After 14 years of professional hockey, eight of which were spent in the NHL, Wojtek Wolski is calling it a career at age 34. Wolski was one of the greatest shootout specialists in NHL history and a bonafide top-six player early in his career.
Wolski, who played 27 games with the Washington Capitals, announced his retirement on Instagram.
A year and a half ago, former Capital Wojtek Wolski thought his career was over after breaking his neck during a KHL game. At the time, Wolski even believed he was never going to walk again.
On Thursday at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Wolski scored twice for Team Canada.
By Cara Bahniuk 5 years ago
With the NHL’s decision to not participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics, players that would never have sniffed their national teams at an Olympic event have earned a chance at making their country’s respective rosters.
In December, we saw former Capital and current Hershey Bear, Chris Bourque as well as Ryan Stoa named to the US Olympic team in late December. Thursday, the Canadian Olympic team announced their squad and it features even more former Capitals and Bears.
By Chris Cerullo 5 years ago
On Thursday, former Capital Wojtek Wolski suffered a serious injury in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League.
Wolski, who has five goals in 19 games for Metallurg Magnitogorsk, had to be stretchered off the ice after diving for a loose puck. Wolski collided with Barys’ Vladimir Markelov and crashed headfirst into the boards. Wolski laid on the ice motionless.
Metallurg had an update on Wolski’s condition Friday and it’s not good.
By Chris Cerullo 6 years ago
Photo: Championat.com
A few years ago, Polish-born forward Wojtek Wolski came to the Washington Capitals as a reclamation project. Instead of becoming a permanent member in the team’s top six, he became a permanent denizen of Adam Oates’s doghouse and left for the KHL. Since then, he has had some success with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod.
And by success I mean setting insane records. Today Wolski set the KHL record for the fastest hat trick ever. He did it pretty fast.
By 8 years ago
Photo credit: Clyde Caplan
With Eric Fehr sidelined due to an upper-body-but-definitely-not-shoulder injury, Wojtek Wolski made his return to active duty in Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss to the Islanders. For Wolski, who had been scratched since March 12th, it should have been an opportunity to re-establish himself as a contributing member of the Capitals squad.
That didn’t happen. Wolski made no impression of any kind– probably because he got under 7 minutes of ice. That’s not a lot for Washington’s second best possession forward. So what gives?
By Peter Hassett 10 years ago
Wolski isn’t dead. This is just how he celebrates goals. (Photo credit: Alex Brandon)
Wojtek Wolski was playing first-line left wing when he scored a third period goal against the Philadelphia Flyers. It was February 1. He would take 35 days to notch his next tally, which came during Tuesday’s overtime win over Boston. Wolski scored another goal less than 48 hours later– at the beginning of the Washington’s 7-1 rout of the Florida Panthers.
“It’s the fun part of hockey,” Wolski said of his recent goals. “I had so many chances in the last little while, and they weren’t going in, and we weren’t scoring, and we were losing. It’s tough, it’s frustrating. When it turns the other way and the hard work pays off, it’s reassuring. I’m really happy about it.”
By Chris Gordon 10 years ago
Kevin Dineen needed more than a timeout tonight. (GIF by welshhockeyfan)
The Florida Panthers opened tonight’s game against the Washington Capitals with four straight shots on Braden Holtby in the first 1:44 of game action. They looked sharp. They looked ready to get out of the Southeast division cellar. The wheels fell off 24 seconds later.
As John Erskine wound up from the Panthers’ blue line — in what he would later admit was just a dump-and-change — Florida’s starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom mis-judged Erskine’s blast and allowed the puck to squeak through his seven-hole. 1-0 Caps.
2:36 later, the Capitals would score on their very next shot, as Markstrom was caught off guard by Wojtek Wolski‘s strong net crash. Enter Scott Clemmensen.
Clemmensen gave up two more goals — one to John Carlson and another to Mike Ribeiro — in the next six shots. The Capitals received a standing ovation and headed into intermission with a 4-0 lead, their biggest goal explosion this season.
“I don’t know what to say,” Markstrom told reporters after the game. “It was terrible. I feel like I let the team down. I am there to stop pucks, and I didn’t do that tonight.”
The Capitals beat the Panthers 7-1.
Now enjoy fun facts from the first period –plus video of all four goals.
Photo credit: Greg Fiume
The Washington Capitals just freaking obliterated the Florida Panthers. I don’t know how else to say it. Any flowery language would make the point less elegant: this was a thrashing. One of these teams is the bottom of the Eastern Conference, the other one is the Washington Capitals.
We learned that early, as John Erskine’s muffinly dump-in baffled Jacob Markstrom. We were reminded soon after– when Wojtek Wolski caught a Steve Oleksy pass and made it 2-0 on the Caps’ second shot. That was enough for Markstrom, who got the hook in favor of Scott Clemmensen, who promptly gave up two more goals on the Caps’ next four shots– one from Carlson, one from Ribeiro.
That was all in the game’s first 10 minutes. I could go on, but you get the idea. This was all Caps. Even when the shooting slowed, Braden Holtby was so on top of his game that this was never really a contest.
Caps beat Panthers 7-1.
By Peter Hassett 10 years ago
Hockey is brutal. Mike Green has missed 83 games due to injury over the past two seasons. He’s missed time because of groin, ankle, and concussion issues. Caps fans have called him soft over the years, but Sunday against the Penguins, Green showed how tough he really is.
After taking a big check from Kris Letang and crashing shoulder-first into the boards, Green picked himself up off the ice. He skated towards the bench to get looked over by the trainer, but then Green saw his teammates gain possession of the puck in the corner and instead stopped at the slot. Wojtek Wolski hit him with a beautiful cross-ice pass and Green scored on his former teammate Tomas Vokoun.
Video below the jump.
