain't Willie Mays, circa '73, either.
In retrospect, neither the organization nor #37 could have or should have handled things much differently. Ripping on the dude now seems petty and pointless.
I agree with Maruk....It was a difficult time for Kolzig to go through when Huet was clearly "the man" for the Caps down the stretch. It's a hard thing to swallow the pride, but to Kolzig's credit he did just that. He didn't act like a sideshow (see Emery, Ray) or try to be a boon to the team. Sure he wasn't happy for being on the bench, but I thought his overall behavior was admirable, if not ideal, down the stretch.
Until the bitter end professional athletes always think they have a little something in the tank. Especially goalies, who have been conditioned to shrug off bad shots, periods and games their whole adult lives. I don't see anything wrong with his comments....They're probably not accurate, but I think they're genuine.
I'm with Keef.
Game night: standing o for Olie
Next night: enjoy my free wings
I'm with maruk and hooks on this one. What else do we expect the guy to say and raging him about what he says is indeed petty and pointless. I've enjoyed cheering him on since I adopted the Caps as my team and I'll continue to do so when he's not playing against the Caps. He's a class act and nothing he's said has been otherwise really so far. LETS GO CAPS!!!
No bitterness from Caps fans for the goaltender we all grew up with. It's sad he's not retiring a Cap, but can anyone doubt #37 is bound for the rafters of Verizon Center?
It'll be very emotional when TB comes to DC the first time.
As a former Bolts die-hard turned Caps die-hard (don't try that at home, kids), I secretly want Kolzig to succeed at the fairgrounds... no, wait... the Thunder Dome... no, wait... the Ice Palace... no, wait...
It doesn't matter. He's not starting home-team at 7th and F, northwest. IMHO, that's a good thing for our Caps.
Given the Bolts' goaltending woes (which have been plentiful), maybe he's the go-to guy in Tampa when things start heading south.
I will definitely give Olie a standing ovation his first visit back. I will definitely relish Ovie scoring on him... say... high glove-side?
But I will always wonder why fans, bloggers, and journalists alike think "Ollie" rhymes with "goalie". Not big fans of Laurel & Hardy, I suppose...
Aside from my disappointing comments for the Caps as a "treading water organization", I will stand for Olie.
He gave this city a great effort and I totally agree with Maruk and Steve R.
Plus, the dude is just a great human being. Hit up some past local charity events if you're clueless.
Nothing but respect here.
Quit you're bitching about the past, those who are bitter.... and pray we make a move or two for this season's future, which now matters.
And no, I'm not counting re-signing Feds. It'll take more than that.
Your either for/with "us" or you are against us....sorry. He is now on an opposing divisonal team. It's cut and dri for me...sorry Olie, it was your choice.He is fair game and an enemy. If you want to be/have the best team...it's gotta be this harsh. Just my opinion.
hey hooks orpik, you dont find anything wrong or ironic about his comments because youre not a fucking caps fan. If i were mcphee i would have ignored his ass after the wise article too.
Disagreed Hooks/Maruk/et al. I don't think we're ripping on him for leaving, or being angry or any emotion he has. Everything he says could be 100% true.
Doesn't mean he has to spill his beans to the public and behave in such a temperamental manner. If he was such a team player he wouldn't have behaved the way he did. That's the bottom line.
There's no doubt that Kolzig has done a lot for both the city and the Capitals over the years, and I appreciate and respect that. I also respect that he wants to continue to play in the NHL and that he wants to continue to get as much playing time as he can. If he's said "I owe the Capitals so much and I thank they for the opportunities they've given me, but I think it's time for me to move to a team where I can have a bigger impact", it'd be one thing.
But the way Kolzig behaved, coupled with the way he's acting now, makes it hard to take him seriously. When a guy who mouthed off the media because he was unhappy and skipped a mandatory team meeting at the end of the season says "I'm all about the team" or "it's all about [getting the team] back to prominence" how can you not think that he's lying through his teeth? When he refuses to come back to the organization where he's spent better than 15 years because he doesn't want to be a backup, how can you expect that he'll be willing to go into a "partnership"?
Hazardous and I are convinced Olie signed with Tampa to make sure they suck.
I'm starting to believe that what's going on in Tampa is The Producers, and the current team is Springtime For Hitler with the plan of being so bad that they have to move the team. After all, wouldn't that team be worth a lot more in Winnipeg? Maybe these new owners are crazy like foxes...
DMG - I'm with you.
I think Olie would like to be dominant, but he's drinking his own Kool-Aid as well as the Tampa Koules-Aid. If things go as bad as they could in Tampa, you may need to cover the kid's eyes from the horror that could be Olie's real last hurrah.
I second, third and fourth the sentiments of maruk, hooks..., etc. Yeah, it's not necessarily pleasant for an athlete and the local fans when he reaches the end of his career (probably), but I have never understood the nasty, sniping bitterness of some of the fans on this and other boards. They just need to get over it and move on.
Ugh. That guy pisses me off even more than Huet. First Jagr then Kolzig- why do these players decide to suck when their playing with US? It's soooooo not fair. :(
I have to agree with most of what Olie said. He might not dominate the entire league, but he could still dominate in most games he plays. Every athelete will have a bad season here and there. He almost never played as badly as the Kolzig bashers would have us beleive. Around the time of the trade deadline, he had turned things around and played great.
I don't blame him for not doing the "team" meeting. I remember hearing there was a private one instead. I can't blame a guy for telling his side of the story after being bashed by mainstream reporters and hateful bloggers. I think his wording was about as kindly as it could be put, and showed much more class.
I will root for Olie Kolzig whenever he plays against teams other than the Capitals.
I'm starting to believe that what's going on in Tampa is The Producers, and the current team is Springtime For Hitler with the plan of being so bad that they have to move the team. After all, wouldn't that team be worth a lot more in Winnipeg? Maybe these new owners are crazy like foxes...
Except Tampa has been 8th, 3rd and 2nd in the league in attendence since the lockout
I know there is room for argument on both sides, but I think the team did Olie dirty, I just hope that Olie in the end is man enough to put it behind him and when he's done playing sign a one day contract t retire as a cap. No doubt his number will hang from the rafters in my lifetime.
I just hope that the home opener is Bolts @ Caps. I think Olie deserves to be at the VC when the Division banner goes up, he helped get us there in some part, so I think he's deserving to be there for it.
Post a Comment