Fleury Appreciation Thread

[AquaticBirdman]

Yes...he's gotten off to great starts to seasons before.

Yes...there's still a lot of hockey to be played and time for him to implode again.

Yes...he could easily go back to his old self come playoff time.

Yes...I could single handedly be jinxing the **** outta him with this thread.

Be that as it may though...I think we can all agree that this season's version of Flower looks much, much DIFFERENT (for lack of a better word).

He's been considerably sharper and more composed in net, no longer resorting to overplaying shots, gifting rebounds, and flopping around his crease like a fish out of water. He's basically looked like a goalie that has matured considerably and is finally confident in himself and his abilities.

Not sure if this is a direct result of the performance coach he was apparently seeing in the summer, or if maybe Jacques Martin's tweeking of our defensive system has had something to do with it (perhaps its both factors?). Whatever the case may be, it's nice to see this new and improved edition of MAF.

Lets just hope it lasts...

Click to read more...

 

[Crafton]

inb4 'doesn't matter till the playoffs'

i think Sean Gentille of the Sporting News sums up the consensus opinion without getting histrionic:

We've said this before; Fleury could go from now until May without letting a goal, and it'll be irrelevant if he melts down again in the postseason. He's playing quite well right now, though—overall, he's 17-8-1 with a .922 save percentage and 2.01 goals-against. He's also been particularly good at home, stopping 353 of 375 pucks faced (.941 save percentage).

http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/sto...-nhl-goalies-who-scored-penguins-blue-jackets

 

[LetangInTheSO]

doesn't matter till the playoffs

 

[Til the End of Time]

the guy does still have some talent, so it shouldnt come as a complete surprise that hes able to play some decent hockey behind a strong team in the regular season when his career is on the line.

guy still sucks when it matters though, and its stupid for a supposed contender to pin their hopes on the worst playoff goalie in the league.

http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2013/5/8/4312126/marc-andre-fleury-stats-penguins-nhl-playoffs-2013

i just hope he's bad enough for the penguins to finally dump him after this season. the worst possible thing that could happen is fleury playing semi-ok in the playoffs, not enough for the pens to advance far but also not historically bad... basically a huge improvement for fleury. shero will then undoubtedly re-sign him for many years, further wasting sid and geno's prime.

honest question-- barring another all-time terrible performance from fleury this postseason and instead assuming he just has a mediocre performance, can anyone actually see shero making the hard choice and dumping fleury? do the penguins really want to rely on a goalie who only plays decent hockey when his career is on the line?

 

[IcedCapp]

he's been good. He is supremely talented. I hope he keeps it up. I like him.

 

[#66]

the guy does still have some talent, so it shouldnt come as a complete surprise that hes able to play some decent hockey behind a strong team in the regular season when his career is on the line.

guy still sucks when it matters though, and its stupid for a supposed contender to pin their hopes on the worst playoff goalie in the league.

http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2013/5/8/4312126/marc-andre-fleury-stats-penguins-nhl-playoffs-2013

i just hope he's bad enough for the penguins to finally dump him after this season. the worst possible thing that could happen is fleury playing semi-ok in the playoffs, not enough for the pens to advance far but also not historically bad... basically a huge improvement for fleury. shero will then undoubtedly re-sign him for many years, further wasting sid and geno's prime.

honest question-- barring another all-time terrible performance from fleury this postseason and instead assuming he just has a mediocre performance, can anyone actually see shero making the hard choice and dumping fleury? do the penguins really want to rely on a goalie who only plays decent hockey when his career is on the line?

I like MAF and still kind of think this way. Its pretty much cup or bust for him.

Who else is out there that the Pens could put their hopes on? I think Ryan Miller is a ******** version of MAF and a guy like Backstrom is way to old. Elliot??? Hitch goalie always look far worse when leaving his system.

He has a lot to prove and I think the Pens have a lot to prove too... from Mario, Shero and Disco to Sid, Malkin, MAF and Letang.

There's this sittin by the dock of the bay attitude with this team and it makes me want to puke. Maybe the early 90's Pens could turn it off and on but this team isn't good enough.

 

[darkbrew*]

Am i the only one who thinks he looks just as sketchy as ever? I think he looks slightly more composed behind the net... but thats because the games aren't that intense yet. I feel most of the improvement has been with the D which has been pretty good to great outside of letang - yes even niskanen.

 

[FDBluth]

When he's on his game, he can be incredible. And he's the most entertaining and athletic goaltender in the league, in my opinion. He's often very good for large portions of the regular season. It's just that whole "mental game" thing. We'll see what happens this postseason.

 

[Sivek]

Wasn't there a similarly named thread about 2 weeks ago or am I smoking rocks?

