Article: Will Fleury Be Fully Appreciated In His Final Season?

[Phillip Garrett]

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[Pewterschmidt]

Bro hung around a looooong time.  Retiring at 43 is a choice he made, and Guerin enabled

Edited 16 hours ago by Pewterschmidt

[Imyourhuckleberry]

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 Will Fleury Be Fully Appreciated In His Final Season?

Really depends upon what you mean. He hasn't been the best goalie on the team any season he's been with the Wild. How much appreciation do backup goalies typically receive when they aren't performing better than the starters?

He has been the winning goalie in the Stanley Cup finals once in his career and had many other really strong years, but they happened before he joined the Wild. He's certainly a solid backup for the Wild, but I wouldn't be giving him special treatment if I were Hynes either.

If Fleury is set to play against one of Calgary or Edmonton, I'd bet it will be Calgary. Gus has been facing the more challenging offensive opposition for most of the last 3 seasons, but I hope Fleury continues to perform solidly in the games he does get between the pipes.

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

I really like Fleury, but we should in no way put him in as a favor to him on his farewell tour. Gus is riding a hot hand and has been fantastically consistent, play the man.

Even in the games so far from Fleury, he has lost a step. Something we all knew was coming when he signed yet another year after 3 years of statistical degradation. He will be fine as a backup but if Gus feels well enough to play, then hopefully they are playing him. I would be perturbed with our FO if they played it any other way. Fleury has stated he wants to do everything he can to help this team win, in this case, that means him riding the pine.

[MNCountryLife]

Fleury is a pro.  He proves it every day with his professional comments and backs it up by acting professional.  I think he is fine where he is at and appreciates his position in life and the team.  You have to respect a guy like him doing what is best for the team.  

[mnfaninnc]

Fleury is definitely the back up now. Goose couldn't quite get it done a year ago, but it appears he is getting it done this season, at least so far. We'll need Fleury to be sharp later when faced with the tough scheduling.

I do disagree with this statement in the article:

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Bill Guerin brought Fleury to Minnesota because of his experience and to mentor Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt. Fleury’s influence on Gus will last for many seasons.

This is nonsense. Guerin brought Fleury to MN to win and to win in the playoffs. Goose wasn't even here and The Wall was still in Sweden. He may have resigned him to help influence them, but he wasn't brought in for that purpose. 

Guerin has admitted he is not a goalie guy. For the main purpose, bringing in Fleury has failed. However, from a mentorship standpoint, keeping him here may, indeed, pay off for a long time as Phillip suggests. 

[Beast]

Gus has been one of the hotties goalies in the NHL.  You have to ride that wave.  I understand why Fleury isn’t getting a ton of action.  He’ll have plenty of opportunities.

I don’t think appreciation is a problem for him.  Everywhere he goes, red carpets are rolled out and he’s treated like royalty.

The less he has to play this year, the better.  It means Gus is performing.  Frankly and obviously, he’s not the goalie he once was either.  He was a -9 on Goals Saved Above Average last year.  He’s about even this year in limited action.  Gus is at 9.8 this year, and is leading the league in GAA and Adjusted GAA.  Gus is the #1.  Looks like he could contend for a Vezina.  There’s no need to try to cram Fleury between the pipes more based on days gone by and a small sample size (at least until Gus hits a skid).

[viper3119]

4 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Retiring at 43 is a choice he made, and Guerin enabled

Fluery is only about to be 40....

[Enforceror]

8 minutes ago, viper3119 said:

Fluery is only about to be 40....

According to Duhaime, he's 50.

[Thatoneguy]

Speaking of goalies, does anybody watch iowa much? I'm just curious what's going on with the goal tending down there. Is the Wall struggling as bad as his stats look, or does iowa have that horrible of defensmen? 

It sure looks ugly when you look at Walls stats. 

[Sam]

1 hour ago, Thatoneguy said:

Speaking of goalies, does anybody watch iowa much? I'm just curious what's going on with the goal tending down there. Is the Wall struggling as bad as his stats look, or does iowa have that horrible of defensmen? 

It sure looks ugly when you look at Walls stats. 

Yea I agree, it looks pretty bad. I’m pretty sure it’s the lack of defense and odd man rush situations. I think they have been towards the bottom of their conference for awhile now.

[Sam]

5 hours ago, viper3119 said:

Fluery is only about to be 40....

P-Diesel doesn’t know what he’s talking about. 😉

[Imyourhuckleberry]

2 hours ago, Sam said:

I’m pretty sure it’s the lack of defense and odd man rush situations. I think they have been towards the bottom of their conference for awhile now.

Sounds about right. The Iowa Wild have not scored more goals for than goals against since the 2019-2020 season. They are currently leading the AHL in goals against, and Wallstedt has never performed this poorly in his post-draft history, or in the years of data available leading up to his draft.