“Time heals all wounds.” – Olie Kolzig (Photo credit: Joe Lavelle)

Olie Kolzig is back! Three years after the fan favorite goalie lost his starting role to Cristobal Huet and left on bad terms the club with which he had spent his entire NHL career, Kolzig has rejoined the Capitals as associate goaltender coach. In his new role, Kolzig will assist Dave Prior, who regains the title of goaltender coach he gave up in 2009 to spend more time with his family. Arturs Irbe took over for Prior but decided not to return for the 2011-12 season, citing reasons similar to Prior’s when he left his coaching job.

“I’m ecstatic to finally come back basically to the place I call home — playing there for so long,” Kolzig told reporters on a conference call. “Being away for two years, I started to get the itch again to get involved again with hockey. … When Dave Prior called me a few weeks back and pitched the idea of coming back and being an associate goaltending coach and working with him, I thought there’s probably not a better person that I want to work with and an organization that I want to be back together with.”

And Kolzig wasn’t the only one who found it a perfect match.

Photo credit: Bruce Bennett

“Finding someone else to bring in to work with Dave, our first choice was Olie, the first one who came to mind,” said Caps General Manager George McPhee. “We actually talked to him about it a few years ago and he wasn’t ready at that time, but he seems to be ready now and excited about it and probably a little bit nervous too.”

As for Prior, he will handle the main duties of coaching Washington’s NHL goalie corps, which currently consist of two players he recommended drafting in 2006 — Semyon Varlamov (24th overall) and Michal Neuvirth (34th overall). Kolzig will fill a part-time support role as well as being a mentor to the club’s minor league netminders, similar to what he has done the past few years with the WHL’s Tri-City Americans, a team he co-owns. Kolzig said that the arrangement enable will allows him to test the waters of coaching, but still be able to make a difference.

“I really didn’t know what I was going to do once hockey was over,” he said. “But spending the last year and a bit with my junior team and working with the kids and then seeing results and seeing them actually apply what you’re teaching them in a game and being successful really was fulfilling. I started to think about it a little more and was wondering, ‘Maybe I should give it a shot at the NHL level?’”

There will, Kolzig said, be ample talent to mold with Varlamov, Neuvirth and Braden Holtby, who are all under the age of 23. “I don’t think there is an organization in the league that has such depth at such a young age, which wasn’t always the case with the Caps,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun working with all three of them.”

In additional to Washington’s netminders, Olie the Goalie had nothing but praise for Prior — his old coach — and his methods, even though Prior was key to the Capitals’ acquisition of Huet in 2008, which played a major part in Kolzig’s departure.

“Dave is probably the biggest reason why I enjoyed the success I had in the NHL,” the 41 year-old said. “Before he came onboard in ’97, I was kind of floundering between call-ups and playing in the minors and not really having any sort of consistent game. Dave came in and it wasn’t so much of a technical adjustment as it was a mental one. And Dave just has the demeanor that just seemed to work.”

But following in the footsteps of his mentor and becoming a coach will require a bit of a transition. ”Once I get in there I got to remind myself I’m a coach now, not a player, and maybe back off of some of the things I would have said as a player,” Kolzig said.

Kolzig was a steady bright spot for Washington from the mid-90s to the late-2000s. He led the team to the Stanley Cup Final in 1998, won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goalie in 2000 and spent countless hours over the years interacting with and signing autographs for supporters, creating a new generation of fans by doing things as simple as remembering someone’s name. Kolzig also did significant charity work, founding two organizations to raise money for Autism research after his son, Carson, was diagnosed with the disorder. Those good deeds earned him the NHL’s King Clancy Memorial Trophy for humanitarian work in 2006 and a soft spot in the hearts of the Caps faithful.

Photo credit: Ryan Remiorz

After his fallout with Capitals following the 2007-08 season, Kolzig signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Serving as the backup, he saw just eight games with the team before suffering a season-ending arm injury. At the 2009 trade deadline, Kolzig was dealt to the Maple Leafs, but never played a game for Toronto before calling it a career.

“Time heals all wounds,” said Kolzig. “The more I was removed from a few years ago and being retired and getting a better prospective on things and being the owner of a hockey team myself… you realize it’s a business. Things were handled in a business fashion, and since then I came to Caps Convention last year, spent some time with George [McPhee] and with Ted [Leonsis]. No ill will towards each other, certainly not on my part and not on their part, not that there ever was. So we just moved on.”

Now that he has moved on, Kolzig can begin contemplating how to address Caps’ biggest problem of all: the lack of playoff success. “They just have to find whatever it is, bring in a few news players, I don’t know,” he said. “They’ve got too much talent not to go further than they have.”

Photo by Chris Gordon

Olaf Kolzig is announced to the Hershey crowd as the Eastern Conference's Honorary Captain. (Photo by Laura G.)

On Monday, the AHL formally inducted four new members into its American Hockey League Hall of Fame: Maurice Podoloff, Larry Wilson, Harry Pidhirny, and Mitch Lamourex. Foster Hewitt Award-winning broadcaster Mike Emrick was the master of ceremonies, while Caps’ head coach Bruce Boudreau served as the keynote speaker.

Among the honorees at the event was former Capitals great Olaf Kolzig. Kolzig, in Hershey to serve as the Eastern Conference’s Honorary Captain at the All-Star Game, was recognized for his six stellar seasons in the AHL. Olie backstopped the Rochester Americans to the Calder Cup Finals in 1993 and won the championship with the Portland Pirates in 1994, where he was also named playoffs MVP.

