In Full Bloom

As is typical with my long term memory (i.e. remembering useless sports info while forgetting important work related facts), I will never forget where I was when I found out that Marc-Andre Fleury (aka "the Flower") was drafted #1 by the Penguins in the 2003 NHL draft. I had just arrived at a friend's house in Brighton, MA to pick him up to play golf. His roommate was watching ESPN, and it was announced that the Pens had traded from #3 to #1 to draft Fleury. I had read a brief article that week comparing this 18 year-old phenom to fellow French-Canadian goaltending legends Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy. Needless to say, I was intrigued by this potential franchise goalie.

Any respectable Pens fan knows how the next five years transpired. Fleury came to camp in August 2003 and performed so well in training camp that he forced GM Craig Patrick and coach Eddie Olyck to bring him to Pittsburgh to start the season. He set the league abuzz, until he was sent to the World Junior tournament in December and blew the tournament and his confidence in one dramatic week. Financial considerations forced the team to send him to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton upon his return, where he again struggled in the playoffs. In typical “yinzer” fashion, the poor kid starts getting slammed back in Pittsburgh as a bust. Mind you, he was 19 years old and had played a collective 20 games in the NHL, but the always perceptive Pittsburgh media and astute fans were writing him off.

Because of the lost '04-'05 season, the fortuitous deliverance of Sidney Crosby in the 2005 draft and the unceremonious ending to Le Manifique's career, Fleury's '05-'06 season is hazy to me. All I remember is that he continued to bounce between Wilkes-Barre and Pittsburgh and played inconsistent hockey. The criticism often heard focused on his over-reliance on athleticism, instead of proper positioning, his poor stick-handling, and his struggles in big games. Again, the kid was barely able to drink legally in the States. Did not matter, he was a wasted pick. I'm sure Bob Smizik did a 3,000 word column discussing how Fleury was responsible for the financial ruin and imminent departure of the team.

'06-'07 was a great bounce back year for the Penguins organization, but in my mind, Fleury's strong season got lost in the Crosby/Malkin shuffle. He posted the organization’s second 40 win season and collected 5 shutouts. He certainly struggled during the five game first-round beatdown by the Ottawa Senators in the playoffs, but he was not alone in that department. Again, as a 22 year old at the game's toughest position, he helped lead a 47 point turnaround culminating in the team's first playoff birth in five seasons.

I'm rambling here, but all of this background brings us to my main point. Game 5 of the 2008 Stanley Cup finals was one of the 4-5 most exciting Pittsburgh sporting events I have ever watched. And with all of the excitement and drama (Malone's return from a slap shot to a broken nose, Gonchar slamming his back saving a goal and returning to record the 2nd assist on Sykora's OT winner, Sykora telling NBC's Pierre McGuire that he was going to score the OT winner, Michel Theirren playing a "hunch" and inserting eventual goal-scorer Max Talbot as the 6th attacker at the end of regulation, Detroit almost winning it with a barrage during the last 34 seconds of regulation, Jarko "Pittsburgh's Favorite Player" Ruutu ringing the iron with a rocket in the 1st OT, etc) the thing that I was most excited about was the otherworldly performance turned in by the Flower.

To call his performance a "coming of age" doesn't do it justice. A 23 year old goalie made 55 saves in an elimination game on the road in the Stanley Cup finals. On national TV. Against a veteran laden juggernaut. And the numbers alone do not do justice to his performance. It was a thing of beauty. Among his 24 OT saves were some of the most spectacular I have ever seen. With the glove, with the skate, with the stick, with the blocker, on his back, on his stomach…you get the point. Even ever-sardonic Hockey Night in Canada analyst Don Cherry was practically beside himself with excitement on ESPN immediately after the game. He called Fleury's performance one of the best he's ever seen in his long career. This comment from the guy who used Mario Lemieux as a punching bag for years. Clearly not someone easily impressed.

It was gratifying as someone who believed in and defended this kid for 5 years to watch him stand on his head, put his team on his back, and refuse to lose that epic Game 5 in Detroit. Losing the Stanley Cup tonight was tough to take, but it is great to know as a Penguins fan that the team's young goalie has blossomed before our very eyes.