Emotions to flow; you can bet on it
There never has been any question about Fleury’s heart. Lately, however, there have been plenty about his head, the result of a concussion sustained Oct. 13 against the Detroit Red Wings. But, after a long road back, Fleury returned to game action late Tuesday night, enabling him to play against his former club when they meet Thursdayat T-Mobile Arena.
That’s great news for those who know Fleury best, who know him as the type of guy who would sit for hours and plan a playground or the prodigious prankster who brought happiness wherever hewent.
But as much as the Penguins want to celebrate Fleury’s return, they’re most pleased that their good friend and former teammate is finally healthy.
“Having gone through that, you want to be as healthy as possible as soon as possible,” Sidney Crosby said.
‘A great character guy’
When Tom Kuhnhackl was a rookie in the 2015-16 season, he noticed Fleury leave the Penguins practice facility more quickly than normal but didn’t really thinktoo much of it. Hismistake. Turns out Fleury had swiped Kuhnhackl’s car keys, attached a few liquid chalk markers to his vehicle and parked it in front of where the autograph seekers gather and wait for players to leavethe parking lot.
“Every single fan there signed my car,” Kuhnhackl said, shaking his head. “I couldn’t see out of any of the windows.”
“Thank God, there’s a GetGo with a car wash down the road. It only took me a minute to get there, but I remember driving with my head out the window, trying to figure out where I’m going.”
The legacy Fleury left in Pittsburgh involves equal parts pranks and good deeds done.
Bryan Rust remembers the time Fleury hung his clothes from the rafters at PPG Paints Arena, while former backup Jeff Zatkoff loves to tell the story of the time Fleury changed the labels on hairspray and deodorant cans.
Bullano said Fleury once got Evgeni Malkin good when, after Malkin bought a new sports car, Fleury attached pop cans in hard-tosee places so it sounded like there was something seriouslywrong.
“He’s one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met,” Kuhnhackl said. “A great characterguy.”
Rooting for ‘Flower’
Patric Hornqvist sent Fleury a text message shortly after learning of the concussion, the third of Fleury’s career.
Hornqvist never sent a follow-up note, not wanting to bother Fleury, but Hornqvist said he spent a lot of time thinking about Fleury and hopingfor the best.
“I’m so glad he’s back on the ice and feeling better,” Hornqvist said. “You don’t want to see any guy being out thatlong for a concussion.”
A similar feeling has permeated the Penguins dressingroom.
Fleuryabsolutely provides a stiffer test than any of the four other goalies the Golden Knights have used, but they want to see their friend, one of the most well-liked professional athletes in this city’s history,play against them.
If Fleury pitched a shutout, this might be the one time all season the Penguins wouldbe OK with it.
“He was the epitome of a great teammate,” Rust said. “He could tell when guys weren’t feeling the greatest or their confidence was down. He was always there to help with that, whether it was something he said or just lightening the mood at practice.
“Even when things weren’t going his way, he still kept that same, upbeat attitude. Us young guys seeing that, and how he handled himself,that taught us how to handle ourselves in situations like that.”
‘Selflessness and ... class’
It’s admirable that Fleury thought he needed to do one morething to leave his legacy here, but it couldn’t be furtherfrom the truth.
Fleury’s legacy as one of Pittsburgh’s — forget just the Penguins franchise — greats was cemented long ago. It almost seems like a footnote that Fleury was also really goodat hockey.
“He’s one of the best human beings to have ever come through this locker room,”Bullano said.
Did you know Fleury once rented a room at the Ronald McDonald House, which helps house families so they can stay near hospitalized children, because he learned some people can’t cobble together enough funds to get help and he never wanted to seesomeone turned away? Well,Fleury did. Foran entire year. And insisted on nobody everknowing about it.
“He made so many charitable contributions that people would never know that are just wonderful,” Bullano said. “He never wanted any credit for them. He never wanted people to know. He didn’t want to talk about it. [Fleury and his wife, Veronique] having the feeling that they did something good for someone else was all theyneeded.”
There was also the time that, after a game at old Nassau Coliseum, Fleury was so intrigued by the charity the Islanders were supporting — Smile Train, which was founded by one of the team’s owners, Charles Wang — that he asked how he could get involved, and later did something similar with Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh ofUPMC.
“He’s always looking to bring people up,” Carter Rowney said. “To me, ‘Flower’ represents selflessness and pure class.”
Thursday, Fleury could represent something else — the enemy, the opposing goaltender.
It’s an outcome Fleury’s closest friends have been rooting for, and now, it’s finally near.
The same as Feb. 6, for Fleury’s return to PPG Paints Arena, and the same as that fateful October afternoon where Fleury decided what he wanted his playground to look like, there should be plenty of emotion for everyoneinvolved.
Taking into account the admiration that everyone who knew him has for Fleury, the games should probably be sponsored by Kleenex.
“We all want nothing more than to see him at the other end of the ice when we go to Vegas,” Bullano said. “I’m sure it will be emotional. I remember thinking on [Chris] Kunitz’s return, that ovation … I can’t even imagine what Flower’s will be because I know they were both fan favorites.
“It’s going to be interesting. I think both nights will be emotional for him. I’m actually hoping he gets to play a game beforehand because I think it would be crazy to come back after being out this long and then have to facehis old team.”