Marc-Andre Fleury has a lot of critics to answer heading into the 2012-2013 season and rightfully so; his performance this past spring in a six game series against the Philadelphia Flyers was disappointing to say the least. As a result, the Penguins traded for Tomas Vokoun hoping to solidify their backup goalie position in the event that Fleury melts down again.
Fleury, undoubtably, has his eyes set on more positive results in 2012 with several of the franchise’s goaltending records in sight. While the ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup, here are some records Fleury could own by the end of the 2012-2013 season:
Most career games as a Penguin goalie
Tom Barrasso-460
Marc-Andre Fleury-434
Minutes
Tom Barrasso-25879
Marc-Andre Fleury- 24757
Wins
Tom Barrasso/Marc Andre Fleury-226
Losses
Tom Barrasso-153
Marc-Andre Fleury-143
Shutouts
Tom Barrasso-24
Marc-Andre Fleury-22
Playoff Shutouts
Tom Barrasso/Marc-Andre Fleury- 5
As you can see, those records are all owned or shared by Tom Barrasso. Playing on the same team as Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Paul Coffey, and Larry Murphy, Barrasso was often overlooked as a cornerstone piece to championship teams. With the team aggressively pushing their offense, the American-born goaltender was often left on an island with minimal defensive help. Nevertheless, he left Pittsburgh claiming most of the franchise’s records.
Barrasso was a trade acquisition from Buffalo in 1988. Marc-Andre Fleury was home grown. The records Barrasso set were meant to be broken by a player who was drafted and developed within the organization and with the pace Fleury is on, they’ll be shattered within the next three years. The most important, most difficult, record is, of course, the Stanley Cup titles. Marc-Andre Fleury will obviously need help to win at least two more, but he may be the most important piece to achieving that goal.
Photo courtesy of Flickr
