Fleury In The Winter, Flower In The Spring

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Most educated Penguins fans realize that their beloved goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is one of the most disrespected goalies in the entire NHL. Fleury’s always posted some stellar regular season numbers. Despite having a career season last year and posting 10 shutouts, as well as being the sole reason the Penguins stayed in the playoff series against the Rangers, he received exactly 0 Vezina votes. Zero.

For Christ sakes Cam Talbot, who quite possibly is the most overrated goalie in the entire league, got a vote.

Fleury played like a Vezina candidate to start the season without a doubt. He's been the Penguins’ rock for the majority of the 2015-2016 season. The stats has dwindled away because of a recent rough stretch and lack of help from his team, but Fleury has been insane the entire year.

But there is always that question that Pens fans have dreaded for years: Will we get the blooming version of Flower, or will we get the sun dried, burnt out version?

When I call him blooming, I mean the Marc-Andre Fleury we saw through the first two months. A shutdown goalie who bails everyone out and makes the necessary saves, and the unbelievable ones sometimes too. When I call him dried out, I mean the overused on a seasonally basis, defense-leaves-him-out-to-dry-like-a-hot-summer-day Fleury.

Believe me, I'm the biggest Fleury fan on the @LetsTalkPens team. I have believed in Fleury since we drafted him in 2003. He's a sensational goaltender and an even better person. But even I can't defend how poor he was in the playoffs after winning the Cup in 2009 all the way until two seasons ago. He was atrocious.

The series against the Philadelphia Flyers in 2012 was scary. The Flyers scored on seemingly every shot they took in that short lived series because the Philadelphia fans has Fleury scared out of his skins throwing everything (and I mean literally throwing) anything they could at him. This includes insults, taunts, chants, cups, babies, etc. Alright well the babies was an exaggeration, but the Flyers were in Fleury's head, the Penguins heads’, even the management's heads as they almost made some franchise altering moves.

But looking into the last two postseasons, he's been stellar. The 2014-2015 playoffs started a bit rough for Fleury as he struggled in the Columbus series during the first round but regained his form and rebounded tremendously during the Rangers series in the second round. Yes, that same one that saw the Pens go up 3-1 until Martin St. Louis’ mom passed away and the Rangers rallied around that to win the next three games and take the series in seven. Also, last season's unfortunate loss in a five game series that saw every score finalize as 2-1. But Fleury was just as good as Rangers goaltender Henrik “The Queen” Lundqvist. It just so happened that the offense wasn't good enough to be Lundqvist.

Fleury’s postseason stat line reads as follows: 98 GP, 53-44-6, 2.65 GAA, .906 SV%, and 8 shutouts. So he's almost a .500 winning percentage goalie come playoff time. The SV% is admittedly pretty ugly, the GAA could be a little better. But I believe in Flower. He's matured, he's been counseled, he's gone through his rough times.

Marc-Andre Fleury has bloomed. In the playoffs, goaltending wins you hockey games. Hot goaltending wins you a Stanley Cup. Marc-Andre Fleury, especially with all these injuries, will need to get out of winter mode and bloom into “The Flower” of spring that we all have seen him be before. EndFragment

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