I recall interviewing then blue chip NHL goaltending prospect Marc-Andre Fleury at the 2004 World Junior hockey selection camp at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.
What I remember most about our conversation that day had nothing to do with hockey, it was his demeanour — confident, playful but respectful, and his million dollar smile.
Three weeks later, Fleury would backstop the Canadian team to a second-consecutive silver medal in Finland after his infamous clearing attempt with 5:12 to play in the gold medal game bounced off teammate Braydon Coburn and into the net to give Team USA its first world junior hockey title.
Fleury has gone on to become one of the best netminders of his generation, despite never winning a Vezina Trophy as the National Hockey League’s top puck stopper, winning three Stanley Cup rings with the Pittsburgh Penguins and leading all active goalies with 466 victories — good for fifth all-time.
He is now in pursuit of another championship with the Vegas Golden Knights, the team he led to the 2018 Cup final, who are facing the Vancouver Canucks in Round 2 of the NHL playoffs.
This is where the story about a happy-go-lucky guy who has enjoyed all the success in the world takes an interesting twist.
On Saturday afternoon, Fleury’s longtime agent Allan Walsh posted a disturbing photoshopped image of Fleury with a sword in his back and the name “DeBoer” (in reference to Vegas head coach Peter DeBoer) written on the blade.
It appears Walsh couldn’t contain his disdain after learning that the Golden Knights would be starting Robin Lehner in Game 1 vs. the Canucks Sunday night instead of Fleury.
Fleury addressed the controversy in a news conference on Sunday, saying that he had asked Walsh to take down the tweet.
“I think this was maybe a way to defend me in that situation,” said Fleury. “I’m here to win with my team to have success.”
But when asked if he knew that Walsh was going to post the image, which has since been deleted, Fleury sidestepped the question by saying his agent was “just trying to protect me a bit.”
And when he was asked to clarify whether or not he knew about the tweet in advance, Fleury simply replied “that’s the same question as before.”
The situation, as petty as it seems, has certainly created a messy blotch on the future Hockey Hall of Famer’s reputation.
Rick Zamperin is the assistant program, news and senior sports director at Global News Radio 900 CHML.
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