Marc Andre Fleury. Just another human being...and a HUGE source of disagreement between Bird and I.
First of all, I love how the morning talkshow hosts on 93.7 "The Fan" dismiss Fleury bashers like we're 9-11 conspiracy theorists. Personally, I love bashing Fleury because I can prove he's not great. And as long as it is being shoved down my throat that he's elite, I'll continue to prove people wrong.
I'm going to take a page out of Bird's argument handbook. I'm going to use stats to back up my argument.
The two most telling statistics for a goaltender are save percentage and goals against average (GAA). In the 2009-2010 regular season, Fleury's GAA was 2.65 (ranking him 24th amongst all qualifying NHL goaltenders in the 30 team league), and his save percentage was .905% (he was not in the top 30 in the NHL for this. How does that happen? Well, some backup netminders who qualified based on games played ALSO had a better save percentage than Fleury). Fleury's save percentage ranked 53rd, total, out of all goaltenders that played in the NHL this year.
The Penguins backup goaltender, Brent Johnson, had a better save percentage than Fleury. And Johnson sucks.
Flower (brilliant nickname) was also pulled from games 8 times this past season. Is that elite?
Here's where Fleury supporters get crazy. They'll argue that Fleury is a great bounce-back goalie. Are you kidding me? Is that a good thing? If true, that means Fleury essentially needs destroyed in order to raise his level of play. In a playoff series, if you need to "bounce back," that suggests you already probably single-handedly cost your team a game. Remember, there are only a maximum of 7 games in a series, so every game means a TON. Why shouldn't you ALWAYS have your game face on? The great goaltenders do.
In the Ottawa series, I've heard a lot of Penguins fans give Fleury credit for playing extremely well after game 1. Really? Again, to beat a dead horse, why is it okay for him to get shelled just so he can raise his level of play? Of the 8 remaining goaltenders in the playoffs, Fleury has the worst save percentage so far (.890%) and is 6th in GAA (2.75).
Fleury should thank God he has Sidney Crosby on his team. Besides making a save in Game 1 versus Ottawa, Crosby does enough offensively for the Pens that they can afford to deal with Fleury's inconsistencies and outscore opponents when needed (see the 7-4 win vs. Ottawa as an example).
All of that said...I don't think Fleury is terrible. I just think he's about average. He makes some pretty awesome saves and allows some pretty soft goals. He's at an age where he should be in his prime, but his play just hasn't been very good this year. I'm hoping he decides to play great every night, and that he doesn't need a shlacking (remember the 5-0 loss to Detroit last year) in order to play great (remember games 6 and 7 vs. Detroit last year?)
The next time someone says Fleury isn't all that great, don't just dismiss it because he's won a Stanley Cup or because he seems like a nice kid. Remember, the Steelers won a Superbowl with Mitch Berger, too. Just sayin'
The stats don't lie. Flower is average.
I've heard all post season how great Fleury is. But 4 goals in 28 minutes to a below average offense requires.....yet again....more excuses for Fleury. Some excuses are legit, but at some point, Pittsburghers needs to admit this guy is simply not elite. He can play GREAT at times, and when he does, I admit it. Why can't the rest of the Burgh admit it when he plays poorly? Elite goalies just don't get pulled 28 minutes into a game 7. So, either Fleury isn't elite, or he had a horrendous game.
ReplyDeletePittsburghers won't admit to either. It's like it's some sort of denial disease.