I received a little needed perspective for me on how much this city loves Flower yesterday. I was visiting my mom for a few days and was wearing a 2017 Stanley Cup shirt. My grandma was at my mom's house to see my son and I have literally never heard her talk about the Penguins. She knows next to nothing about hockey, as far as I know, other than I played hockey and penguins slide on ice. So we went for a walk, she saw my shirt, and said "I'm mad at the Penguins, they traded my goalie" and then went on a rant about how wonderful MAF is and how the Penguins made a huge mistake. It was really interesting.
I hear you, Shady. My mom is not a huge hockey fan; she only watches the Pens because I played a little hockey, and I am such a huge fan -- so she pays a small amount of attention to how the Pens are doing because of me.
However, she is so upset about Flower leaving. She is mad at the Pens for how they "did him wrong," and while I've tried to explain the expansion draft, and how it "had to happen" given Murray's emergence, etc., she still can't totally accept it. While I told her that this is basically a "business decision," and the team couldn't afford for it to be a "personal" one, it still causes her grief.
As for me, I love Flower, as a human, and a teammate, and as a Penguin that provided us with at least as many thrills as he did cringe-worthy moments. I hate to see him leave, and wish him the best. Someday, in the twilight of his career, it would seem a most fitting end for him to return as the backup goalie for the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the mean time, I will of course be a Pens fan first, but a closet Fleury fan as well. Definitely an excellent human being.