THE VERDICT: Marc-Andre Fleury - Authentic, Genuine and World-Class

If Marc-Andre Fleury is just passing through Chicago, what a blast of fresh air he has been.
He affords the Blackhawks a chance to win every night. He makes playing in goal seem like fun, if not easy. He has no known enemies and prompts fans everywhere to cheer for him, a level of admiration that translates in any language.
Like Thursday night. With the clock winding down, many in the Bell Centre crowd of 20,447 warmly chanted his name as Fleury registered his 500th National Hockey League victory, a 2-0 conquest of the Montreal Canadiens.

"It's always special, playing here," said Fleury, who grew up in nearby Sorel, following the Les Canadiens. "It meant a lot."
With this victory, Fleury joins the Maginot Line of Masked Men. Martin Brodeur posted 691 wins, the most by far in NHL history. Fleury's idol, Patrick Roy, had 551. And now, Fleury is in with 500, and counting. Tony Esposito won 418 times for the Blackhawks, their high.
The other winningest active goalie is Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings with 342. Interestingly, at a time when Quebec's presence in the NHL is dwindling, the aforementioned Brodeur, Roy and Fleury were all born in that province. Prepared video tributes from Brodeur and Roy were ready to roll Tuesday night at the United Center, but so were the New York Rangers.
However, Thursday night, the Blackhawks were airtight. Fleury made 30 saves for his 69th career shutout, then was smothered by teammates at games end while the chorus hailed a French-Canadian luminary.
"FLEUR-Y!! FLEUR-Y!! FLEUR-Y"

On July 27, 2021, the Blackhawks acquired Fleury, just a few weeks after he had earned the Vezina Trophy with the Vegas Golden Knights. They had salary cap issues; the Blackhawks had red light problems. The season's regular schedule was abbreviated, but they couldn't ascribe all 186 goals against in 56 games to the pandemic.
It took a little while for Fleury to ponder whether he wanted to uproot his family for Chicago, but the suspense ended when he shared a message: "I'm in. Let's get to work." Michael Jordan holds the all-timer in that department, unretiring in March of 1995 with that famous: "I'm Back."
For the Blackhawks and their supporters, Fleury has been everything they could have ever asked for because he is what he has always been.
Fleury is a splendid goalie, technically sound and adept at diagnosing what unfolds before him, then contorting his body in whatever athletic form needed to reject a puck, whether it's with arms, legs or some portion of the anatomy in between. After all these years, is Fleury amenable to working overtime? He's perfect in shootouts this season, 8-for-8.
Fleury is a spectacular teammate who inspires confidence on the ice, then lights up the room instead of emptying it off ice, as do so many of his stressed masked brethren. Fleury presides over the most grueling position in sports, yet he eases the grind, whether by pranking with the guys, exchanging jabs with fellow superstar Patrick Kane at practice or mentoring young sidekick Kevin Lankinen at lunch. Jimmy Waite, the Blackhawks' esteemed goalie coach, recently told The Athletic that Fleury listens and learns like a rookie. And he's 37.
Fleury is a world-class ambassador for the sport, the organization, the brand. He performs every aspect of his existence with elan, but it's not an act. It's him, authentic, genuine. Fleury masters the ultimate trick of his trade: selective amnesia about the save that might have been. Yet he never forgets all the intangibles that define a professional in all ways, with every mannerism. Fleury is a giver, until you broach his blue paint.

"He's going to be a Hall of Famer, first ballot," assures Eddie Olczyk, the lead TV analyst for the Blackhawks and NHL who frequently marvels at Fleury's "ten-bell" stops. "And he's already a Hall of Fame person."
Olczyk was Fleury's first coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who drafted him first overall in 2003. He became a legend there, winning three Stanley Cups. He remains one of the most beloved athletes in a city that has been blessed with a spate of superstars. He left Pittsburgh, but Pittsburgh did not leave him.
When the Golden Knights constructed their first ever roster in the spring of 2017, they grabbed Fleury. One June later, the Golden Knights were in the Stanley Cup Final. They would not have reached there, nor would they have been the most successful expansion franchise in NHL chronicles without him. Fleury was the smiling face of the franchise.
Try to find someone who has a bad word about Fleury and you will fail. He is perpetually upbeat and seems quite normal. Except, considering his vocation, he is abnormal.
Glenn Hall, the Blackhawks' Hall of Famer, said he never met a fellow goalie who regretted quitting. Hall played most of his marvelous career without a mask and without lunch. He confessed that if he didn't regurgitate before a game he didn't feel ready.
Eddie Belfour, also a Blackhawks' Hall of Famer, cautioned one and all about touching his equipment. Do so, he warned, "and I'll kill you." His apt nickname? "Crazy Eddie." (Good thing he didn't cross paths with Fleury, who has been accused of messing with guys' stuff and is often a person of interest when a teammate's hotel room is rearranged.)
Esposito, yet another Blackhawks' Hall of Famer, retired from public life on game days. If wife, Marilyn, craved quiet time for herself, she could always depend on riding shotgun for trips to the Stadium. Gary Smith, briefly Esposito's partner here, would remove all his gear between periods, no easy task since he often wore a dozen pair of socks to keep his skates "snug."
Then there was Gilles Gratton, who claimed that in a previous life he had committed misdeeds. As punishment, he said he was banished to goalkeeping. You can't make this stuff up.

Fleury does tap the goal posts by way of thanking them for crucial rejections. (His hero, Roy, actually talked to posts when he played.)
Thing is, Fleury is naturally friendly. Jim Rutherford, an ex-goalie and former general manager in Pittsburgh, suggested that Fleury is "just as likely to help a stranger change a tire in a snowstorm as he is to help a teammate."
We've all heard the old sports saw. Once an athlete ponders retirement, he's already got one foot, or skate, out the door. Not Fleury. He's been all in and he's someone you should know. If you happen to meet him, he'll treat you with respect and a smile. Especially if you're a post or a crossbar.