Last season, Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury appeared in 26 games posting a respectable 14-9-1 record as he embarked on a retirement tour of the league in the 21st and final season of his hall-of-fame career. It doesn't seem like he's done with the NHL just yet, though. On Thursday it was announced that Fleury had signed a professional try-out contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins and intends to appear in a preseason game.
Don't call it a comeback, though. For all intents and purposes Fleury intends to stay retired. In a sense it's like a one-day contract that many athletes sign so that they can retire with the franchise that they came into stardom with. For Fleury that organization is Pittsburgh. He was drafted first overall in 2003 by the team and raised the Stanley Cup with them three times.
Joining the team gives him a chance to play at home one more time in front of the fans that cheered him on for 11 seasons. General manager Kyle Dubas had this to say in a statement from the team,
“The entire Penguins organization is honored to welcome Marc-Andre Fleury back to the ice in Pittsburgh. This past year everyone witnessed how beloved and respected Marc is in the game of hockey, but the adoration goes beyond his accolades and career. Marc means so much to our team, our fans and the City of Pittsburgh because of the person he is and the example he set. The Penguins feel he and his family are most-deserving of this opportunity to celebrate this full-circle moment back where it all started in front of the black and gold faithful.”
Fleury played for Vegas and Chicago before ending his career with four seasons in Minnesota where he went 64-42-10 with a .902 SV% and 2.90 GAA. He finished his career with 575 wins (2nd all time), 1,051 Games played (2nd all time), 76 shutouts (tied for 10th all time), and 60,669 minutes on the ice (2nd all time).
Not only was he one of the best to play the game, he played it with a seemingly unlimited amount of joy. He was one of the league's legendary pranksters, as he noted talking to Sportsnet last season:
The 40-year-old will put the pads on one more time on Saturday, September 27 as the Penguins host the Columbus Blue Jackets in a pre-season game. It should be an enjoyable game for all in attendance.