Up Close With The Pittsburgh Sports Report
Marc-Andre Fleury
By Joe Sager

Like the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Marc-Andre Fleury enjoyed a stellar season last year.

However, Fleury knows there's no time to rest.

Especially during practice, anyway.

Even when the young goaltender is not participating in a drill, he doesn't get the luxury of taking a break - his teammates are always trying to get some pucks past him.

"No, I don't get any breaks. They are always trying to score on me when I am not looking, so I always have to watch. It's fun. They always come and shoot," he said with a smile. "I can't let them have a goal or else they will come back and chirp at me."

That sequence of events, which happens daily at practice, symbolizes two things: 1. Fleury loves the game; 2. He's ultra-competitive.

"I am really happy to be on this team. This is a young bunch of guys who love to play hockey so we have a lot of fun out on the ice," he said. "For me, it's great every day to go play hockey. As for the games, I just try my best and help the team win."

Last year - his first full NHL season - Fleury turned in one of the best-ever campaigns for a Penguins goaltender. He finished third in the NHL with 40 wins - the second-most in one season for a Pens' netminder. Tom Barrasso earned 43 wins between the pipes in the 1992-93 campaign. Fleury posted career-bests with a 2.83 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage in 67 games.

He began the season in style as he recorded his third-career shutout with 40 saves against the Philadelphia Flyers on opening night at Mellon Arena. Fleury set an NHL record for number of saves in an opening-game shutout.

For the season, he finished with five shutouts, which tied for fifth in the NHL. It is the third-highest shutout total in Penguins history and he became just the fifth Penguins' goalie in team history to post five or more shutouts in one season. The others are Tom Barrasso (7, 1997-98), John Hedberg (6, 2001-02) Les Binkley (6, 1967-68) and Dunc Wilson (5, 1976-77).

All five of Fleury's shutouts came on home ice, which is a Penguins record for shutouts at home. At the start of this season, he had seven shutouts in his career which ranked tied for third on the Penguins' all-time list.

Yet, like stopping his teammates in practice, Fleury knows he can't afford to relax.

"I worked on everything this summer. I tried to get faster and better," he said. "There are always little things I need to correct, especially my rebounds. Those are something I want to control more to get them in the corners and stuff."

And, he continues to work hard on his stickhandling abilities, which can be a huge boost for a team, especially on the power play. See Rick DiPietro and how his puck distribution skills help the Islanders.

"I still scare myself and coaches sometimes when I play the puck," Fleury said with a laugh. "I need to get better at it and work on it. If I can do a good job - just keep it simple, not deke any guys or anything - then I will make it easier on my defensemen.

"You can do it in practice, but in games there are forecheckers coming at you pretty hard. You have to make the right play at the right time. It's all experience."

Experience has been the key word for Fleury. He spent parts of two seasons in Pittsburgh before entrenching himself as the Penguins' go-to guy last year. With all those games under his belt, Fleury has become a better NHL goaltender.

"I have learned. I got so much experience playing in that many games," he said. "That's a huge factor. Since I was 18, I have had the chance to play here a little bit here every year. Staying here all last season helped me out a lot."

Still the youngest starting goaltender in the NHL - he doesn't turn 23 until Nov. 28 - Fleury has shown signs of maturity. Instead of diving and flopping all over the ice, better positioning has allowed Fleury to make the tough save look somewhat routine.

"It's something I have tried to correct and work on so I don't have to dive around. Maybe be more patient and wait for the puck," he said. "I can read the game a little better, too, so I think all that helped me out.

"I think, to read the play, you have to play and see the games and the tendencies of teams. I still can work in practice and stuff, but playing helps a lot," he continued. "We saw many teams last year and I kind of know the rinks now and what different guys do. I saw the plays on the ice and how teams set up for power plays and who plays together and what they like to do together."

While most goaltenders mature later than most skaters, Fleury's ceiling seems unlimited.

"I know I still have to improve and I can improve," he said. "I still have a few years ahead of me. So, I am just going to keep trying to work hard to get better."

That includes not giving up any extra goals in practice.