Fleury haters

Well, Marc Andre Fleury, goaltender for the Pittsburgh Penguins, is a great goalie today after the Pens 2-1 defeat of Montreal in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals. Just the other night, after the Pens' 3-2 loss in game four against Montreal, he sucked. Penguins fans are really hard on this guy and I've never understood why.

I guess the easiest answer is fans always go for the obvious. In football, they blame the quarterback even after a 38-27 loss.

I'm far from a hockey expert, but I do know that Fleury has played in 11 postseason series and won 9 of them, including two game 7's last year on-route to the Stanley Cup. In-fact, Fleury is undefeated in game 7's. Sure, he's only had two, but you know how much pressure there is in game 7 of a series? I can't imagine being a goaltender. I'd probably be jittery 24/7; I'd flinch at the wind blowing.

The man might give up the occasional soft-goal, but when it's money-time, he's there. You can have your save-percentages, because they are often misleading. I could have a .900 save percentage if I only faced 10 shots in a game. Based on his very short history, if I had to pick a goaltender to hold a one goal lead with five minutes left in a crucial game, I would pick Fleury. Getting back to football and the quarterback, Peyton Manning might have the great stats, but if I had to pick a quarterback to lead my team down the field in the final minute, I'd pick Ben Roethlisberger. He could be having a horrible game-throwing picks, getting sacked--but I'd want him to lead my squad in crunch time.

Fleury is a big-game goaltender. Throw out the save-percentages. He rises to the occasion when it matters the most.

If a goalie was supposed to be perfect, then a really great one would never lose a game, and I don't know if you've seen an average NHL team's record, but it's far from perfect.

I remember listening to The Drive on ESPN last Summer on the day of Game 7, and some guy called in and asked if he thought Fleury should be traded during he off season. The host, Scott Paulsen, I believe, mocked him for his stupid remark about future trades just hours before one of the biggest games in the history of the franchise.

Appreciate Fleury. Remember, Sid might be the Kid, but his power is only as great as the Flower.