Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (Flower) has set numerous NHL records in his long and illustrious career. He is the number one active goaltender in the following categories: Games Played -1,043, Wins -572, Saves—27,020, and Shutouts- 76. He has also participated in four All-Star games and played on three World Champion Pittsburgh Penguins teams. He also received the 2021 Vezina Trophy, handed out annually to the league’s best goaltender.
Last night, he set another record in Montreal and moved up the charts in another category. Due to his accomplishments, Flower received rousing adulation from the Canadians’ fans and was enthusiastically feted by both his teammates and the opposing Montreal players.
Montreal Love Affair
In the game last night at the Ball Centre, Flower was his vintage self. In the 4-0 victory over the Canadians, he stopped 19 shots on his way to setting an NHL longevity record. With the shutout, 20 years after his first such game, the 40-year-old Fleury became the first goalie in league history to record shutouts as a teenager and a player over 40.
The shutout was also the 76th of his career, and he moved into a three-way tie with Tony Esposito and Ed Belfour for 10th all-time. In his final appearance at the Bell Centre, the supportive Canadian fans stayed around to cheer his accomplishments as he was announced as the first star of the game. The Montreal players all extended warm handshakes to the popular future Hall of Fame goaltender as they went through the line at the game’s end.
A bouquet of flowers was thrown from the stands, and there to help him celebrate the moment was his wife, Veronique; three children, Estelle, Scarlett, and James; his mother, France; and sister, Marylene. It was definitely a Flower love fest last night. And to add icing on the cake, the win lifted the Wild into second place in the Central Division with 66 points.
Flower Comes Home
Flower was born in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, a community of around 35,000 people an hour north of Montreal. Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis explained why his team showered Flower with such enthusiastic praise. He said the French Canadian culture is woven into the fabric of Montreal as a city and franchise, and St. Louis felt his team needed to recognize the legacy of the great Quebec superstar. Marc-Andre Fleury spoke after the game about the unexpected adulation from the Montreal players and fans.
“I don’t think they’ve done that before. I was surprised. It was very humbling for me that they stayed out, and Marty, too, who I played against for so many years. Two have the respect of my teammates and the other team’s, the other players around the league, and the fans — even though I’m on the road — and the French Canadians, the English people from Quebec — it means a lot to me.”
