When I started submitting rough ideas for our segments on CRL this summer, there was one subject I was determined to address: those great Washington Capitals commercials from the late 90’s. The story goes like this: in 1999, a little after Ted Leonsis first bought the team from Abe Polin, he commissioned Doug Liman, the dude who made that awesome Tiger Woods trick shot commercial for Nike and the director of The Bourne Identity, to do commercials for the Caps.

They were amaaaazing. Andrei Nikolishin and Steve Konowalchuk face-offed for salad. Chris Simon checked an old lady at a grocery store to defend Peter Bondra’s honor. And then there was Olie Kolzig.

Kolzig, who was one of my childhood heroes growing up, goes out on a romantic dinner with an actress playing his wife. Then Kolzig pours the wine, and that’s when the magic happens.

Video

A few observations.

• This interview was shot in a kinda/sorta-blocked off area at Rock Bottom at Ballston Commons Mall.
• I apologize to the people dining in the restaurant that day. After I filmed the wine shot (Olie, thankfully, had left by that point), I ripped off my soaking wet shirt (because it was very, very cold) and ran, toplesss, to the bathroom to wipe myself down with cheap paper towels. That was weird. They chafed.
• Here are some exclusive bonus photos from Chris Gordon: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
• You might say, “Ian, why didn’t you bring a towel? You scripted this. You knew what was going to happen.” These are all good points. I have no excuse.
• I smelled like raspberries for two days.
• Olie Kolzig really was my hero growing up. Look at us here from my high-school days, total bros.
• Olie made a lot of jokes about breaking sticks across people’s shins. I think he’s proud of how physically imposing he was as a goaltender.

GIFs

A toast.

The revealing of the figurine.

When in Rome…

Yup, totally nailed it.

Contest! Win This Signed Olie Kolzig Postcard

Like last time, we’re running a contest for this segment. We’ll pick at random one person who retweeted our tweet or publically shared our post from Facebook. That person will win these sweet postcards Olie signed after the shoot below.