CRANBERRY TWP., PA (93.7 The Fan) – Their relationship was shown in a simple reporter interaction Friday at the UPMC Lemieux Complex. It was the last time Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury would practice together, a bonus opportunity.
It goes this way, Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s Dan Kingerski said to Crosby that Fleury made a pretty good save on a barrel roll against him. Crosby then said ‘the one I batted out of the air and scored’. A smile then came over his face.
“I mean, with the yellow pads and some of the drills we were doing, you can still see the way that he competes,” Crosby said. “It's a lot of fun to see. I think that it's just the enthusiasm. I think the energy that he brings, it's really unique.”
Answering the next question, of which there were several, Crosby reflected about the hundreds, thousands of times they practiced and played together. What he loved about Fleury is that he would stay after practice for anyone to get extra work. And he would make it a competition, sometimes subtly and sometimes not.
Crosby understands now that he took all of that for granted, so to get to do that one more time was ‘a lot of fun’.
Fun is something that sticks to Fleury like a middle name. It’s an enthusiasm and energy that is so unique to any player, let alone goalies. Crosby noted most goalies are quiet and stay to themselves, not Fleury.
“I mean, as a goalie, you know how difficult it is,” Crosby said. “It's not easy. There's a lot of pressure. There are tough days where you're answering tough questions and everyone's pointing at you and it's not going well. So I think the way that he handled that, just the mindset that he kept, the teammate that he continued to be through all that.”
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“He always showed up and worked hard, always had a smile on his face, and that hasn't changed from his first day to now.”
There would be many reasons to not have that smile, whether it was the sheer length of time he played or how difficult it was for him when he started his NHL career. For financial reasons, Fleury had to wait to get the call up and when he did, he was on a Penguins team that struggled. His first year he was 4-14 with a .896 save percentage and the following year, 13-27 with a .898 save percentage.
“He had some, well, at least a year there where it was a struggle, and I remember early on he was getting 40, 50 shots, playing unbelievable, and we couldn't get wins for him,” Crosby said. “It was tough, and you know, he couldn't get a shutout. It was like the hardest thing. I don't know how many shutouts he has (76 in 21 seasons), but he should have like 15 to 20 more. He just had those nights where he just took over, and it was pretty cool to see.”
Fleury would win 375 games with the Penguins finishing with a .912 save percentage and 2.58 goals against average and most importantly winning three Stanley Cups.
“We have some great memories of winning, but obviously growing up in the league a little bit too,” Crosby said. “We battled through it, and had some great moments after that, but I think just being with him and all the young guys that came in together, you know, Tanger and Geno, Stahl, so many, but it was a cool time to be able to come up and grow up together.”
Now as they all approach the end, a last chance to see what made it so special.