Why Marc-Andre Fleury's impact on Wild culture will live on after his retirement: ‘Love and respect'

New York Times

05-05-2025

ST. PAUL, Minn. — During what turned out to be Marc-Andre Fleury's last NHL appearance, he couldn't keep his mouth shut.
The future Hall of Famer was keeping things loose, especially after saves.
''Ooo,' 'Woo,' 'Ahhh,' 'Woo' — every save,' said Filip Gustavsson, the Minnesota Wild's starter the game, who was replaced by Fleury in the third period of an eventual 3-2 Game 5 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
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When Brock Faber made a diving block, it was: 'Kick save and a beauty.'
'You hear him the whole entire game,' Faber said.
The 40-year-old then entered a scrum behind the net: 'I need a little action,' he said. 'I've got to wake up.'
You might think it was because Fleury knew he was mic'd up. But the truth is that it typified Fleury's legendary career — and what made him such a beloved teammate.
'He was a kid every time he put on the pads,' Marcus Foligno said.
Marc-Andre Fleury is an international treasure. 😂 #StanleyCup
📺: @GoldenKnights vs. @mnwild Game 6 TONIGHT at 7:30p ET on @espn, @Sportsnet, and @TVASports 2 pic.twitter.com/xHp8RkrZXs
— NHL (@NHL) May 1, 2025
Fleury was authentic. He was competitive. He was passionate. He was fun.
So were his final words on the ice.
'I was pretty high-pitched,' Fleury said, laughing, on Monday at his final exit interview as a player. 'I knew that could be my last time on the ice. I wanted to enjoy it and have fun. For me, when I am having fun and I am relaxed, I play better.'
Fleury only spent 3 1/2 seasons with the Wild, but it was enough to help change their culture. If and when they ever do go on a big playoff run, his fingerprints will be all over it. He raised their level of competitiveness in practice. He taught them how to handle adversity.
And how much fun Fleury always had provided the right perspective.
'When you can't find it, can't be good enough, it's easy to get down on yourself,' Faber said. 'It's a black hole of thoughts that don't help. Flower, however, is one of the hardest human beings on himself — he holds himself to such a high standard — but he'll never not have a smile on his face. He always treats his teammates with love and respect.
'That's something I definitely look up to. You've got to be pretty darn hard on yourself to be as good as he is for as long as he's been. If he's playing bad or he's not playing, he's still the Marc-Andre Fleury we all know, and that's what makes him such a special teammate and hockey player.'
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Gustavsson felt the impact of Fleury's influence as much as anyone. He said he used to take losses, bad goals, 'personally' — get down on himself and let it linger. Watching Fleury handle similar moments, he got the proper perspective for a position Gustavsson believes is '90 percent' mental. Fleury never treated Gustavsson as a rival, always supported him, even giving him rides from the rink at times. And Gustavsson flourished down the stretch this season, including performing well in the playoffs.
Fleury paying it forward could pay off not only in how Gustavsson plays in coming years, but also in how he handles sharing the net with touted prospect Jesper Wallstedt.
'(Fleury) only plays hockey because he has loved the sport so much,' Gustavsson said. 'That's something you forget sometimes when you're in very high-pressure situations or losing.
'You start playing hockey because it's so fun and you love the sport. Take it a little bit for what it is and just relax. Relax your shoulders, go out, and have fun. You've been doing it since you started skating at 4 and 5 years old. He's a very helpful mentor. … Usually you have more of a rivalry between goalies because only one guy can play. It felt like he was very happy when I played and vice versa.'
President of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin said Fleury hasn't changed since he first met with the Pittsburgh Penguins, early in Fleury's career and late in Guerin's. Part of the reason Guerin acquired him from the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2022 trade deadline was for the impact it'd have on the Wild's young players.
Marc-Andre Fleury's peers had nothing but great things to say about him ❤️
Forever a legend. pic.twitter.com/0ddb1ij0C8
— NHL (@NHL) May 2, 2025
Faber was just a few days removed from being a junior captain at the University of Minnesota when he became teammates with Fleury two springs ago. He remembered walking into the dressing room, or on the bus, and thinking, 'Holy shit, that's Marc-Andre Fleury. You're starstruck.'
Even Foligno, a veteran and alternate captain by the time Fleury arrived in the spring of 2022, recalled hearing buzz when the three-time Cup champion was acquired and being so enthusiastic it led to an awkward moment in the locker room with departing goalie Kaapo Kahkonen.
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'I was like, 'Yeah!' and then I realized Kaapo just got traded to San Jose, so I felt really bad at the time,' Foligno said. 'There was a buzz around our room, for sure. Everyone couldn't stop smiling.'
Then Foligno got to see Fleury up close.
'He kind of had this like aura to him,' Foligno said. 'Looked a little bit fake. His hair is perfect and a nice suit and like, 'Wow, this is a big-time player coming to Minnesota.'
'But once you got to know him, he was just another regular guy and just loved the game so much, it was infectious.'
It's not always smiles with Fleury. He's as competitive as they come in the NHL, especially in practices, which he treats like a Cup Final game. Guerin recalled a couple of years ago, in a practice after Fleury had had a few bad games in a row, he smashed his stick over the crossbar. But Fleury channeled the frustration in the right way. As Guerin put it, 'Everyone can be a good guy when you're having success. It's seeing how he is when things aren't going so great.'
