At 5-foot-6, Fleury was one of the smallest players of his generation, arguably the biggest reason the Calgary Flames were able to wait until the eighth round of the 1987 NHL Draft to select Fleury with the 166th pick, even though he was coming off a 61-goal, 129-point season with Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League. He was even better for Moose Jaw in 1987-88, scoring 68 goals and finishing with 160 points (and 235 penalty minutes) in 65 games.
The Flames signed Fleury and sent him to Salt Lake City of the International Hockey League to begin the 1988-89 season. He scored 37 goals in 40 games and was promoted to Calgary.
At 5-foot-6, Fleury was one of the smallest players of his generation, arguably the biggest reason the Calgary Flames were able to wait until the eighth round of the 1987 NHL Draft to select Fleury with the 166th pick, even though he was coming off a 61-goal, 129-point season with Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League. He was even better for Moose Jaw in 1987-88, scoring 68 goals and finishing with 160 points (and 235 penalty minutes) in 65 games.
The Flames signed Fleury and sent him to Salt Lake City of the International Hockey League to begin the 1988-89 season. He scored 37 goals in 40 games and was promoted to Calgary.
Fleury made his NHL debut on Jan. 5, 1989. He got his first three points, all assists, two nights later and scored his first two goals in his third NHL game. He finished with 34 points (14 goals, 20 assists) in 36 games, then contributed five goals and 11 points during Calgary's run to its first Stanley Cup championship.
Fleury scored 31 goals in 1989-90, then had NHL career highs in goals (51) and points (104) in 1990-91, when he also led the NHL with a plus-48 rating. He reached 100 points again in 1992-93 (34 goals, 66 assists) and at least 85 two more times before the Flames traded Fleury to the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 28, 1999.
He scored 10 goals in 15 games with the Avalanche and finished with five goals and 17 points in 18 Stanley Cup Playoff games, but Colorado lost to the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final and Fleury became a free agent. He signed with the New York Rangers on July 8, 1999.
Fleury scored 30 goals for the eighth time in his NHL career in 2000-01 and finished with 74 points. He had 63 points (24 goals, 39 assists) the following season, his last with New York. He signed with the Chicago Blackhawks as a free agent on Aug. 15, 2002.
Fleury scored 12 goals and 33 points in 54 games with the Blackhawks, then played one season of senior hockey and one with Belfast of Great Britain's Elite Ice Hockey League. He finished his NHL career with 1,088 points (455 goals, 633 assists) in 1,084 NHL games, as well as 79 points (34 goals, 45 assists) in 77 playoff games.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- WHL East First All-Star Team (1987)
- WJC-A All-Star Team (1988)
- WHL East Second All-Star Team (1988)
- NHL Second All-Star Team (1995)
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (1991, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001)
- Traded to Colorado by Calgary with Chris Dingman for Rene Corbet, Wade Belak, Robyn Regehr and Colorado's 2nd round compensatory choice (Jarret Stoll) in 2000 Entry Draft, February 28, 1999.
- Signed as a free agent by NY Rangers, July 8, 1999.
- Traded to San Jose by NY Rangers to complete transaction that sent San Jose's 6th round choice (Kim Hirschovits) in 2002 Entry Draft for NY Rangers' 6th round choice in 2003 Entry Draft (June 23, 2002), June 26, 2002.
- Signed as a free agent by Chicago, August 15, 2002.
- Signed as a free agent by Belfast (Britain), August, 2005.