OTTAWA — The emotions were still stirring late into Thursday night for Marc-Andre Fleury, who pretty much closed the Bell Centre down after his magical Montreal swan song.
Fleury, 40, had finished all his media responsibilities, was given the Wild’s player-of-the-game “HARD” chain and finally changed into his regular clothes. Then the future Hall of Famer popped up into the stands to visit with what was left of the 100-plus family and friends that took two buses in from his hometown of Sorel-Tracy.
“The people at the rink were kicking us out,” Fleury said Saturday, laughing. “It was too late, everybody was gone. But they were nice enough to keep us there for a while.”
Fleury actually went back to his home — a half-hour drive from downtown — and stayed there Thursday night, a unique opportunity as the team didn’t take their train until the next day. He brought home a few souvenirs from the milestone game, including the game puck and one from warmups.
“I’m keeping that one — a little selfish,” he joked. “It got both logos on it.”
There was a lot to unpack emotionally from Thursday’s game, but when Fleury has time to reflect on it later on, there are a few things that he’ll remember the most.
“Maybe the relief … the end of it,” Fleury said. “I was stressed during the day. I didn’t want to let anyone down. My teammates. How well my teammates played — amazing, so many blocked shots. Obviously having my friends and family there, from close and far away. I think the crowd, too, in warmups how many people with signs on our side on our glass and cheering.”
Fleury said he knew the Jumbotron camera was on him during “O’ Canada,” but tried to avoid looking at it until giving a sly smile at the end.
“I love looking around, just to keep it in my mind,” Fleury said. “The view. The Bell Centre. The Montreal logo. The French national anthem. I wanted to look but the camera was always in my face. I didn’t want to be emotional in front of the camera.
“That was another part that will stand out with me. The cheer during the game was obviously touching too. You get a little goosebumps and emotional. For that one, I tried to block it out. There was still time left and they were pulling their goalie, I didn’t want to give up a goal.”
Apparently, during the two-minute standing ovation at the third-period TV timeout, the linesman told center Ryan Hartman he was going to wait to start the faceoff until the crowd was done. Hartman told him he better drop the puck at some point because the cheers weren’t going to stop.
“At that point, I was like, ‘Play boys!’,” Fleury said. “I’ve got to get this done.”
Fleury did see photos afterward of Filip Gustavsson’s clever sign that he held on the bench.
Gus is an icon for this pic.twitter.com/bxgc3qlJq0
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) January 31, 2025
“My Flower Wish List”
Get pranked by the master.
Share a net with.
Play one more season?
The first two items were checked, not the third.
“That was pretty funny,” Fleury said.
Gustavsson is far from the only one trying to convince Fleury not to retire after this season, which is still his plan. His family weighed in too.
“Some do, yeah,” Fleury said. “‘You’re not too old. You’re not that tired, are you?’”
Fleury hasn’t decided what he’ll do after his career is over. There’s no doubt that president of hockey operations and GM Bill Guerin plans to have a conversation about a role in the organization “when the time is right.”
Guerin thinks it’s important for Fleury to take a little time away before jumping in.
Has Fleury thought about his post-playing life?
“I’ve been thinking about it for years now,” Fleury said. “Since Pittsburgh — I was thinking, ‘Oh, I’m done here?’ It’s hard. All I’ve done is play hockey. All the other guys have degrees, like going to college. And I don’t know. I’m lucky enough (that) I’ve got to meet a lot of people in hockey. Obviously maybe Billy can help out at some point.
“We’ve never had a sit(down) or talked about it. I don’t know, maybe I’ll try (management). I don’t know if that’s what will drive me. I’ll maybe find something.”
Fleury and his wife Véronique and their three kids have enjoyed living in Minnesota. No matter what he does, or where they go, Fleury wants to focus on them.
“The biggest thing right now is I’d like to be home for my kids’ birthday, for Halloween, for the school play,” Fleury said. “I don’t want to miss those things. I want to be there for that. Maybe check with my wife too. She’s put aside her career and stuff for me. And I think I can’t be selfish too long. But, yeah, I guess we’ll see.”
(Photos: Vitor Munhoz / NHLI via Getty Images and courtesy of Allan Walsh)
