[GSPODS]

When the Washington Capitals emerged from a meeting early yesterday afternoon at their Arlington headquarters, just hours after an excruciating overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, one absence was conspicuous.

Veteran goaltender Olie Kolzig had cleaned out his locker stall and left the building, skipping the mandatory meeting. He did not speak to reporters. After Monday's 3-2 loss at Verizon Center, he stripped his name tag off of his locker stall.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/23/AR2008042303252.html

I'll be the first person to say that I think the Caps handled this poorly. Whether the Caps intended on letting Kolzig go or not, Kolzig stuck with the organization when he didn't have to. He deserved better than being permanently benched at season's end and for the entire playoff series.

[Fios]

You have an odd habit of posting without citing the source or providing a link ... or really even setting off the cited material (I'm not saying that officially, it just makes it seem like it's all part of 'your' post and that's not entirely accurate) ... anyway, I can't speak as to how the situation was handled but I have no problem whatsoever with the benching, that was a performance-related move and probably overdue. I love Ollie but he wasn't helping the team this year.

[GSPODS]

[Irn-Bru]

I figured we were seeing the end of Kolzig. Too bad. He's a class act, and was one of the few bright spots during many dark seasons.

Here's hoping he does return next year; but if not, thanks for everything, Kolzig.

And congrats to the Caps. It was a disappointing loss, but it was most certainly not a disappointing season. Well done!

[GSPODS]