Marc-Andre Fleury’s remarkable, riveting grip on Pittsburgh.
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29 Comments
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Great look at this phenomenon! I love his personality and that he always keeps smiling. Seems to be a pretty darn good Human 💛🖤🤘🤘
DK… do you ever sleep??
Man, I would love to see The Flower play 1 more season in the black and gold!!
Look, I was the same. I thought Murray over Flower was the obvious choice. That said? There’s no denying that in hindsight it was a mistake. No shade on anyone who made the mistake. It happens.
That said? He was and still is a Penguin. I cursed and yelled and screamed that Flower was costing us games for a solid 4 year period. But we also played absolute garbage defense in front of him for a lot of those years.
If you told me he was going to be our 1B this season? I don’t know that he’d be better than our 1A. But I do know that our team would play better in front of him because of who he is.
Credit to Kyle Dubas for helping that happen. It's hard to make a preseason game a heartwarming spectacle, but that's what Fleury's sendoff was.
Murashov looked very good, too. It'll probably still be better for him to start in the AHL, but he was very impressive.
And NHL 94 is fantastic, but I'm an NHL 96 guy… the Genesis version. I mean, obviously, look at my avatar. NHL 95 is very good too, but there are a bunch of players where their handedness is wrong, and that always irritated me. But I still play NHL 96 all the time to this day (in my Genesis emulator).
And fun fact: there's a Swedish version of both NHL 95 & NHL 96… Elitserien 95 & 96. The most notable thing about those games to me, they have a young Johan Hedberg and a young Dick Tarnstrom in the game(s). And my favorite hockey name ever is represented too: Håkan Loob, who was still playing for Fajestads BK at the time.
I think the special thing about Flower was he didn't choose to leave pittsburgh. he loved it here and if he was allowed to he would've been a penguin for life. it was the team that shipped him. so when he came back, it was like welcoming back our own. I was at his first game back, and man that's a night I'll never forget. you described it right dk, he was a superstar, it was all about him
He is the greatest Pens hockey goalie. It is not close. Moreover, he is the best dude EVER!!!!! Last, he is one of the 4-5 greatest goalies ever.
Hey DK! Any thoughts on why Fleury gets the response he does? Your show today covered the fact that, for whatever reason, it happens. But I didn’t glean much about why you suppose fans might like him so much.
Thanks DK!
MAF, today, is still better than Jarry
Appreciate it all, Flower. ❤️🔥🍻
He will ALWAYS be a Blackhawk to me
3 #1 picks. Mario, Flower, Sid. Stanley Cups, Gold medals, HOF, pillars of the game, great humans. How lucky we are to have experienced them.
I don't think we'll ever see a pre-season game sold out packed house like that again. What an absolute proper sendoff. End of an era, I couldn't help but smile seeing him back in Pens gear. He'll have his number retired soon enough. He truly is the nicest guy ever….you could tell he enjoyed every second of it. He had no choice to be traded to Vegas, yes it was a mistake in hindsight but it was his decision to leave. We as fans lost that deal more than any of else
Fleury wasn’t just Pittsburgh’s goalie, he carried himself the Pittsburgh way. Through the highs of three Stanley Cups and the lows of being left unprotected, he never complained, never pointed fingers, and always handled himself with class. Drafted 1st overall, he grew with Sid, Geno, and Letang, helping pull the Pens out of the dark years into a dynasty. Everyone remembers the save in ’09 and how he rose to the moment when the team needed him most. What makes his story different is that when Vegas took him, it wasn’t because Fleury or the city wanted it — he loved Pittsburgh and wanted to stay. And that’s why the love between him and the city runs so deep: a Hall of Fame goalie who stayed humble, loyal, and true, no matter what.
Thank you DK, Every time he came on the ice it was like magic. Flower a huge part of Pittsburgh Hockey. Great show DK
It's kind of like selling your Ferrari. You hate doing it, but there's no back seat for the kids. Then after a few years the new guy lets you drive it one last time.
Flower’s gonna guest star as Iceburgh sometime in the next decade I can feel it.
Most of the fans screaming for Fleury now and asking for one more year were the same yinzers that continuously complained about him while he was here. People have short memories.
Murray was a flash in the pants . He sucked
The love for MAF is part his performance on the ice, part his being part of the glory days of this batch of superstars, part who he is as a person, part that we could all identify and feel for him as he went through his mental struggles with his performance, part the raw deal he got from Mike S. and part the love everyone else experienced when he went to Vegas (which just made so many of us sit up and say “yes he really is that awesome”). I really think it’s a combination of all of those things coming together in a way that no one else is likely to duplicate in my lifetime.
A bit off topic. Clemente's 3,000 hit come with and *. Dear Roberto, he announced he would not play in the final two games(to rest), so the Friday night game was packed. Clemente lost a hit on a scoring decision. At some point, he decided to play the next day(Saturday). In the interim, a cold front blew through the 'burgh', dropping the temperature 30°. The small crowd was a result of Clemente's original announcement and the weather. If you haven't guessed by now………I was there.
I'm sure people would offer other suggestions, but to me, Flower is the most beloved Pittsburgh athlete of the 21st century. I can remember growing up playing hockey in the street I grew up on, and eagerly wanting to put on the pads and making flashy gloves saves and cross crease dramatics just like Fleury. I hope this isn't the last we see of him in our city, one way or another.
I remember when we drafted him, the Pens were HORRIBLE! When he was a rookie, he’d face 40+ shots a game and fought like a warrior to give his team a chance. He was the first piece of the turnaround/dynasty and a great person off the ice. We’re blessed to have had him in Pittsburgh
And as usual, Taylor did an outstanding job covering Fleury's stint from start to finish! Bravo Taylor! 👏👏
Mike buzzing like Beees around a hive .DK I miss him so much .I met him a couple times he was the best
Fleury – best Dubas transfer so far
You got me really thinking today when you brought up NHL 95. I got into hockey by channel surfing watching the pens play the panthers in the playoffs in 95-96. I ended up buying nhl 95 after the pens were eliminated. Playing NHL 95 ultimately got me to go buy a stick and roller blades as a kid and kicked me off to a life time of playing the sport. Funny you mentioned that game, on top of that, the game would give you a default jersey number and the number it issued me happens to be the jersey number I have worn my whole life.
DK – I know this is probably too late for tomorrow's question, but I feel that any arguments for sending Kindel back to Juniors are arbitrary because of his age. Going back to juniors is a complete waste of time. I really don't believe there's any valid argument for him not making the team.