Mellon Arena Memories - Marc-Andre Fleury - 07-28-09
"Mellon Arena Memories" is a feature will will appear on a daily basis in this forum until July 30, when the Penguins will officially leave the only facility they have known as their home arena since the franchise was formed in 1967. Today's subject is Marc-Andre Fleury.
Marc-Andre Fleury is currently the Penguins' starting goaltender. Selected with the first overall pick in 2003, he has been with the Penguins organization in some capacity for seven years. Debuting as a very raw 18-year-old rookie in 2003-04 for a pretty bad team, Fleury compiled a record of 4-14-2 with a 3.64 goals against average, .896 save percentage while bouncing between the NHL and AHL Penguins, Canada's world junior team and the QMJHL's Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.
After developing with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the entire 2004-05 NHL lockout, Fleury began the 2005-06 season once again in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. When injuries sidelined starter Jocelyn Thibault, Fleury took over the reigns as the NHL team's starter. In 50 games, went 13-27-6 with a 3.25 goals against average, .898 save percentage and one shutout.
With a new general manager in Ray Shero and a new approach for the franchise, Fleury emerged from training camp as the team's clear-cut No. 1 goaltender. He responded with what is arguably the best regular season of his career. In 67 games, a franchise record for a goaltender, he set a career-high in wins with a 40-16-9 record and sported a 2.83 goals against average, .906 save percentage and five shutouts, also a career high. In addition to that, he also led the franchise to its first postseason appearance in six years.
An ankle injury sidelined Fleury for much of 2007-08. He only appeared in 35 games while going 19-10-2 with a 2.33 goals against average, .921 save percentage and four shutouts. He recovered late in the season and took back the starting job from Ty Conklin and led the team to another postseason appearance. Those playoffs may have been the finest hockey of Fleury's career as he won 14 games en route to the Penguins' first Stanley Cup final appearance in 16 years. He also compiled a spectacular 1.97 goals against average, .933 save percentage and recorded three shutouts.
The 2008-09 season saw Fleury appear in 62 games. He had a steady but hardly spectacular record of 35-18-7 record, a 2.67 goal against average, .912 save percentage and four shutouts. His numbers in he playoffs were nearly as sexy as the season before, but he found away to make saves at key times - See: Ovechkin, Alex, breakway in Game 7 of the second round - and eventually led the franchise to its third Stanley Cup title.
Fleury once again turned out a solid but somewhat inconsistent 2009-10. He was 37-21-6 with a 2.65 goals against average, .905 save percentage. In the postseason, he went 7-6 with a 2.78 goals against average and .891 save percentage.
In 302 games with the franchise, Fleury has a record of 148-106-32 with a 2.82 goals against average, .907 save percentage and 16 shutouts. Only Tom Barrasso has more games played by a goaltender (460), wins (226) and shutouts (22) in franchise history.
Fleury has appeared in 62 postseason games for the Penguins. He has a record of 38-24 with a 2.52 goal against average, .911 save percentage and four shutouts. Once again, only Barrasso has more games (101), wins (56) and shutouts (4).
First memories of Mellon/Civic Arena:
"The first game here was awesome. (A 3-0 loss to the Kings, Oct. 10, 2003.) The crowd was very loud. I stopped my first penalty shot."
Favorite memory of Mellon/Civic Arena:
"I think best was the playoffs. I think every playoff game we’ve played is awesome. All white. People were very loud. Tons of people outside too. Especially in Game 6 against Detroit (in the 2009 Stanley Cup final)."
Favorite game at Mellon/Civic Arena:
"That Game 6. (Red Wings forward Daniel) Cleary had a breakaway and I stopped him on his backhand. That was pretty cool. It was a 2-1 game."
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What about Rob Scuderi's "saves" a few seconds later:
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"Ahh… yeah, yeah. They were all over. I was trying to get back in the net. Scuderi made some big saves for me in my crease."
On a save against Blackhawks forward Martin Havlat, Valentines Day, 2007:
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"It was a one-timer I think. A few guys coming in. Havlat was on the far post. The guy just passed across. I just slid across and got it with my toe."
(Note: That contest, a 5-4 shootout win for the Penguins, was the first date in the franchise's consecutive sell-out streak.)
On donning a yellow Steelers helmet and waving a Terrible Towel following a 3-0 shutout of the Rangers, Jan. 18, 2009, the day of the 2009 AFC Championship Game:
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"I don’t know. I just was in a good mood. We just won. I was waiting to go back out for the first star. I think it was Max (Talbot), he grabbed the helmet and put it on my head and I got to wear it on the ice. It was a good laugh."
On playing pucks in Mellon/Civic Arena as a goaltender:
"I like the rink. Sometimes you’re in the net and you never know when the puck is going to bounce off the glass you know? So that’s kind of dangerous. I think I’ve been caught. It’s happened to me before. It’s good because the other goalie doesn’t know either."
The thing he won't miss at Mellon/Civic Arena:
"Maybe the rats. Rats and the mice running around."
The thing he'll miss the most at Mellon/Civic Arena:
"I think the atmosphere. I think with the seats that go from the sides and all the way to the top, so it feels like the crowd is really close. It’s gets really loud."
(Photos: First, third, fourth and fifth-Peter Diana/Post-Gazette; Second-Jamie Sabau/Getty Images; sixth-Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press)