29 December 2023
Ten days into training camp, Marc-Andre Fleury was asked if he ever gets tired of being in net with a wave of skaters coming at him and no defense in front of him.
Even if he makes the initial save, or even a second, the skaters almost inevitably make a third pass to a linemate for an easy, and superfluous, goal.
“I know in my head, ‘This won’t happen in a game,’ ” the veteran goaltender said. “Like, maybe the first pass, I have to be there for that one, and I get a chance there. Then if the third pass gets in backdoor, it is what it is. You still try, right?
“It’s fun when you can stop them and you can yell, ‘Go (jump in a lake)!’ ”
After nearly 20 seasons in the NHL, Fleury remains Fleury, even as he nears 1,000 career games and, barring injury, becoming the league’s second-winningest goaltender. During several goal-front drills in an hour-long practice Thursday at TRIA Rink, the veteran fought hard for every save, and gave it to teammates when he made them.
Good naturedly. Always good naturedly.
“He’s always talking after saves, always yelling, saying stuff,” teammate Ryan Hartman said. “He’s always joking around and making the big saves. I’ve played with a lot of goalies that get mad in practice, like if you make a backdoor pass and score on them.
“Obviously, he competes. He wants to make that save every time, regardless of whether it’s an impossible save. It makes us better, it makes him better.”
Filip Gustavsson, 8-2-0 with a 1.77 goals-against average and .932 save percentage in his past 10 starts, will be in net on Saturday in Winnipeg when two of the hottest teams in the league start a home-and-home weekend series at Canada Life Centre.
Fleury is scheduled to play on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center. It will be his 999th NHL game. Only three goaltenders have played more — Martin Brodeur (1,266), Patrick Roy (1,029) and Roberto Luongo (1,044). Among active goalies, the New York Rangers’ Jonathan Quick is next with 765.
With a win, Fleury would tie Roy for second-most career wins by a goalie, 551.
Asked Thursday if it ever gets to be a grind, or get old, he said, “Some days, like anybody else. You get off on the wrong foot every once in a while. Other than that, I’ve been lucky, fortunate to do what I do for so long. There’s no better job in the world.”
There’s no doubt Fleury loves the competition, in games, practice and pregame warmups. For instance, he is always in net for the “last puck” drill, which usually goes to that night’s backup goaltender and features all the skaters around the crease throwing pucks on net until they’re all in.
In the words of teammate Freddy Gaudreau, “It’s everyone against the goalie.”
Fleury loves it.
“It’s mostly about trying to get a sweat, stretched out, moving — getting your heart going a bit,” he said. “At the same time, when they don’t score, I yell at them. I like it, too. I think it’s fun and a good wakeup for the body. You can go back in and relax before the game.”
Does he ever stop them all?
“Yep. Yeah,” Fleury said before explaining that if he does, he will sometimes celebrate by using his stick to send the puck to the other end of the rink, or into the netting behind the goal.
With the Wild, he said, “We start kind of early, so it’s hard. Some teams start low later, closer to the buzzer, then if you haven’t scored by the buzzer, then I win.”
In his 20th season, Fleury played for Pittsburgh, Vegas and, briefly, Chicago before being acquired at the 2022 trade deadline by Minnesota — coincidentally, one of only two teams against whom Fleury has a losing career record, 7-15-0 in 22 starts. The other, barely, is New Jersey (24-26-5).
Since joining the Wild, Fleury is a combined 39-23-6 in 68 starts 2.89 GAA. At 39, he has shown little signs of losing his edge, in games — 3-1-0 with a 2.50 GAA and .925 save percentage in his past four starts — or practice.
“He likes to be vocal, and it’s just fun. It’s good energy,” Gaudreau said. “It brings the pace higher, and it’s fun when you get in front of a goalie and know he’s trying to stop it. He’s working his best to be his best, which makes us want to be our best. I think that’s a really awesome culture. You try to score every time, and he tries to save every time. That’s how you get better.”
Maybe it’s even simpler for Fleury.
“I don’t like when they score,” he said. “It’s being a goalie, right? You try to stop them.”
Among giants
Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is within spitting distance of joining, and passing, some of the NHL’s elite on the career leader board:
Goalie Games Wins
1. Martin Brodeur 1,266 691
2. Patrick Roy 1,029 551
3. Marc-Andre Fleury 998 550
4. Roberto Luongo 1,044 489
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