[skinsfan_nn]

Kolzig heads back to DC to face old team, that he spent almost 20 years with. I wish him the very best on most nights except tonight. Keep rolling CAPS!

Posted at 4:20 PM ET, 11/10/2008
Kolzig Praises Johnson, Semin

In case you didn't already know, Olie Kolzig and Brent Johnson aren't just former teammates, they are very good friends and have remained in close contact with one another. Because of that, Kolzig had plenty of positive things to say about Johnson, who was named the NHL's third star of the week.

"At dinner last night, I told him how proud I was of him," Kolzig said of Johnson. "And how he's really emerged as a goaltender since he first came here four years ago from Vancouver. I'm really proud to see the way he's playing."

"The way I look at it, I hope we win 1-0," Kolzig added. "He plays well and I play a little bit better, and we're both happy."
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Kolzig also had some interesting things to say about Alexander Semin's early season outburst and compared his talent level with Alex Ovechkin's.

Semin "had some injury issues last season," Kolzig said. "I'm sure at the beginning of [this season] people really focused on Ovie, which has allowed Alex Semin a little more room. You give that kid room and ... I've always said he's probably a little more talented than Ovie. He just might not have that intangible that Ovie has."

You mean more skill?

"Yeah," Kolzig added. "It's his release. He can change his angle any which way. If a D-man is standing in front of him, and you think the D-man has the shot blocked, he'll just toe-drag it a little bit and give himself a better angle and still get it off as hard. He uses the D really well as screen. He comes hard and fast, so you just hope you get a piece of it or it misses the net."