Fleury to reunite with Crosby, play for Team Canada at World Championship
Published
Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury will play for Team Canada at the IIHF Men's World Championship, he told reporters Monday.
This will be Fleury's first time representing Canada at the Worlds. He'll join former teammate Sidney Crosby at this year's tournament, which begins later this month in Denmark and Sweden.
In his final NHL campaign, Fleury went 14-9-1 in 26 games with the Wild during the regular season, posting an .899 save percentage and a 2.93 goals-against average. The Wild were bounced by the Vegas Golden Knights in the opening round of the playoffs in six games, where Fleury played a total of 24:05 in relief of Filip Gustavsson in Game 5.
Regarding his future beyond the Worlds, Fleury told reporters he plans to meet with Wild general manager Bill Guerin after the season. He said he wants to be home with his family but also would like to work for the team in some capacity, potentially assisting with the team's young players and goalies.
Now 40 and a veteran of 21 NHL seasons, Fleury spent the final four seasons of his career with Minnesota, coming over in a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks mid-way through the 2021-22 season.
Fleury won three Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, 2016 and 2017. He was then selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 expansion draft and made the All-Star team in his first season in Vegas, helping the team reach the Cup Final in their inaugural season. He spent four seasons in Vegas before a trade sent him to the Chicago Blackhawks in July of 2021.
The 2021 Vezina Trophy winner has a career save percentage of .912 and a GAA of 2.60 in 1,051 career regular season NHL games played.