Marc-Andre Fleury Appreciation

ReginKarlssonLehner

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May 3, 2010
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I am sure some of you saw the game vs Avs tonight but there's few players out there who I found lay it all out almost every game, especially for a goalkeeper, like MAF. He is a bit theatric sometimes but I truly believe it comes from the passion he has rather than the exaggeration in his play. He truly acts like a little kid who is playing the sport he loves for a living.

He had a few absolutely remarkable saves tonight, here's some highlights the rest can be found in highlight clip of the game below:

EDIT: Point of this thread is not to examine how good MAF is or has been per se, but his enthusiasm, love and dedication for the game as reflected through his lively play and attitude.





 
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Greg Schuler

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memecandy-ciwK6u5YqvhstdD3vu
 

HP00

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Does 1 Vezina make him a guarantee for the HOF? I already think he should be there are a lot of people who don't think she should based on his current resume
 
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Jugitsu

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Dec 24, 2016
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MAF can fool you. He's very hot right now and those flashy - but extremely unnecessary saves linger in your memory better than your average well positioned and poised saves.

I appreciate his off ice persona but I still think he's highly overrated on the ice.
 

torniojaws

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Jan 10, 2017
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Yes. 11 games is definitely enough to flush away years of disappointment. I love recency bias.
Well, he is 26 wins away from 500 career wins, with a career GAA of 2.56 and save% .913, which is comparable to a certain Patrick Roy (551 wins, 2.54, .910) on a personal level. Awards-wise, MAF isn't close, but that's the case with any NHL goalie ever whose name isn't Martin Brodeur.
 
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Jugitsu

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Well, he is 26 wins away from 500 career wins, with a career GAA of 2.56 and save% .913, which is comparable to a certain Patrick Roy (551 wins, 2.54, .910) on a personal level. Awards-wise, MAF isn't close, but that's the case with any NHL goalie ever whose name isn't Martin Brodeur.

You're right, he isn't close. Lets compare his career stats to Roy's once he's reached the same games played, if he does. Wins is a silly stat, considering it's the most team stat I can imagine.

Three rings. Been to Stanley Cup finals 5 times.

Had the Con Smythe in his pocket for 3 rounds in 2018 back stopping Vegas to the finals.

Lead the league in shut outs more than once. Leads it again right now.

Been to Stanley Cup finals 5 times but won only once as a starter. Lots of goalies have won the Stanley Cup as a starter once.

I don't care about close. He didn't win the Conn Smythe end of story. And I bet if I dug hard enough, I could find arguments against him having it in the pocket at any point during his that particular run.

Shutouts is a nice team stat. Too bad there aren't any awards for getting the most shutouts. Or wins for that matter.
 

ReginKarlssonLehner

Let's Win It All
May 3, 2010
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Point of this thread is not to examine how good MAF is or has been per se, but his enthusiasm, love and dedication for the game as reflected through his lively play and attitude.

:)

but I am aware it will derail to his stats and accomplishments and that's the nature of these main board threads :D
 

Guided by Veseys

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Nov 14, 2011
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Didn’t see the game but clicked on this expecting a Naz highlight and got one. Getting robbed by goalies and hitting the post is his career modus operandi
 

Poulin 0n My St1ck

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Oct 18, 2010
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Caught some of the Avs-Vegas game last night, and Flower was unreal. When he’s on, he’s unstoppable. It would be nice to see him get a Vezina this year, but I guess that’ll mean my boy Lehner is riding the pine for most of this season.
 

loosemoose

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Great guy and a pretty impressive career. Hope he never makes HOF (unless he has incredible next few years).
 

nhlfan9191

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Aug 4, 2010
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Well, he is 26 wins away from 500 career wins, with a career GAA of 2.56 and save% .913, which is comparable to a certain Patrick Roy (551 wins, 2.54, .910) on a personal level. Awards-wise, MAF isn't close, but that's the case with any NHL goalie ever whose name isn't Martin Brodeur.

You can’t compare a modern goaltenders save % and GAA to one who started his career in the mid 80’s. The game was way different back then.
 

PenguinSuitedUp

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Oct 2, 2019
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You can’t compare a modern goaltenders save % and GAA to one who started his career in the mid 80’s. The game was way different back then.
How much more of an influence did the 80’s era have on Roy’s stats than the dead puck era? Would be interesting to understand.
 
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molon labe

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Jul 13, 2016
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It will be interesting to see if the HF narrative shifts. Seems like every second or third season HF hive mind decides he's either underrated or that he's average at best and a product of his teams.

Genuinely interested to see what the collective has to say with his strong season so far.

Has always been a great goalie in season. A guy who has positive -intangibles- and who's above-average on breakaways and shootouts.

Post-Season? Russel Stover chocolates are more predicatable. He can stone the best of them then turn around and cost your team a game or series. When he's on, he's a top tier goalie. When he's off - it's disastrous.
 
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East Coast Icestyle

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Mar 6, 2015
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Has always been a great goalie in season. A guy who has positive -intangibles- and who's above-average on breakaways and shootouts.

Post-Season? Russel Stover chocolates are more predicatable. He can stone the best of them then turn around and cost your team a game or series. When he's on, he's a top tier goalie. When he's off - it's disastrous.

I think you'll find that post season consistency plagues most goalies in the game past and present. If he wasn't on the pens when he was, you probably don't even really hear about it.

Playoffs are a different beast. And there's been so so so many one-off playoff runs (note: I don't mean specifically cup winners but they are included) by goalies in the past decade that I don't know where to place my stock.
 
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Ignatius

LET HIM IN TO THE BOX
Apr 28, 2010
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It will be interesting to see if the HF narrative shifts. Seems like every second or third season HF hive mind decides he's either underrated or that he's average at best and a product of his teams.

Genuinely interested to see what the collective has to say with his strong season so far.

I have said as much recently, for example 5 years ago the HF hivemind did nothing but talk about how overpaid and overrated MAF was. I wonder how much of that was because he was in Pittsburgh at the time?

Three rings. Been to Stanley Cup finals 5 times.

1 ring as a starter, 1 ring as a key contributor in the playoffs before the SCF, 1 ring riding the bench the entire playoff run.

5 SCF appearances, 2 as a backup that didn't play in the SCF at all.

Crazy how a goalie with three Stanley Cups could be called a disappointment.

I don't think MAF is a disappointment at all but I think people read his list of accomplishments on paper and out of context so they can pump his tires without even calling to mind the decade's worth of bashing this guy received suggesting that he was overpaid, overrated, and generally considered to be a guy that lucked into one Cup win but could not get the job done in the playoffs after said victory.
 

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