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1530469

there it is, I feel like I'm on Root right now

 

[AquaticBirdman]

Wasn't there a similarly named thread about 2 weeks ago or am I smoking rocks?

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1530469

there it is, I feel like I'm on Root right now

Does this now rob you of your desire to participate in this thread?

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Sure, why not?

What I am more concerned about is that this entire board knows how teams are going to play the Pens in the playoffs but it comes as some huge surprise to Bylsma.

I do not believe that Fleury suddenly becomes some huge spaz in the playoffs by himself. I do believe that Disco puts the team into a position where they put Fleury under pressure to make up for the poor play in front of him and he becomes a spaz when you do that.

I think getting rid of Disco would get rid of some of Fleury's issues. Or more likely we will see Fleury become a star elsewhere.

 

[mpp9]

Dude's earned his reputation as a choker. Up to him to prove his doubters wrong.

 

[cheesedanish87]

Hes had a good year so far, but i still think hes going to blow up in the playoffs.

 

[ColePens]

#29 did this to himself. It only matters in the playoffs now.

But on the flip side, he's been enjoyable this season. Tonight was one of his strongest efforts. He legit smothered the puck. He wasn't throwing his legs out leaving juicy rebounds.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I do think him having a great season and being a vezina candidate gets him past his mental hump that seems to be bothering him the last 4yrs. I lost a bit of faith in him this past post season but the faith is back in MAF, I really hope no matter what, he's solid this year in the post season, if the team in front of him collapses, I hope he continues to play well despite them.

 

[Captain Hook]

He's been good this regular season. He's been good in the regular season for years though imo. Does anybody honestly not expect bad Fleury to show up and start in goal for the playoffs? I hope for the best come playoff time but fully expect and brace myself for his nearly annual playoff meltdown. Get well soon Vokoun.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

I'm not sure if I'll ever trust Fleury in the playoffs, probably not.

 

[metalan2]

He can provide regular season wins for sure. However, hell never play well enough to beat Boston in the playoffs, or maybe anyone for that matter.

His collapse vs Boston sat is just a small prequel to what happens to him. This thread happens every year where people think hes turned the corner. Guess what he hasn't, and he never will. We NEED Vokoun back for any shot at the cup.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

He's got nobody to blame for the flak he's gotten but himself. He's always money in the regular season, when he's playing lights out come late April through June, make a thread. Until then, none of this matters.

 

[KIRK]

inb4 'doesn't matter till the playoffs'

i think Sean Gentille of the Sporting News sums up the consensus opinion without getting histrionic:



http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/sto...-nhl-goalies-who-scored-penguins-blue-jackets

/thread

 

[Tender Rip]

Not many weak goals.... many very good nights... not much in the way of super human.

Like everyone, I would be happy with this Fleury, if it is also the playoff version.

The biggest secret to our success in terms of GAA however, is that we are giving up the 5th fewest shots against in the league and have the 2nd best PK so far. We really don't allow many quality chances this year unless for individual **** ups.
Perhaps if we didn't start playing Adams and the likes at the end of games but rather stayed aggressive, we wouldn't leak goals before the final whistle the way we do.

 

[KIRK]

Not many weak goals.... many very good nights... not much in the way of super human.

Like everyone, I would be happy with this Fleury, if it is also the playoff version.

The biggest secret to our success in terms of GAA however, is that we are giving up the 5th fewest shots against in the league and have the 2nd best PK so far. We really don't allow many quality chances this year unless for individual **** ups.
Perhaps if we didn't start playing Adams and the likes at the end of games but rather stayed aggressive, we wouldn't leak goals before the final whistle the way we do.

That's why this thread is pointless.

Same reason why a thread about Bylsma being a genius would be pointless if he suddenly ran his bench, constructed lines, etc like someone with a clue during the regular season.

There's a saying in golf. You shoot for show, and you put for dough. The regular season, with Fleury, is just for show.

 

[PensFreak]

Fleury has been decent.

Se an average goalie playing between the pipes and everyone loses their minds!

 

[penguins2946*]

The talent has always been there. His issue is that he's a headcase. He has top-5 skill among goalies in the league, but that doesn't matter if you have the mental capacity of a toddler. Last nights game is a perfect example of this. Fleury tries to go for an empty net, and barely misses it. Columbus comes back and scores (not on Fleury, Engelland and Letang completely blew their coverage). That's vintage Fleury.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

He has looked sharp all year but maybe 2 games. The thing I find different this year and so far anyways is that he doesn't float around as much and actually moves comfortably in his crease. Seems to be a lot more confident as well. I hope he can prove me and others wrong come April-May and June!

Keep it up Flower