'He was so mad, but then you could see him — boom, he switched gears,' Guerin said. 'He was focused. He regrouped himself. Then for the next couple days in practice, you could see how dialed in he was, competitive, serious. He needed to get that place. And I think that, right there, I hope some of our younger guys noticed it. Because if it's not going well, you've got to dig in and fix it yourself.'
It's hard not to consider Fleury a factor in how the Wild improved this past year in handling adversity of all the injuries and a second-half slide that nearly cost them the playoffs. Fleury picked up the win in relief in the clincher, receiving a standing ovation and No. 1 star honors. It's a moment teammates say they'll remember forever.
What an absolutely marvelous career it's been for Flower 🏆 pic.twitter.com/WeiRjlOCJs
— NHL (@NHL) May 2, 2025
Fleury was serenaded one last time after the Wild's Game 6 loss at home to Vegas. The series, the season and Fleury's career were over. As opponents did so often in Fleury's final season, the Golden Knights waited on the ice after for a handshake line with Fleury.
Fleury didn't want this attention this season but said it was 'humbling' and 'amazing,' especially in his final game in Montreal in late January.
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'Little too much in the spotlight, you know?' Fleury said. 'But yeah, it is part of the game. Fans come to the game and cheer us on, and most of them love hockey. All of those little kids, they look up to us on the ice and stuff. If you can give them a smile or a puck, just a 'Hi' or something —mMake them like hockey and believe they can be you one day — I think that's pretty cool.'
After Game 6, Fleury didn't linger too long, though.
'I didn't want to get too emotional on the ice,' he said.
Fleury did get emotional in a short farewell speech to the team. He told them he was happy he got to play with them and 'happy I got to finish with them.'
Fleury isn't totally finished yet, though. He'll be reunited with close friend and former Penguins teammate Sidney Crosby at his first World Championship.
'I think it'll be fun to spend time together and yell at him in practice a bit,' Fleury said.
The finality of Fleury's career likely won't fully set in until training camp, he said. But when Fleury got into his car after Game 6 for his 25-minute drive home, he did get lost reminiscing.
'Just thinking about how lucky I've been for so long and to do what was my dream as a kid' Fleury said. 'And doing it so long. But now that it's over, I was thinking about my first few years, maybe, and how ignorant I was of this NHL thing and how quick time goes by.'
Fleury grew up outside of Montreal, idolizing Patrick Roy, pretending to make a big save to win the Stanley Cup when he was playing roller hockey — but never imagining that he'd later actually live that moment until his lunging stop on Nicklas Lidstrom sealed the Penguins' win over the Detroit Red Wings in the 2009 Cup Final Game 7
'I never thought I was going to make the NHL,' Fleury said. 'Little surreal how everything went for me, playing for so long, meeting so many great people along the way and having won a few, too.'
Marc-André Fleury reflects on his career
Watch full interviews here » https://t.co/qkIPkhkbxZ pic.twitter.com/R370M9UNEv
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) May 5, 2025
As much as Fleury loves playing, though, he knew this was the time. He didn't want to hang on for too long.
'I feel like I'm not as good as I was,' Fleury said. 'I'm not as flexible as I was. I don't do things like I'm used to, and that pisses me off. After I play, it feels like a car hits you sometimes. I have so much fun playing, but the next morning, sometimes it's a little hard.'
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Fleury doesn't know what he'll do next. He's likely to stay in the game in some capacity but doesn't want to be a coach or do TV. He's picked the brains of retired former teammates like Alex Goligoski, who spent his first post-playing year as an unofficial adviser with the Wild. That could suit Fleury, especially if it's focused on goaltending. He plans to meet with Guerin to go over ideas.
For now, Fleury plans to spend more time at home, which during the season will be in Minnesota. He wants his three kids to have a stable school life after moving around a lot toward the end of his career. He wants to be around for plays and practices and trick-or-treating.
"and in net, #29, the BEST DAD EVER" pic.twitter.com/Pb526nsgqp
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) May 5, 2025
'That's my main concern,' he said.
Fleury laughed at teammates' suggestion of becoming the team's emergency goaltender (EBUG), though he appeared open to helping on days they need a goalie at practice. 'Why not?' he said.
Teammates are going to miss the smile, the pranks.
Foligno will miss Fleury picking the wine at team dinners. He said Wild players are 'fanboying' now, asking Fleury for signed sticks, pucks and photos. But they'll think of Fleury in coming seasons during rough times.
How would Flower handle this?
'There's going be tough moments, tough times, and you're going to be ticked off and rattled in practice and ticked off at coaches, but you've got to be like a kid again, and that's what Flower was,' Foligno said. 'And that's what he rubbed off on so many guys.
'It's taxing when you're not winning, and you have a guy that can settle down, and the experience he's brought day in and day out just calms everyone down just relaxes and make sure that you're playing the game that you love, and when you do that, you play your best.'
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Boldy, who would pretend to be Fleury as a kid, said Game 5 was the perfect example of what he still idolizes in him: 'He's saying, 'Woo,' after every save he makes. That's a huge game — the moment is never too big for him, but that's the stuff that grows culture.
'People learn from that. Use it. It helps other people. We're really lucky.'
Playing with Fleury is, Faber added, 'Something I'll tell my kids. Something I'll brag about to all my friends and family forever.'
'God, he had so much fun playing this game,' Faber said. 'If you can play half as long as he did and have half as much fun as he did, that makes for a pretty good career.'