After the induction ceremony concluded, I caught up with Kolzig downstairs at the media luncheon in the Hershey Theatre. With the rare opportunity to speak to a childhood hero, I asked Kolzig about the Capitals’ run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1998, the playoffs meltdown last year, and why he reunited with the team after their messy divorce three seasons ago.

Q. What does it mean to you to be named one of the Honorary Captains of the AHL All-Star Game?

A. Well for me personally, when you get asked to do something like that it’s a special honor because people recognize what you did. And I’ve never been a player that boasts about myself or pats myself on the back. When other people recognize that and invite me to an event like this, it’s very special. And to have it in Hershey, where it’s such a historic city– not only obviously with the chocolate but with the franchise itself– it’s probably one of the most prominent franchises in all of hockey.

Q. How did you first find out about the honor?

A. You know what, I was actually invited to last year’s event in Portland. Byron Dafoe and myself were both invited. But I had committed to a Disney cruise with my family, and my kids would have probably disowned me if I would have blown that off. So I was really thankful that [AHL President] Dave [Andrews] called me again and invited me. And It’s almost more special that it is in Hershey. I won a championship in Portland. But when you talk about the AHL, you talk about the Hershey organization.

Q. I wanted to ask you also about the fact that this year we’ve noticed that you’ve been around more Capitals events. What was the catalyst for that?

A. I was asked by [Capitals Team Services' Manager] Ian Anderson, way back in – I want to say – July or August to attend the Capitals Convention. Whatever differences I had [with the Capitals] wasn’t going to keep me away from the fans. The fans always treated me well there. And I thought: “You know what? Time heals all wounds. Let’s move on.” At the end of the day, you know, I’m going to be known as a Capital, not a Tampa Bay Lightning or a Toronto Maple Leaf. I’m a Washington Capital. Like I said, it’s unfortunate that things happened the way they did, but we’ve moved on. I went to the convention. I saw the team at the Winter Classic. So hopefully I’ll be more and more involved with the alumni stuff.

Q. Was it nice to see guys like Bonzai again [at the Convention]?

A. It was fantastic. Anytime you see your old teammates like Bonzai– I saw Michal Pivonka, I saw Sylvain Cote, I saw all those guys, and I actually had dinner with Joe Reekie that night– it’s great. Those are the guys you played with. Those are the guys you went to the final with. And you have such great memories. It’s just good to sit down and talk about the old days.

Q. The Capitals haven’t made it past the second round of the playoffs since you backstopped the team to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1998. What was the magic with that team?

A. You know what: I don’t know. I just think anytime in the playoffs, everything just has to go right for you. Ask the Capitals last year. They just didn’t have that killer instinct. Game five they could have snuffed out Montreal’s hopes, but they allowed them to get a 2-0 lead, they allowed them to feel good about themselves, and they allowed Halak to get back into it. Next thing you know, they lose in seven. It’s just– it’s a fine line. And for us that year, we were pretty much healthy. All the top teams that finished ahead of us, had all gotten eliminated, and you know what… Ron Wilson being our coach really made a big difference that year. Because in the past, in past years, the team would be up 3 to 1 in a series, and find a way to lose. I remember us being up 3 to 1 against Boston– and nobody wanted to admit it– but everybody in the back of their mind was going, “Well, here we go again.” And Wilsie found a way for us to think differently. And even though we lost game five, we came out and won game six and we thought, “this is our time.” We finally got the monkey off our back. We beat Ottawa. We had a great series against Buffalo– especially the Joe Juneau goal in Overtime– which was probably my most memorable goal as a Capital. It’s unfortunate that we lost four straight to Detroit, because I thought we were a better team than them. But I think deep down we maybe as a team didn’t believe that we could beat them. Just that little bit of doubt I think might have been the difference in the series.

Q. After you spoke, [the AHL] put up a video presentation of you, and they showed a fight between you and Dafoe.

A. The Dance.

Q. Yeah, the dance! Were you aware that that was going to happen?

A. I had a little bit of a feeling. I know they aired it last year when Byron was there in hopes that I was going to be there, too. But I’m glad they allowed me my chance to give my side of the story. So it’s just one of the comedic times of my career and it was just an odd thing to see two goalies go at it, but not really go at it. Two best friends… it’s just a great story of mine.

Q. You were a fan favorite because of your intensity, so that was really great to see.

Q. What can we look forward to from you? We you know you did the Winter Classic stuff for NHL Live a few weeks ago.

A. You know what, I actually really enjoyed those two days doing that. People had always told me that I’d do a good job in television, and I really didn’t know that I would. And they invited me to do it because they didn’t really have anybody to give the Caps perspective. And there were a ton of people from Pittsburgh that were there and so they invited me to do it. And I really thought about it, and I went, “why not?” And I had a blast. So I don’t know if that’s going to be something that will happen more in the future, but I know they were happy with what I did. But right now I’m focused on my junior team. Right now we probably have the best Americans team, that the franchise has ever had right now. And we’re in a battle. We have another month and a half to the season to be there working with the goalies and then we’ll see what happens.

Q. Have you spent most of your time on the West Coast since?

A. Yeah. Pretty much all my time. We moved back up there from Florida, and I’ve been in Tri-cities full-time.