Farewell to Capitals legend Lakos: “My time has come”
After the game there were warm hugs, also with ex-colleagues Nissner and Wukovits, who are now in the final with Salzburg. Even the referees, with whom Lakos had a certain love-hate relationship, said goodbye respectfully. “In the end, we’re all friends. That’s how it’s supposed to be.” Lakos explained with a smile that he received far fewer penalty minutes in the last years of his career: “I used to be much more granted and didn’t put up with anything. But many also got respect for me.”
He added wistfully: “It was a good time.” But his time has now come. “I can be proud of my career. But I can already see that I’m not quite as strong as I used to be. We have good youngsters, they should get on with it now.” The “we” will always remain so at Lakos. He wants to stay with the club in some capacity. “An office job is not for me. Maybe an ice cream man, I like to fix things.”
He will definitely be on the ice at the Capitals’ first home game in the fall. Then, as the first Capitals professional, he will be given the honor that his shirt number will no longer be assigned and the banner with the number “4” will be drawn on the roof of the hall. In addition to those for the championship titles in 2005 and 2017. Lakos was the only Caps player to win both titles.