[VIDEO] Theoren Fleury: Fireball (1991) - The 5'6'' Warrior Whose #14 Hasn't Been Retired by CGY

[CambieKev]

Theoren Fleury's #14 has not yet been retired by the Calgary Flames. He is second all-time in points with the franchise, won a Stanley Cup with the Flames and was briefly their captain, all while battling demons and leading the charge for smaller players.

Let's take a look at the intense play of this 5'6'' star.

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[Wayne Primeau]

It hasn't been officially retired, no, but nobody has worn it since he was traded to Colorado.

 

[ZenOil]

Fluery deserves more respect by the hockey community. Him achieving the success he had while battling the demons he was fighting is hall worthy. The NHL is further punishing a guy who was dealt a shitty hand. Sports imitating reality.

 

[tiburon12]

I only have distinct memories of him on the rangers, but after watching old highlights it seems he really liked to exploit pre-butterfly goalies of the late 80s and early 90s by shooting on the ice, moreso than any other player I've seen.

Flames fans, was that a thing he did often? Or as it just coincidence that his highlights include a lot of those types of goals?

For reference

 

[Chimpradamus]

Fleury was one of my favourite players growing up. Small, very skilled and still played a gritty, on the line of dirty game. Speaking of small players leading the charge, there was also Mats "le Petit Viking" Näslund. It surprised me how good of a slapper Näslund had for his size.


Fleury was 5'6" (168cm) while Näslund was 5'7" (170cm), so they were quite similar in height. Fleury had 20 more pounds on his body though (10kg, 73 to 82).

Fluery deserves more respect by the hockey community. Him achieving the success he had while battling the demons he was fighting is hall worthy. The NHL is further punishing a guy who was dealt a shitty hand. Sports imitating reality.

Not much has changed, but things have gone slightly in the proper direction. At least Lehner wasn't kicked out of the league for admitting his problems off the ice. I assume Fleury never thought he could talk to someone affiliated with the NHL and things went too far for him.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

Guy was my favourite player growing up.

 

[scorpiorising]

I only have distinct memories of him on the rangers, but after watching old highlights it seems he really liked to exploit pre-butterfly goalies of the late 80s and early 90s by shooting on the ice, moreso than any other player I've seen.

Flames fans, was that a thing he did often? Or as it just coincidence that his highlights include a lot of those types of goals?

For reference

Jesus christ every single goal he scored was low. Weird

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

My favorite player growing up. By far.

 

[Whiston532]

Theo the person is one of the more... interesting people. I respect the hell out of him for struggling with the demons of both addiction and sexual abuse. At the same time 2020 Theo seems to be someone that is generously describe as being someone I probably wouldn’t agree with on a lot of things.

That being said I don’t think there’s any reason to not acknowledge how great of a player he was, as well as giving him credit for the parts of his life worth praising.

 

[boompuffboom]

one of the most inspiring hockey players ever. what a fireball!

 

[Boomstick]

I proudly have 2 Fleury jerseys. I'm a lifelong Flames fan, and I put him on a pedestal. He was incredible.

 

[Chaels Arms]

Fleury was an absolute legend in my NYC neighborhood growing up. Everyone wore his jersey. If you came by any of our street hockey games you would have seen 10-12 kids wearing Fleury jerseys. He is doing a lot of positive work since he's retired also. Just a great guy now.

 

[Mickey Marner]

They've also retired both Vernon and Iggy since Fleury left the Flames. They never retired MacInnis though, so who knows with the Flames.

 

[super6646]

I stopped being a fan of this team when they traded him for years... it was then that I realized the cruel reality that came with being a fan of a small market Canadian team and why bother having my heart crushed?

 

[NorCalFlamesRangers]

I still say he should’ve made the team back 2009 when he made the comeback attempt.

 

[tiburon12]

Jesus christ every single goal he scored was low. Weird

Yea that's why I wonder if it was coincidence or not. I'm sure we've all wondered my more guys didn't just shoot low on those goalies, and here we see Fluery make a career out of it (maybe)? Curious for some insight from older fans

 

[Saltcreek]

My favorite player growing up. By far.

He was 5'6? Shooting low is basically top corner for him!

Always liked the player even though he played for Calgary (Edmonton fan)

 

[hypereconomist]

Yea that's why I wonder if it was coincidence or not. I'm sure we've all wondered my more guys didn't just shoot low on those goalies, and here we see Fluery make a career out of it (maybe)? Curious for some insight from older fans

It's not a coincidence.

One consideration is his signature move. Many of his highlights are him coming in off the rush or on a breakaway and doing his signature head-fake/pump-fake before sliding the puck around the goalie. That was "his" move throughout his entire career and he was shifty enough to pull it off with regularity in any era.

The second consideration is that he scored about two-thirds of his goals in an era when stand-up goalies were the most common goaltending style, which naturally will be more prominent in his highlight reel. A lot of goals scored off the rush or in traffic like Theo's during that time were low down. It makes sense... there's just a ton more open space in that part of the net unless the play was in-close. If you watch Theo with the Avs and Rangers, you'll see that he's scoring goals in a similar manner (i.e. off the rush or in traffic), but his shots are much higher because he's following the open space and butterfly goalies in the dead puck era left more space at the top of the net.