Marc-Andre Fleury

Marc-Andre Fleury was born November 28, 1984, in Sorel, Quebec, and selected first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2003 NHL Draft. He went on to play 1,051 NHL regular-season games, finishing his career with 575 wins, 76 shutouts, a 2.60 goals-against average, and a .912 save percentage. In the playoffs, he recorded 92 wins, 16 shutouts, and appeared in 170 games. InGoal Magazine has covered Marc-Andre Fleury in one podcast appearance and six InGoal articles.

Those counting numbers place Fleury second all-time in regular-season wins and games played, and second all-time in seasons played with 21. His 92 playoff wins rank fourth all-time, his 170 playoff games played rank third, and his 16 playoff shutouts rank fourth ^[1]. He won three Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins and earned his first Vezina Trophy in 2020-21 with the Vegas Golden Knights, posting a 1.98 GAA and .928 save percentage at age 36 — a career-best in both categories. That same season, he shared the William M. Jennings Trophy with Robin Lehner ^[2].

Fleury's path to those numbers was not linear. Twenty-one games into his NHL career, the first overall pick was sent back to junior. He lost and regained the starter's role in Pittsburgh more than once. In the 2016-17 playoffs, he entered Game 1 against Columbus after Matt Murray was injured in warmups, with Pittsburgh outshot 16-3 in the first period. Fleury won that game 3-1 and went on to win nine of the 16 games that delivered the Penguins' third Cup — a championship sometimes attributed entirely to Murray, who had started the previous two postseasons ^{[1] [3]}.

When Pittsburgh left him unprotected in the 2017 expansion draft and Vegas claimed him, Fleury responded with a .927 save percentage in his first Golden Knights season, tied for the second-best of his career, and led an expansion team to the Stanley Cup Final ^[1]. He played nine seasons after leaving Pittsburgh, adding 360 games and 200 wins to his resume across stints with Vegas, Chicago, and Minnesota ^[3].

Throughout that span, Fleury continued adjusting his technical game. He added Reverse-VH to his post play when Mike Bales joined the Penguins coaching staff in 2013. Then, during his one season with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2021-22, he learned the Overlap technique from teammate Kevin Lankinen — a 26-year-old with 19 NHL wins at the time — and refined it with goalie coach Jimmy Waite ^[2]. As InGoal documented in a Pro Tips piece ^[2], the adjustment addressed a gap he had identified between his blocker and body when using traditional VH, and allowed him to keep his torso aligned with the short-side post while retaining the ability to push laterally. "Still learning," Fleury told InGoal that season. "Always learning. Always trying to get better, trying to follow the game."

He also made equipment adjustments late in his career. After switching from wood to a composite stick from True, Fleury had the shoulder of his blocker custom-shaped with a reverse curve on the thumb side. He explained to InGoal that the idea came from Carey Price, after noticing how a stick Price had given him was shaved down — and he dropped into a butterfly on the spot during a morning skate to demonstrate the difference it made ^[4]. At that point, he was five games from becoming the fourth goaltender in NHL history to play 1,000 regular-season games ^[4].

Colin Hodd's 2025 InGoal piece on Fleury's place in goaltending history ^[1] notes that Fleury is credited by many as the first goaltender to drive his butterfly recovery push leg all the way over the opposite knee and across the midline of his body, fueling a form of explosiveness that others subsequently emulated. While contemporaries were associated with variations of the post-Patrick Roy butterfly school, Fleury combined those technical foundations with a degree of mobility that Roy's generation did not possess.

Fleury's approach to competing drew repeated attention from InGoal across multiple articles ^{[5] [6]}. As a starter, he was the last goaltender in the league known to participate in Last Puck — the end-of-warmup scramble game traditionally handled by the backup — a habit he maintained for competitive and practical reasons. "I like to move fast, try to get a sweat in warm-ups and it is fun trying to battle," he said ^[6]. He also did a cartwheel in full equipment outside the dressing room before a start during the 2017 playoffs, moments after learning Murray was injured. "I wasn't starting and Matt got hurt and I was going in and I was a little nervous," he said. "I thought like, 'To heck with this, just relax, and go have fun'" ^[5].

Teammates spoke directly to InGoal about what Fleury's approach meant inside the locker room. Max Pacioretty, describing his early days in Vegas, recounted that Fleury approached him after only his second practice and told him not to hesitate to chirp if he scored — that Fleury would do the same ^{[5] [6]}. Logan Thompson, called up to Vegas as a rookie while Robin Lehner was injured, described the experience of walking into the dressing room and finding Fleury: "Everything you hear about the guy is totally true. He's the nicest guy, treats everyone the same, everyone loves him. He still acts like a kid. He has fun... He's a captain without the C almost" ^[5].

Fleury himself was direct about the relationship between his demeanor and his performance. Coaches at times encouraged him to be quieter or more serious when he was younger. "I tried to be more serious. I tried to be more quiet and stuff, but it's not me," he said on his final InGoal Radio appearance ^[3]. "I wasn't comfortable. I love playing and that's when I play the best, when I'm smiling and having fun, and more relaxed, more loose." He was equally direct about what happened when he gave up goals: "I don't smile when I get scored on, that's for sure... I always go into the game trying to win. That's what I want, that's why it's fun. And when I don't, I'm pissed off" ^[3].

Even in his final seasons, facing games in Pittsburgh and Montreal, Fleury described still feeling nerves before starts. "You would think after more than 1,000 games played, you don't stress or have butterflies too much, but I still do," he said. What changed over time was his response to those feelings. "I've learned it's not a bad thing, you know, to be nervous or butterflies. It's normal" ^[3]. His approach: deep breaths, and focusing on simple plays — hands in front, square to the shot.

Fleury returned to Pittsburgh on a professional tryout contract for a public practice and a preseason game against Columbus before his retirement, closing his career where it began ^[3]. His first InGoal Radio podcast appearance was followed by a final one ^[7], bookending years of coverage that included technical Pro Tips pieces ^[2], pro gear features ^[4], and longer career retrospectives ^{[1] [3] [5] [6]}.