Marc-Andre Fleury Appreciation Thread (Selected by Vegas in exchange for 2020 2nd)

[ncm7772]

I suppose you can lump me in with those that just aren't that affected by this. I mean Fleury seems like a nice guy, and I wish him well, but the league is littered with nice guys. I have to admit, I do find the emotional outpouring over Fleury/resistance to Murray from certain portions of this fan base to be very odd to say the least. But hey, people can do as they please I suppose.

I've also resigned myself to the fact that I had better settle in for several years of certain posters(and one in particular) suddenly becoming very harsh goaltending critics now that Fleury is gone. Goodbye "defense can't clear a ****ign puck" posts, hello "glove hand again" posts.

I'm with you. I wish MAF the best going forward, but this league a business, and this was the right move.

MAF was immensely important in 3 Cup runs. But at the same time, he was putrid the playoffs from '10-'13. Is it possible that the Pens win the Cup in 2010 or 2012 with him being just "ok?" I don't know, just thinking out loud. This is why I had a love/hate relationship with him as a fan.

There are already critics lambasting Murray on other sites. As soon as Murray has a bad game (which will happen), these people will be psychotic.

 

[Darth Vitale]

Remember the fan video (I think they were in flight on the way back from one of those team building days or something):

"Yeah... Max is a dewsh"

Classic Fleury moment.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

And the trade market for goalies at the time was not promising at all from a seller's perspective. To say the least.

Honestly, let's all of us remember back a year ago to this same date. All of the uncertainty. Out of all possible outcomes from this goalie dilemma, this has to be in the top one percent with how this played out.

Definitely. It's possible that Fleury having his future sorted out is what settled him down and got him playing solid hockey again too. If we gamble, there's any number of things that could have gone wrong and changed our situation for the worse.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

There are already critics lambasting Murray on other sites. As soon as Murray has a bad game (which will happen), these people will be psychotic.

You can't cure stupid.

 

[Peat]

I don't care about that 2nd rounder. We got to see one of the good guys go out on a high. I'm not a long standing Pens fan so I'm not as sad as some but when you see how much it means to him and the players... it sucks. But they got to win. Pretty much everything is forgiven when you get to win.

He played the Washington series about as well as it was humanly possible to. Kudos MAFman, kudos.

 

[slapmybassup86]

Anyone else think he'll be signed by the Penguins as a backup once his current contract expires? He should end his career in Pittsburgh.

 

[Fordy]

In a MAF appreciation thread...i'm just curious why so many are bothered by fans being sad and even over the top about his departure... Who cares...why does it bother you all so much that people liked him? It sounds just like why people hate Crosby...because some of his fans are over the top and tear their favourite player/team down in the process.

Instead of talking about his annoying fans, why not post about your fave MAF moment or post a highlight video. He was here for 14yrs...he helped get this team 3 cups. He was an absolute monster in these past playoffs and allowed you all to watch the caps get eliminated after everyone told us we couldn't. He was the only reason we got to play Ottawa. I'm going to miss the guy. Best of luck in LV, MAF!

he helped with two. it bothers me because it's clear murray still isn't going to receive the adulation he deserves even with him gone

 

[HandshakeLine]

And the trade market for goalies at the time was not promising at all from a seller's perspective. To say the least.

Honestly, let's all of us remember back a year ago to this same date. All of the uncertainty. Out of all possible outcomes from this goalie dilemma, this has to be in the top one percent with how this played out.

Yeah, this **** has been, frankly, crazy.

 

[TNT87]

http://triblive.com/sports/penguins...e-career-of-penguins-goalie-marc-andre-fleury

Here are some photos throughout MAF's career here. Seemed like just yesterday he was drafted first overall. Time flies.

 

[WickedWrister]

I guess I'm more upset than I should be about that 2nd rounder, but this organization has been pretty liberal about throwing picks away (trades for Doug Murray and Ron Hainsey are the first that come to mind).

Sprong and Guentzel were 2nd and 3rd round picks... I know the draft is a crapshoot but having more ammo would be nice.

If Flower was willing to waive his NMC for Vegas so he could become a starter again, did we try and get him to waive it for a Calgary or Dallas?

 

[TNT87]

How do people get like this?

That avg Murray posting back to back shutouts to close out the finals and be the first rookie to win two SC.... he just got lucky, like when he re-wrote the AHL record books with that stacked Baby Pens squad...

Maybe, now this could be those equipment allergies affecting me brain, but maybe the best goalie prospect in the league came up to the bigs and did best goalie prospect in the league things. Maybe.

I decided to check out the FB comments. I don't know how many brain cells were killed in doing so. It's truly astonishing how stupid people can be.

 

[HandshakeLine]

he helped with two. it bothers me because it's clear murray still isn't going to receive the adulation he deserves even with him gone

Give it time, there's plenty of dumb human interest stories to be written about Murray.

But also, a few seasons of having a great young goaltender will be a huge novelty in this town.

 

[BigEezyE22]

I guess I'm more upset than I should be about that 2nd rounder, but this organization has been pretty liberal about throwing picks away (trades for Doug Murray and Ron Hainsey are the first that come to mind).

Sprong and Guentzel were 2nd and 3rd round picks... I know the draft is a crapshoot but having more ammo would be nice.

If Flower was willing to waive his NMC for Vegas so he could become a starter again, did we try and get him to waive it for a Calgary or Dallas?

Derrick Poulliot was a 1st round pick. So what.

 

[Brandinho]

How do people get like this?

That avg Murray posting back to back shutouts to close out the finals and be the first rookie to win two SC.... he just got lucky, like when he re-wrote the AHL record books with that stacked Baby Pens squad...

Maybe, now this could be those equipment allergies affecting me brain, but maybe the best goalie prospect in the league came up to the bigs and did best goalie prospect in the league things. Maybe.

I mean, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? Have you seen Murray smile? It's embarrassing, quite frankly. MAF was the best smiler we've ever had and we replaced him with a kid who has a middling grimace at best. Haven't ever seen him do a barrel roll, either.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

And here it is, the Penguins' Facebook comments after Fleury goes in the expansion draft.

It is just as you would expect:

Marlene B: It would have been better to give up the Cup than Fleury

And goes down from there.

 

[Jacob]

He should end his career in Pittsburgh.

Why? What is this area's fascination with that?

 

[orby]

Anyone else think he'll be signed by the Penguins as a backup once his current contract expires? He should end his career in Pittsburgh.

He's still gonna want to be a starter when his contract expires. Goalies tend to play into their late 30s more than other position players. He'll certainly be given the 1 day retirement contract when he decides to hang em up, though

 

[DegenX]

This was intended to be an appreciation thread. It's even in the title. But, it seems everyone has run out of nice things to say, so time to close the thread.

He's a Golden Knight now, so take it to the Around the NHL thread.