The most enigmatic athlete in all of Pittsburgh sports right now might just be Marc-Andre Fleury. You could probably remove the might because you can argue that although his mistakes happen at the worst moments, Big Ben doesn’t have a Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin surrounding him. It seems as though most Penguins fans — even if some still have a soft spot from the 2009 Stanley Cup run — have had enough of Fleury. And those that still are willing to see what happens with him, are no longer willing to make excuses for him. But, the majority opinion of most Pens fans is that this will be the Flower’s last year in a Pittsburgh uniform.
The thing is, General Manager Ray Shero will have to decide after this season, Fleury’s last under contract, is… do the Penguins have a better option at goalie? Will they be confident in passing the torch to Jeff Zatkoff, will they be able to sign a Toman Vokoun-esque veteran again for a year or two? And how much longer can you keep signing stop gap goaltenders who are pushing 40? I would think the Pens would want to try to develop another possible franchise goaltender such as last year’s top pick Tristan Jarry.
It seems as if I am already putting Fleury is past tense, like it’s a done deal he’s gone already. As of right now, that’s the vibe I get. Heck, as of last year’s playoffs, that’s the vibe I got. Apparently no one wanted to take on Fleury’s $5 million contract, or offered very little in return, as I would find it hard to believe he wasn’t dangled as trade bait this past off-season. When asked about Fleury’s preseason camp, Ray Shero said, “It’s been ok, a work in progress so far”, and also added, “(Fleury) is going to have to step up, no question.”
Read into that what you will, but it seems as though Shero doesn’t have a ton of confidence in Fleury, and just in case he (Fleury) doesn’t realize the amount of pressure on him this coming season, Shero reminded him of it, and maybe added a little more to it. The Penguins have even went so far as to have Fleury see a sports psychologist this off-season and hired Mike Bales to be the new goalie coach. There are no more excuses for Fleury.
Sure, Fleury could pick up his 40+ wins during the regular season (again), but after the Penguins have been ousted earlier than most have expected the last four playoffs in a row, those regular season wins mean very little anymore. I don’t even like ESPN, but Fleury didn’t crack their top 25 NHL goaltenders. Penguins fans have every right to not have faith in Fleury, and should be concerned until the evidence proves otherwise, and that evidence is winning playoff games and series, and ultimately, while the window might still be open, winning another Stanley Cup. Pittsburgh fans are not just happy to get the the Eastern Conference Finals, especially with their 37-year-old backup goalie getting them there.
Sure, Vokoun played stellar at times, but a guy like that is only going to take you so far. This is put up or shut up time for the soon to be 29-year-old Fleury. Maybe, just maybe, he can stop thinking and just start playing. But more than likely, I think he’ll end up the Steve Blass of hockey, a guy who contributed mightily to a championship team, but then just lost it. The Pens have reached the point of no return with Fleury, and what’s left of this flower will soon be wilted.
