As former Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury begins his farewell tour, opting to retire after his 21st season, he will go down as one of hockey’s best pranksters of all time.
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In Tuesday night’s pre-season action, his Minnesota Wild hosted the Chicago Blackhawks at the Xcel Energy Center. The home team went on to win handily 7-2, with Filip Gustavsson between the pipes.
His backup in the game was one of the Wild’s top prospects, Jesper Wallstedt, which gave the future Hall of Famer Fleury a night off.
Instead of watching the game in a comfortable suite or even the dressing room, the oldest player in the NHL decided to work with the ice crew for the game.
Considering he’s played in 1,025 games, Fleury has had his crease shoveled thousands of times by guys and girls on the ice crew. In one of Fleury’s funniest moments to date, he laced up the skates and shoveled for a change, participating in an aspect of the game unseen by the players who take those shovel passes for granted.
For those who need a reminder of the lengths Fleury will go to to have fun with his teammates, he once taped all of Sidney Crosby’s gear together at the NHL Media Day and most recently removed all the tires from Brandon Duhaime’s car after he covered Fleury’s SUV with toilet paper.
The Wild will visit Pittsburgh on October 29. This will likely be Fleury’s last chance to play in front of the fans who have supported him for 13 years.
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