By Neil Becker
Following a truly historic 21-year NHL career, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury’s next stop will be induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Fleury, who was known for his million-dollar smile and ability to pull a variety of pranks on teammates, took a giant step towards stardom on June 21, 2003 at Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville. The Pittsburgh Penguins GM Craig Patrick drafted the teenager first overall.
What a lot of hockey fans might not realize is that Fleury became only the third goalie in NHL history to be drafted first overall. The only other two were Rick DiPietro who was selected first overall in 2000 by the New York Islanders and Michel Plasse who was selected way back in 1968 by his hometown Montreal Canadiens.
Affectionately known as ‘Flower’ Fleury, who is from Sorel-Tracy Quebec and grew up a Montreal Canadiens fan, caught scouts attention while playing for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 2000-2004. Fleury—who was immensely popular with the fans, appeared in 151 games over his four-year tenure with the team, posting a solid 63-50-17 record along with a 3.19 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage. On January 25, 2008, his No. 29 jersey was officially retired to the rafters of the Cape Breton arena.
While with the Screaming Eagles, Fleury’s stock among scouts continued to rise, and in 2003 he won the Mike Bossy Award as the QMJHL’s top draft prospect, as well as the Telus Defensive Player of the Year Award, given to the league’s top defensive player.
On the International front, Fleury was once again clutch as he helped Canada win back-to-back silver medals at the 2003 and 2004 World Junior Championships.
During his storied NHL career, Fleury would enjoy great success playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Vegas Golden Knights, Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild. This past year saw him finish his career with an astonishing 575 wins placing him second on the NHL’s all-time list behind three-time Stanley Cup winner and current Hall of Famer goalie Martin Brodeur.
Other impressive statistics recorded by Fleury include 76 career shutouts which ties him with Tony Esposito and Eddie Belfour for 10th on the NHL’s all time career shutout list.
‘Flower’ also occupies second spot in games played at 1,051 right behind Brodeur. His stats include a career .912 save percentage and a 2.60 GA which ranks just outside the league’s top 10 list.
His is also a three time Stanley Cup winner, having won the Cup in 2009, 2016 and 2017.
Throughout the years, this 6’2” 185-pound acrobatic goalie thrilled fans around the globe with hundreds of highlight reel saves.
That being said, Fleury will always be known for his miraculous 2009 Stanley Cup Finals Game 7 last second save on Detroit Red Wings Nicklas Lidström to preserved the Penguins 2-1 Stanley Cup clinching win.
With this save, Fleury showed why he was considered such an elite goaltender. The date was June 12, 2009 and with regulation time almost at zero Fleury showed those cat-like reflexes by diving across the crease and robbing the Wings defenceman from in close to clinch the Penguins first cup.
Overall, Fleury has carved out quite the impressive playing resume which besides the three Stanley Cups also includes such lofty achievements as playing in the 2011, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020 NHL All-Star Games. Other achievements include the 2009-10 season when Fleury was named to the All-Decade first team which honors the best to play different positions over the past decade. He also took home in 2021 the Vezina Trophy and William M. Jennings along with being named to the 2021 Second All-Star Team.
Fleury, unfortunately, couldn’t outrun Father Time. After the Minnesota Wild were eliminated from the playoffs this year, he officially announced what many had already suspected: he was retiring to spend more time with his family
The love and admiration players had for Fleury was on full-display when on May 2, 2025 in an emotional scene which will throughout the years be shown over and over again, when Golden Knights players after defeating Minnesota in the Western Conference best of 7 first round series had some special words and huge for Fleury
“It’s probably so hard for him, you know?” said Wild star forward Kirill Kaprizov. “It was nice to play with him in my career a little bit for a couple of seasons together. We can learn so much stuff from him. How we need to be working and to be better. I don’t know what to say. He’s had an unbelievable career. Won a couple Stanley Cups. One of the best goalies in the world for all-time amazing career.”
Fleury’s best moments came in his first 13 years which was spent playing for the Penguins. Always quick with a joke and displaying that positive energy, he would not only play an important role in helping the Penguins win three Stanley Cups but also set various franchise records including most wins by a Penguins goalie at 375 along with most games played with 691 and first in franchise history with 44 shutouts.
