NHL Number 37 - Olaf Kolzig

Olaf, "Olie the Goalie", Kolzig, played 17 seasons in the NHL primarily for the Washington Capitals, establishing himself as one of the finest netminders to take to the ice.

Kolzig began his NHL career in 1989-90, but it wouldn't be until the 1997-98 season that he got his chance to start in goal on a regular basis for the Caps. Olie's first full season in net was a strong one in Washington. He played in 64 games, getting the official win in 33 of those games. It was quite possibly his best season ever, as he would save 92 percent of the shots taken against him, with a low 2.20 goals-against-average.

He would have another very strong campaign two seasons later when he would rack up an impressive 41 wins to go with a league leading 1,794 saves, a .917 save percentage and a 2.24 GAA.

Kolzig would continue to perform well in net for his Capitals during the remainder of his career as he was peppered with shots through the 2007-08 season. Kolzig finished out his NHL career the following year with a brief stint in net for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

For his career, Kolzig would put up the following statistics:

• 303 regular season wins (22nd all-time as of 2010)
• .906 regular season save percentage
• 2.71 regular season GAA
• 18,233 regular season saves (10th all-time as of 2010)
• 1999-00 Vezina Trophy winner
• 11th all-time in shots against (20,118)

Did you know.............Olaf Kolzig was born in South Africa?