Fleury thrilled 'to finish where everything started' with Penguins

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Marc-Andre Fleury hadn’t been gone that long.

Actually, it was less than a year. On Oct. 28, 2024, the 40-year-old goalie practiced at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, the training facility of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Fleury was a visitor, though, playing his final NHL season for the Minnesota Wild.

Friday was different. It was the same rink. This time, it was home.

“It’s good to be on this side of the locker room for once,” Fleury said, sitting at his old stall, now belonging to goalie Tristan Jarry.

Fleury signed a professional tryout contract with the Penguins on Sept. 12 and will play one period of a preseason game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN-PIT), capping a 21-season NHL career that began with 13 seasons in Pittsburgh.

“I feel like I’ve said goodbye like 17 times already to everybody,” Fleury said. “I was a little banged up too, you know, after the season. I wasn’t planning on working out or skating, and I didn’t. Then, we talked a few weeks back.

“I was like (at) home, kids in school, you know? And I was like, ‘Yeah, I think it’ll be fun and spend some time with the guys and the staff, and see the fans and all that stuff too.' So, yeah, I’m happy that it all worked out.”

About 20 minutes before practice, Fleury walked from the locker room sporting bright yellow pads reminiscent of a pair from his first several seasons. He took the ice to an estimated crowd of just less than 800.

The fans chanted. Fleury did a few laps. Centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang, his longtime Penguins teammates, waited at the other end.

He took the crease eventually, facing shots from Crosby, Letang and forward Bryan Rust.

“That might be what I loved the most,” Fleury said, “just being on the ice and have a lot of shots, see the guys a bunch, be able to chirp a bit here and there. That's a lot of fun for me.”

Crosby scored on his second attempt, with Fleury looking to the rafters, his customary wry smile visible through the bars of his mask. Crosby laughed in the right face-off circle, then had his next few shots turned away -- one with Fleury windmilling in the crease.

“The one where I batted it out of the air and scored, that’s the one you’re talking about?” Crosby said, chuckling. “Yeah, it was a good initial save, for sure. Yeah.”

Every little thing Fleury did got a reaction -- taking the crease and leaving it, making a save and letting in a goal.

It was a reception earned long ago. The No. 1 pick in the 2003 NHL Draft, Fleury won the Stanley Cup three times (2009, 2016, 2017) before being selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.

Mike Sullivan, now coach of the New York Rangers, was Fleury’s coach for the last two championships.

“He just represents everything that makes us proud to be associated with the game,” Sullivan said. “He’s a great person. He’s a fierce competitor. And he loves hockey. I don’t think you play as long as ‘Flower’ did and play in as many games as he has if you don’t love the game. His energy is so contagious.”

Fleury is 575-339-95 with two ties in 1,051 games, with the second-most wins and games played by a goalie in NHL history behind Martin Brodeur (691 wins, 1,266 games).

Fleury has the most wins (375) and games played (691) on Pittsburgh's all-time list. His 2.58 goals-against average is the lowest in its history and his .912 save percentage is tied for second (minimum 100 games played) with Casey DeSmith, behind Matt Murray (.914).

Crosby, Malkin and Letang are the Penguins' core three. It was once four. Fleury was the foundation.

“He was here before us,” Crosby said. “He had some, at least a year there, where it was a struggle. I remember, early on, he was getting 40, 50 shots, playing unbelievable. We couldn’t get wins for him. It was tough. He couldn’t get shutouts. It was the hardest thing. He’d have a shutout for, like, 57 minutes and then let one in, it was crazy.

“I don’t know how many shutouts he has, but he should have, like, 15 to 20 more. He just had those nights where he just took over.”

Fleury has 76 shutouts in his NHL career, tied with Tony Esposito and Ed Belfour for 10th in League history.

The numbers aren’t what endears Pittsburgh to Fleury.

On June 14, 2017, he grasped one side of the Stanley Cup with the other held by Murray, his successor, at the end of a championship parade.

Six days later was his last appearance in a Penguins jersey before Friday. Fleury held an autograph signing at a DICK’s Sporting Goods down a hill from this practice rink, knowing he was destined for Vegas.

He wanted to do right by Pittsburgh. He’s now trying to do the same for Minnesota.

"(Out of) respect for Minnesota, I didn’t want to say I was retiring a Penguin, just because that's where I played my last game, my last real game, in Minnesota,” Fleury said. “Obviously, they were very good to me there also. But it's a huge opportunity. I'm very thankful to finish where everything started for me.”

And, make no question, this is it.

“I obviously love hockey, love this,” Fleury said. “I love everything about the game, being around the guys, and love playing, love practicing. And I’ve found out that there's nothing else I can do that will fill that hole, right, of playing hockey. But at the same time, I'm older, slower, more hurt, a little more sore, and not as flexible, as fast, maybe. Yeah, I think it’s time.”

NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen contributed to this report