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Former ECHL Goaltender Kolzig Announces Retirement

Published on September 23, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


TORONTO, Ontario - The National Hockey League Players' Association announced that former ECHL goaltender Olaf Kolzig has announced his retirement after 14 seasons in the National Hockey League.

Kolzig was 11-9-1 and ranked third in the ECHL with a 3.41 goals against average in 21 regular season games and 1-2-0 with a 4.66 goals against average in three postseason games with Hampton Roads in 1990-91.

In 1991-92 with Hampton Roads, Kolzig led the ECHL in the regular season with a .914 save percentage while going 11-3-0 with a 2.90 goals against average in 14 regular season games.

The 39 year old was selected as an NHL All-Star in 1998 and 2000 and became the first former ECHL player to win the Vezina Trophy in 1999-2000. Former ECHL and current Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas became the second former ECHL player to receive the honor in 2008-09.

"I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to play the game of hockey at the NHL level for many seasons and I am grateful for everything the game has given me," said Kolzig. "I would like to thank my family, all my teammates and the fans for making my time in the NHL so special."

Kolzig appeared in 719 career NHL games and ranks 21st all-time with 303 wins while posting 35 shutouts and having a goals-against average of 2.71 and a save percentage of .906. He played his first 15 NHL seasons with Washington where he was 301-293-86 with 35 shutouts and a 2.70 goals-against average in 711 regular season games and 20-24 with six shutouts and a goals-against average of 2.14 in 45 playoff games.

He led the Capitals to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1997-98 registering four shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.95. He had 41 wins, five shutouts and a goals-against average of 2.24 in 1999-2000 earning a selection to the NHL All-Star Game and First Team All-NHL while winning the Vezina Trophy. He signed with Tampa Bay for 2008-09, but an injury limited him to only eight games and he was traded to Toronto at the trade deadline.

Born in Johannesburg, he became the first South African born player to be drafted by the NHL when the Capitals selected him 19th overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. He also holds German citizenship enabling him to represent Germany at the Olympics in 1998 and 2006, at the World Championships in 1997 and 2004 and at the World Cup of Hockey in 1996 and 2004.

He and his wife, Christin, founded the Carson Kolzig Foundation in support of their son Carson, who was diagnosed with autism at 15 months. Kolzig later created the Athletes Against Autism organization with former ECHL and NHL goaltender Byron Dafoe and former NHL right wing Scottt Mellanby, who also have autistic children.

Premier 'AA' Hockey League Fast Facts
- The ECHL celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08 and is the third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League.
- ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states and has grown to be a coast-to-coast league with 20 teams in 15 states and British Columbia in 2009-10.
- The league officially changed its name from East Coast Hockey League to ECHL on May 19, 2003.
- ECHL has affiliations with 27 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League marking the 13th consecutive year for affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.
- 407 former ECHL players have played in NHL.
- 151 former ECHL players have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- Record 52 former ECHL players made their NHL debut in 2008-09 and nine players played in both the ECHL and the NHL: goaltenders Matt Climie (Idaho and Dallas), Riku Helenius (Elmira, Mississippi and Tampa Bay), Chris Holt (Alaska and St. Louis), Michal Neuvirth (South Carolina and Washington) and Marek Schwarz (Alaska and St. Louis), defensemen Wes O'Neill (Johnstown and Colorado), Raymond Macias (Johnstown and Colorado) and Kevin Quick (Augusta, Elmira and Tampa Bay) and right wing Joel Rechlicz (Utah and New York Islanders).
- ECHL has been represented on last nine Stanley Cup champions including 2009 with Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma, player Ruslan Fedotenko, equipment managers Dana Heinze and Dave Zeigler, athletic trainers Chris Stewart and Scott Adams and scout Derek Clancey.
- Former ECHL coaches working as head coaches in the NHL are Bruce Boudreau of the Washington Capitals and Scott Gordon of the New York Islanders while former ECHL player Dan Bylsma is the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Boudreau, who coached Mississippi for three seasons winning the Kelly Cup championship in 1999, was named NHL Coach of the Year in 2007-08 becoming the first former ECHL coach to receive the award. Peter Laviolette, who began his coaching career with the Wheeling Nailers, led Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup in 2006.
- There are 23 assistant coaches in the NHL who were players or coaches in the ECHL.
- Twenty former ECHL officials scheduled to work as part of the NHL officiating team in 2009-10 with David Banfield, Francis Charron, Chris Ciamaga, Ghislain Hebert, Marc Joannette, Mike Leggo, Wes McCauley, Dean Morton, Dan O'Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Justin St. Pierre and Ian Walsh, and linesmen Steve Barton, Brian Mach, Tim Nowak, Brian Pancichh and Jay Sharrers.
- ECHL has affiliations with 25 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey League and for the past 20 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup Champion.
- In the last six seasons the ECHL has had more call-ups to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined with over 2,500 call-ups involving more than 1,300 players and in 2008-09 there were 10 times as many call-ups from the ECHL to the AHL than all other professional leagues.
- Further information on the ECHL is available from its website at ECHL.com.

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