The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that Marc-Andre Fleury would make his final NHL appearance during Friday’s training camp practice, according to the Associated Press.
The 40-year-old goaltender officially retired as a member of the Minnesota Wild this spring. He signed a professional tryout contract with Pittsburgh earlier this month after general manager Kyle Dubas approached him about taking one final bow in the city where he remains beloved.
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang joined Fleury on the ice for what all four players acknowledged would be their last practice together.
The group represents the core of Pittsburgh’s championship era from 2008-17. They played for the Stanley Cup four times during that span and won it three times.
Fleury wore a specially-made mask featuring symbols from his 21-year career and his familiar No. 29 jersey. Several hundred fans attended the practice, chanting his name and carrying signs including “We Came All The Way From Canada To See You Come Home.”
The second-winningest goalie in NHL history made it clear this truly is the end.
“That might be what I love the most about hockey, just to be on the ice and have a lot of shots, see the guys a bunch and be able to chirp a little bit,” Fleury said afterward. “Yeah, it’s a lot of fun for me.”
During the 90-minute session, Fleury showed flashes of the form that helped transform the Penguins from the league’s worst team when he arrived as the top overall pick in 2003 to two-time defending Stanley Cup champions when he left in the 2017 expansion draft.
He theatrically flopped his signature yellow pads trying to stop a Crosby deflection. He robbed Letang with a glove save that left him laughing. He made Malkin shake his head after turning away the Russian star from close range.
“It’s just the enthusiasm,” Crosby said. “I think the energy that he brings, it’s really unique.”
Championship Legacy
The franchise relied heavily on Fleury’s energy during his 13-year stay in Pittsburgh. Wins were hard to come by early as the Penguins built the foundation of what became as close to a dynasty as the salary-cap era allows.
The losing and pressure never seemed to affect Fleury. He kept moving forward.
Six years after arriving, the player known as “Flower” sealed Pittsburgh’s third championship. He made a diving stop on Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom in the final seconds of Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup finals.
That save cemented Fleury’s spot in Penguins history. The athletically unorthodox act of desperation perfectly captured his talent.
Fleury went on to have success elsewhere. He guided the expansion Vegas Golden Knights to the Cup finals in 2018 and won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie in 2021. But Pittsburgh was never far from his mind.
Every return trip to the city where he came of age felt strange over the last eight years. Not just for Fleury, but for crowds thrilled to see him while hoping he’d lose.
Full Circle Moment
Those mixed emotions are gone now. His brief return represents a full-circle moment for both Fleury and the Penguins.
While Crosby remains effective at 38, Pittsburgh is no longer a playoff fixture. Dubas is overseeing a youth movement that includes young goaltenders like Sergei Murashov, who wasn’t born when Fleury made his NHL debut.
Fleury spent part of practice kneeling alongside the 21-year-old Russian, listening and offering advice.
Asked what that advice might be, one of the league’s most notorious practical jokers laughed.
“You better try hard, I’m coming to take your spot.”
But he’s not coming back. Though he joked that his wife Veronique is “tired of him already,” Fleury hasn’t had second thoughts about stepping away.
“I’ve found out there’s nothing else I can do. There’s nothing else I can do that will fulfill that hole, right, of playing hockey,” Fleury said. “But at the same time, I’m older, slower, more hurt, you know, a little more sore, and less flexible, less fast, maybe.”
“Yeah, I think it’s time.”
Fleury made his one-period cameo during Pittsburgh’s preseason game against Columbus on Saturday, marking the true end of a Hall of Fame career that spanned more than two decades.