During that magical 2009 playoff run, he not only made that miraculous save in Game 7 with the cup on the line, but earlier in second round action he also was at his best in making a Game 7 breakaway save on Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin during what turned out to be a 2-1 series win for the Pens.
As a Penguin, Fleury was a hero not only on the ice but also off where he and his wife Veronique were heavily involved with the Ken-Rox Boys & Girls club. He was also involved with the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation in donating a new playground to the club. Fleury also endeared himself to Penguin fans by at times skating out as one of the game’s three stars wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers helmet
Perhaps the one scenario which shows just what a great teammate Fleury was came when the Penguins won the 2017 Stanley Cup in 6 games against the Nashville Predators. When Fleury received the Stanley Cup that night at Bridgestone Arena, he kissed it before handing it over to his good friend and fellow goalie partner – Matt Murray, who everyone knew was about to take over for Fleury as the Penguins number one netminder.
To this day, Fleury still ranks number one in Penguins franchise history for multiple categories. This also includes the playoffs where it’s not surprising to see that he ranks number one among all Penguins goalies with 115 post-season games and is number one with 62 playoff wins along with 10 shutouts.
The first step to Fleury’s departure as a Penguin occurred on June 21, 2017 when days after winning the Stanley Cup, the veteran agreed to waive his no trade/no movement clause. As a result at the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, Fleury’s tenure as a Penguin officially came to an end when the expansion Vegas Golden Knights selected the star goalie.
In the Golden Knights season opener Fleury made quite the impression as he made 45 saves in helping Vegas to a 2-1 win against the Dallas Stars.
Fleury continued his solid play for the entire season as he posted0 29 win along with 4 shutouts, a 2.24 GAA and a .927 save percentage. Not only did the expansion Golden Knights make the playoffs but anchored by the clutch goaltending of Fleury, made it to the finals but couldn’t defeat that year’s Stanley Cup winners the Washington Capitals.
An emotional moment for Fleury during his first year with the Golden Knights came in early February 2018 when he returned to Pittsburgh for a game and received a loud enthusiastic standing ovation from fans and a touching video tribute detailing Fleury’s time with the Penguins.
“He did so much for our team and so much for the city,” the Penguins captain, former teammate and good friend Sidney Crosby said.
Needless to say the standing ovation, video tribute and the many touching signs in the crowd brought Fleury to tears.
Statistically wise, Fleury’s best season as a Golden Knight came in in 2020/21 when in his fourth and final season with Vegas, he posted a 1.98 GAA and .928 save percentage in winning the William M. Jennings Trophy along with the Vezina Trophy.
Currently, Fleury is still the Golden Knights franchise leader with 117 wins shutouts with 23, shots against with 5,509 and Goals Against Average at 2.59.
Fleury’s tenure with Vegas would come to an end when on July 27, 2021 he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks.
The 2021-22 campaign would see Fleury play only 45 games with the Blackhawks before being moved on March 22, 2022 this time to Minnesota where he would earn 64 wins along with five shutouts over the final three and a half years of his illustrious career.
Fleury’s final NHL win was anything but conventional. Instead of playing an entire 60 -minute game, In the final game of the season, Fleury came off the bench for overtime and made several highlight reel -saves to the delight of the Xcel Energy Center in an eventual 3-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks.
“Some days a little bit more emotional, some days a little bit more fun,” Fleury said. “But I try to not take any day for granted, try to enjoy every day. It goes by so quick so try to make the most out of it.”
Needless to say, after Fleury got win number 575, he received another thunderous standing ovation from the fans and after getting mobbed by his teammates shook hands with all the Duck players.
After the Wild were officially eliminated, Fleury didn’t immediately hang up his skates. Just four days later, he agreed to join Team Canada for the World Championship in Stockholm, Sweden, and Herning, Denmark. Among his teammates was his former Penguins captain, Sidney Crosby.
“I think it’ll be fun to go spend some time together and yell at him in practice a but, keep him honest,” Fleury said.
When the World Championship comes to an end and Fleury officially hangs up his skates, it will mark a bittersweet day in hockey as the sport says goodbye to an all-time icon, both on and off the ice.
