Marc-André Fleury est étonnant

@Evil_Shero

Calling all Marc-Andre Fleury haters. Where are you guys all at? Really can't seem to find many of "yinz" lately. It was just a few weeks ago, when the defense and Fleury were both struggling to stop the other team from scoring. A large part in that is due to the penalty-kill, which continues to get better and better every game. Another part is the defensive play and commitment to defense by the entire team and coaching staff. More importantly though, the pucks have stopped going in as frequently thanks to "Flower Power".

Fleury has been unreal lately, winning his last five starts, and his last seven starts at home. In the last four games, Fleury is 4-0, with only FOUR goals allowed, blocking 91 of 95 shots, giving him a .957 save percentage. This same four-game span included a shutout win over the New York Rangers, which gave Fleury the ALL-TIME Pittsburgh Penguins record for most career shutouts! That's outstanding and Fleury deserves it. I'm extremely happy that he not only got that record but that he's answered all of his hockey-illiterate critics.

 Fleury gets a bad rap because he occasionally lets in bad goals, gets into bad slumps, and will occasionally doesn't do well playing the puck behind the net. Then there was last year's disastrous performance by Fleury and the defense against the Flyers. That was the lowest point of Fleury's career by far. Fleury's career numbers aren't stellar either, his career save % is .909, with a 2.66 G.A.A. Those are not great numbers but who cares, the man is almost certain to finish with over 300 career wins, and he could actually become the youngest or second youngest goaltender to reach 300 wins by the end of next season. (At 29 years 223 days, Martin Brodeur) 

I keep hearing that Fleury is not an elite goaltender. Ok, that's your opinion, but who is elite in the NHL now? Brodeur is past his prime, there's no more Dominik Hasek or Patrick Roy's of the world in the NHL now, which is weird considering that the league is actually lower-scoring than it used to be. Craig Anderson is leading the league now in G.A.A. and save %, but I'll be damned if I call him elite. Roberto Luongo's career numbers are good but you take Luongo in game 7 of the cup finals and give me Fleury, I'll tell you how champagne taste out of it. 

How about some guys that have also won the cup that are still active? Well, last year's Conn Smythe winner Johnathan Quick is around the bottom of the barrel in the league now in save percentage with a nasty .896. Yikes. Quick might end up losing his starting job to Johnathan Bernier. Tim Thomas is probably a better goalie than Fleury, his career numbers are outstanding, but he's old as Hell and took the damn year off so he doesn't count. Antti Niemi won a cup with Chicago, and he's having a good year, but he doesn't have the accomplishments that Fleury has. Fleury's career numbers are better than Cam Ward's and around the same as Ryan Miller's. I'd rather have Fleury over all of these guys, especially on this team.

Pekka Rinne is pretty good but right Fleury has the same save % as Rinne with six more wins, not to mention the whole Stanley Cup thing. Also, last year Fleury had 42 wins and Rinne had 43, but Fleury had a better G.A.A. Just saying. Carey Price actually has a worse save % so you can't go there. 

What's the point of all this? I'm not sure but I'm fucking tired of people bashing a damn talented guy like Fleury. He's already the best goaltender in Pen's history and he's only 28. He continues to get better and more consistent. Sure he has flaws, but what goalie doesn't ? How come some people can't seem to give him any credit. When he wins they say its the team but they lose they blame it on Fleury, as if no one else even played. 

The goaltender is probably the vital part of a hockey team. It's still a team game though, a great goalie can make up for defensive lapses, and Fleury has had to do this throughout his career. The Pens play a north-south game based on puck possession. Sure they score a lot and have the most offensive talent in the league, but they tend to give up big time scoring chances for the other team, often leaving Fleury or the backup goalie out to dry.

 I'm not sure what people have against the guy? I mean it's ok if you don't like French people, he's only French-Canadian, and a lot of people don't like French people. Do you not like him because he's a douche-bag? Oh wait, he's one of the coolest dudes on the team. He has a great personality and he's clearly adopted this city and all of it's fans. It's Big Ben Roethlisberger all over again minus the rape accusations. Fleury's the goalie, morons blame him for everything, sorry your mad bro. Pittsburgh fans blame the quarterback when the Steelers lose, and they blame Fleury when the Pens lose, even if he doesn't play. I'll say this, Fleury has won 40 or more games twice in his career and I'll bet you he'll end up winning 40 or more games in a season a few more times if he stays in Pittsburgh his entire career. 

Fleury is one of my favorite athletes but I also think he's a great goaltender. Some of the saves he makes are mind-boggling. Right now he's playing as good as anyone in the league. He's won a cup and he's taken the Pens to the Stanley Cup Finals in back-to-back years. The Pens would not have gotten there or won it in 2008-2009 without him. Oh by the way, Fleury leads the league in wins now. Yeah he must really suck. In Fleury I trust, because Marc-Andre Fleury est étonnant.