A Las Vegas-based artist created a life-sized plastic brick statue of the Vegas Golden Knights goalie, which is on display at the Circa Resort and Casino.
Chris Ihle, who moved to Las Vegas from Ames, Iowa two years ago, was asked by casino owner Derek Stevens to complete the Fleury statue, which was inspired by his
now-famous Superman save
on Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nic Petan on Nov. 19, as part of his
recently opened gallery
on the second floor of the brand-new Circa casino.
"Being new to Las Vegas and having everyone talking about the Knights and rooting for the Knights, I wanted to just jump on the bandwagon and become a Golden Knights fan," Ihle told NHL.com. "Every city has its moments of great sporting history, and the owner of the casino thought that this would be a great piece, and that the people of Las Vegas would really dig it."
Ihle used more than 77,000 plastic bricks to create the sculpture, and the work took more than four months to complete.
"They asked me to build the statue during the Stanley Cup] Playoffs," Ihle said. "So we got to watch Marc-Andre Fleury while we were building Marc-Andre Fleury, and that's what was fun."
It is not the first time Fleury has inspired a giant work of art in Las Vegas.
In 2018, during the team's run to the Stanely Cup Final in their inaugural season, a
[120-pound likeness of the goalie made out of chocolate
turned up at the Bellagio Hotel.
Ihle also produced a brick statue of Golden Knights forward Mark Stone. That statue, which Ihle estimated will take 65,000 bricks, was commissioned by casino owner Derek Stevens because Stone is his favorite player. That statue was unveiled for Stone when he recently visited the casino for dinner and will be on display to the public when it is completed in late December.
Ihle is based in Las Vegas but also expressed interest in producing statues that aren't necessarily Golden Knights themed.
"We think every team should have one," he said, "and we'll build them."
