Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax

Saying goodbye

I case you were wondering, my funk this week hasn't been about the Capitals trading Peter Bondra, it's been about work. But the Bondra trade is one of the many things I haven't been able to gather the energy to discuss...

I'm still not going to, really. There's nothing to say that hasn't been said. And as much as I liked Bondra, appreciated his on-ice ability and what he did for the community off the ice, the looming trade that's gonna hurt me most will be Olie Kolzig.

In my desk...used to be on a bulletin board, but you know how things get shuffled when you move offices...is a 1995 hockey card with a picture of Olie in his red road jersey holding a hot dog with "Olaf" written in mustard. The way I heard the story, he and the photographer were just goofing around when the picture was shot.

Back when we were at the Capital Centre, where I sat behind the players' bench, I used to see Kolzig goof around quite a bit. During warm-ups he'd stand behind the tv announcer (I think it was Dave Johnson then, but maybe Al Koken) and make rabbit ears. He was obviously a guy with a good sense of humor and fun, and I think that's important...for everyone, really, but how can you play a game for a living and not have fun? That just wouldn't be right.

Kolzig didn't start much then...remember Jim Carey?...but his first NHL shutout (against Phoenix) was on my birthday. (Technically the night before, but growing up the game closest to my birthday was my birthday game.) I was already a big Kolzig fan by then, because of his personality.

(I was talking to my sister about it this morning...since the team moved downtown, and we relocated the seats to the nosebleeds, we don't have a sense of the players' personalities anymore. Back then we could see who gave pucks to kids during warmups, who threw temper tantrums, who seemed to have fun. I'm pretty much resigned that when Gonchar and Kolzig go, that's the end of the Capitals as I knew them.)

I was thrilled to see Kolzig's game improve over the seasons, and my heart has gone out to his family as they've dealt with their son's autism. I don't presume to actually know the man, but I, who have had very few "favorite" players in 30 years, consider him that.

The last trade that really hurt me was Ryan Walter, and that worked out well in the end. I only hope everything with the CBA and lockout and rebuilding work out well, but I'm expecting to be hurting sometime in the next two weeks.

Posted by Nic at February 20, 2004 11:37 AM | TrackBack