Portland Pirates Hall of Fame

OLAF KOLZIG  #37

Goaltender Olaf Kolzig played for the Portland Pirates during their inaugural season of 1993-94 and again briefly during parts of the 1994-95 and 1995-96 campaigns. His netminding heroics in 1993-94, in which he went 16-8-5 with a 3.06 goals-against average and .906 save percentage, earned him the Harry "Hap" Holmes Award for outstanding goaltending and the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the American Hockey League's Playoff MVP. His 12 postseason wins led the Pirates to the first Calder Cup Championship in team history. Kolzig returned to play two games with the Pirates the following season, going 1-0-1 with a 1.44 GAA and a .952 save percentage, and posted a 5-0-0 mark, a 1.40 GAA and a .957 save percentage during a five-game stint in 1995-96. His career Portland totals were as follows: 36 gp, 22-8-6 record, 2.73 GAA, .916 save percentage and four shutouts. "Olie the Goalie" emerged as an elite NHL goaltender in 1997-98 when he posted a 33-18-10 record, a 2.20 GAA and a .920 save percentage and led the Washington Capitals to the Eastern Conference Championship and a berth in their first-ever Stanley Cup Finals. That year, he also appeared in his first NHL All-Star Game and played for Team Germany at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. In 2000, he won the NHL's Vezina Trophy, awarded annually to the League's top netminder. Kolzig and Jim Carey are the only two Pirates alum that have captured a major NHL award (Vezina Trophy).

YEAR INDUCTED:  1999

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