Marc-Andre Fleury

Lore & Background

After being selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL expansion draft, Fleury reached the Final again in 2018, and received the William M. Jennings Trophy and the Vezina Trophy in 2021. Fleury also played with the Chicago Blackhawks, as well as the Minnesota Wild, with whom he reached several milestones and ultimately retired with in 2025. He is the third goaltender to ever reach the 500 victories mark in the NHL, after Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur, and the fourth goaltender to reach 1,000 games played, after Roy, Brodeur, and Roberto Luongo.

Internationally, Fleury has represented Canada's junior team twice, winning back-to-back silver medals at the World Junior Championships in 2003 and 2004. He won a gold medal with the Canada senior team at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Fleury is known by the nickname 'Flower', derived from the English translation of his last name (fleuri means 'in bloom', or 'in flower', in French).

Reader's Guide

As a youth, Fleury played in the 1998 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the College-Français Rive-Sud minor ice hockey team from South Shore, Montreal. Fleury played junior ice hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles beginning in 2000–01. After a strong 2002–03 campaign that included a silver medal with Canada's junior team at the World Junior Championships, QMJHL Second Team All-Star honours, the Mike Bossy Trophy as the league's top prospect and the Telus Cup as the top defensive player, he was chosen first overall in the 2003 NHL entry draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Penguins acquired the first overall pick from the Florida Panthers in a trade that sent the first and 73rd overall picks to the Penguins in exchange for Mikael Samuelsson and the third and 55th picks. He is only the third goalie to be chosen first overall in the NHL entry draft, after Michel Plasse and Rick DiPietro. Playing four seasons total with Cape Breton, Fleury's jersey number (29) was later retired by the club in his fourth NHL season on January 25, 2008.

Fleury immediately made his NHL debut during the 2003–04 season as the youngest goaltender in the league at 18 years old (three years younger than the second-youngest, Rick DiPietro of the New York Islanders). He appeared in his first NHL game on October 10, 2003, against the Los Angeles Kings, recording an impressive 46-save performance, which included a penalty shot save, in a 3–0 loss. Fleury recorded his first NHL win in his very next start, on October 18, with 31 saves in a 4–3 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

His first NHL shutout came on October 30, in a 1–0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Fleury shared time with goaltenders Jean-Sébastien Aubin and Sébastien Caron and lived up to first-overall-pick expectations early, earning Rookie of the Month honours in October, with a 2–2–2 record, 1.96 goals against average (GAA) and .943 save percentage. As the season progressed, however, his performance began to sink, mainly due to Pittsburgh's poor defence.

He was loaned to Canada's junior team for the 2004 World Junior Championships and, upon returning with a second consecutive silver medal, he was sent back to the QMJHL on January 29, 2004.