Thom Loverro: A lovely welcome for Kolzig

The night at Verizon Center began pretty much as expected for a sports icon in an opposing uniform returning to the city that identified with him for so long.

The crowd cheered during the pregame introductions for Olie Kolzig, who had played 711 games for the Washington Capitals over his long career but was now the goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Some fans chanted “Ol-ie! Ol-ie!” after the national anthem. There was a sign posted in the arena that said, “Welcome back, Olie.” And a row of fans were wearing different versions of Capitals jerseys featuring Kolzig’s name and number.

It seemed as if this would be a lovefest for the guy who was going to do everything he could to stop the home team from scoring a goal, let alone winning the game. Kolzig’s former Washington teammates seemed to join in as well, not even taking a shot on Kolzig in the first eight minutes of the game.

Then it came.

Shot by Tom Poti — score.

Shot by Mike Green — score.

Not long after: shot by Eric Fehr — score.

Three goals by the Capitals within an eight-minute span — two of them coming on the first two shots.

Final score — Washington 4, Tampa Bay 2.

Welcome home, indeed.

Washington had never seen anything like this — an athlete of Kolzig’s stature coming back to town as the enemy. There have been fan favorites traded in this town who have come back to face their old team and fans but not at this level. Art Monk left the Redskins and signed with the New York Jets at the end of his career but never came here to play in a Jets uniform.

Owner Ted Leonsis wanted to make sure everyone knew that while he, too, recognized Kolzig’s place in franchise history, no one lost sight of the reason for playing the game — to win.

“That is all I am thinking about, and I am hopeful that is all our team is focused on as well,” he wrote in an e-mail before the game.

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