Marc-André Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Locker Room
The Pittsburgh Penguins had just lost to the Boston Bruins in what would be their first of two in a home-and-home series. The media was (and still is) pressing the players about their slump and blaming coach Michel Therrien for not being able to get them out of it.
The team had a players-only meeting only a half an hour earlier, which is never good news. It was not the best atmosphere to walk into and talk to Fleury and I was just glad that my interview with him was scheduled for after practice the next day.
But then reports of a morning snowstorm in Boston were announced, where the team was headed the next afternoon, and the operations staff went to work rescheduling the charter and booking ice time in Boston. Home practice was cancelled and the flight moved to 9:00 am. The interview would have to be done that night, now or never.
Marc-André Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Locker Room
Marc-André was a good sport and agreed to speak with me after he had showered and had some downtime. We sat on the couches right in the middle of the players lounge area and I got to work asking him questions about growing up in Sorel, QC, winning two silver medals with Team Canada, the experience of playing in the Stanley Cup Finals, and how he kept himself grounded in the midst of such a chaotic career (he’s only 24 years old).
In his trademark good humour, he answered every question with thought and depth. His maturity came through as he loosened up and stopped thinking about the difficult time his team was having. A true professional.
When I had gone through all of my questions, he stood up and shook my hand, thanking me. I left the arena that night satisfied with the interview and my first experience dealing with NHL players. They live a crazy life to play the best hockey in the world and entertain their fans. I hope I can get another inside glimpse of their world sometime soon.
UPDATE: You can read my interview with Marc-André Fleury here.
You can read my feature profile in VIA destinations magazine on Marc-André Fleury here.
Autographed Goalie Glove by Marc-André Fleury (see comment below). The note says "Please do not disturb, teddy bear is sleeping."
ANOTHER UPDATE: Complementing the wonderful story below from Debra, the photo to the right was taken by her of her son’s autographed glove by Marc-André Fleury. How sweet! She also wrote: “I cannot stop thinking about the look on my son’s face, when the glove left his hand to be signed. I reallly wanted to say Thank you to Mr. Fleury and actually his mom, for raising such a fine young man!!!”
She goes on to say, “I was thinking since you are a travel writer, some day you may want to go to Pittsburgh and write a story on just how many Canadians are there, and Pittsburgh fans. There isn’t a kid my son knows who is a fan of any team except Pittsburgh, and it is because of the young Canadian players. We will go back for sure next year, and we never even seen anything except the arena!”
Thanks for writing, Debra.
Lori Henry is a freelance Travel & Lifestyle writer based in Vancouver, Canada. She covers Solo Travel, Outdoor Adventures, Wellness & Spas, and Cultural Dance, and is often called "That Cultural Dance Gal."
I read your article on Marc, and thought perhaps you could assist with geting a note of Thanks through to his manager. I also wanted you to know this story in case you write a follow up article.I was not a fan of his, but I sure am now.
This week I took my 8 year old goalie son to see his favorite player in action in Pittsburgh. We had tried all year to get tickets to any Canadian city to no avail. We live in Saskatoon, so the nearest NHL city is 5 hours away anyway. Finally, after a particularily disappointing minor hockey experience, I decided to take him all the way to Pitts from Saskatoon to see his hero. ( 3 flights, 15 hours travelling time).We arrived in Pittsburgh to find out Fleury was not playing that night ( April 9, 2009). My son was devastated, unable to undertstand, why they would not play him on the one night he could see him. Trying to make the best of a bad situation, I took him early to mellon arean to try for an autograph. We stood 3 hours, we saw all the players, but none came over for an autograph, in fact only Fleury aknowledged the fans with a wave. My son still determined asked if we could try again after the game. We left the arena after the game and got close to the front, despite all the adults literally pushing the little guy and his goalie catcher glove out of the way, he managed to get his gloved hand between 2 adults and wave it at Fleury as he left in his car. Unbelievably, Fleury saw the glove, stopped his car and asked a security guard to bring it to him. He signed it and the guard returned it to my son. Fleury has no idea who was on the end of the glove, or how far he travelled to see his hero, but he made a little boys dream come true that Thursday night.
I have no idea how to contact Fleury to say Thank you, and let him know what this means to my son. He has slept with the glove since, and I am unsure he will ever let a puck be stopped by it again, for fear the autograph will wash off. I don’t think the city of Pittsburgh has any idea what Canadians like Fleury and Crosby are doing for their tourism, but they need to take note.
If there is anyway you can express our Thanks to Mr. Fleury, I would appreciate it very much.
Debra
Saskatoon, SK
for debra. my advice to contact fleury a way would be contacting fsninsider.com look for the pittsburgh section and stan savaran would be a good person to contact.
Thanks so much for the info, Haley. I did get her letter through to Marc-André, so he was able to read her kind words. Go Pens!
He shows a great personality…always smiling and positive yet deep in his thoughts and.. extremely attractive. What a man.
Great article btw and that was a really touching story above!
Dear Lori, I read your article as I was searching on how to locate Marc-Andre Fleury. I feel the desperate need to thank him…and share my story of meeting him on Dec 10, 2009 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Here’s my story that I wanted to so desperately tell Marc-Andre, but we met him before the game and I didn’t want to break his concentration.
My son Noah – His story
Noah is 11 years old, and decided just this year to begin hockey, as a 1st year Peewee GOALIE hockey player. We moved from Ontario to St-Lazare Quebec 3 years ago. Noah’s passion to play the game is because of Fleury. He lives to watch his games, and mimics his moves. In fact, Noah has an unbelievable natural talent for Goal; 1st year in hockey, 1st year as a goalie, and he made the A level team. He dreams of playing in the NHL one day, along side Marc-Andre.
Noah was speachless, and so was I, where by coincidence, we saw Marc-Andre taping his stick near his dressing room in Montreal last Thursday. It was truly meant to be, as Noah was supposed to go to the Feb 6th game with me vs. the Canadians, but I had to switch the tickets with a guy at work. Dan Bylsma came around the corner where Marc-Andre was standing, and talked to Noah and gave us a photo opportunity. Marc-Andre then agreed to sign Noah’s official NHL Fleury jersey (an early Xmas gift) and take a photo with Noah. This was amazing, all 1 1/2 hours before the game! Marc-Andre, thanks for being so kind…we will forever be your fans, Noah will never forgot this, and your jersey will never be sold, as it is will never leave his bedroom. Thanks for helping kids believe in their dreams by interacting with them. I know there is a lot of people who just want to sell your autograph or photo. You were so generous to quickly see us before the game. I didn’t want to say too much as I didn’t want to take you off your concentration before the game. (3-2 pens!) You and Dan Byslma are terrific people and made my son’s life long dream come true to meet you. PLEASE email Noah if you can just to confirm you received his thank you note. Noah’s email is noah_lesyk49@hotmail.com
Thanks so much. Robert Lesyk, St-Lazare, Quebec.
Lori, please note that there is an underscore ( _ ) after Noah’s first name and before our last name. Thanks!