Marc Andre Fleury-Is there a more polarizing Penguins player in recent years?

Marc Andre Fleury has a Stanley Cup ring, and a trip to the finals under his belt and he is only now in his mid twenties. He also earns five million dollars per year, putting him financially into the category of elite goaltender, yet is never among league leaders in GAA or save percentage. He also has a Stanley Cup ring and has won 38 playoff games. As a result, Fleury seems to have some of the most diverse opinions I have ever heard for an athlete with his resume. There now seems to be two categories of Penguins fans and local media. Fleury Haters and Fleury Lovers. The Fleury Haters mantra is something like this:



Fleury is paid among the top 7 or 8 goaltenders, but statistically he is always in the bottom half of the major categories like GAA and Save Percentage;

Yeah, he wins games, but that is because the Pens have such a great offense, and they win in spite of MAF not because of him;

Yeah he won a cup, but that is because Geno carried the team to the cup along with Crosby;

Yeah he won a cup, but that does not make him great. Trent Dilfer won the Super Bowl and he is not more than average;

Yeah he won a cup, but we might have won the first one if he played better;

Fleury gives up soul crushing, momentum sapping goals WAY too often;

Fleury is way too comfortable as the starter and should split time with Jonny;

Trade Fleury for a top six winger and give the job to Johnson because the Hawks won a cup with a mediocre goalie like Niemi, and the Flyers went to the Finals with a group of mediocre goalies.



Fleury apologists:

Fleury has won a cup, and almost another;

Fleury is not about his stats, it is about when he makes big saves;

Fleury is not as bad as his stats, only x of those goals were his fault;

Fleury's stats are mediocre but he WINS games;

Fleury will be there when it counts;

Fleury should not have to sit while a backup who is among league leaders carries the team to victories, because, well he is Fleury;

You are an idiot if you ever think you could trade Fleury or sit him for any length of time;

Speaking of idiots Ron Cook writes today that Dan Bylsma is doing Fleury wrong by sitting him and riding the hot goaltender. Cook further states that Fleury deserves "better."

Well Ron, despite the fact that I agree that Fleury remains the number one goalie, and Fleury at his best gives the Pens the best chance at the Cup come spring time I could not disagree more about Coach Disco's handling of the situation. I like Fleury, he seems like a really good kid, and a great teammate, but frankly his feelings are not the issue right now. The Penguins were looking BAD, and Fleury was a big part of that situation. He was 0-3 in the net with a bloated 3.41 GAA and an anemic .853 save percentage. In contrast, Johnson is 4-0 with a 1.49 GAA and an excellent .950 save percentage. Ron, a professional hockey team is not some feel good support group, it is a business. They are in the business of winning. They are hotter than hell with Johnson in the net. Why would you pull him just because you think Fleury is owed something? He is getting what he is owed, about $5,000,000 per year for seven years. He played poorly all last season, and more poorly during the playoffs last season. His statistics were not much different than the prior seasons run, but he was letting in goals that were SOFFER than a babys ass. When he started in that mode this season, coach Disco had every right to make the move, and the team has flourished ever since. Cook goes on to say that Fleury only let in one bad goal during this stretch. He also defended Fleury's game against Toronto when he gave up 4 goals on 14 shots, stating that they had 8 quality scoring chances. Well, Ron, is it illegal for the franchise goalie to make the BIG save and steal a game? I tire of hearing from the apologists how he was hung out to dry, and they were good chances.....sometimes you have to make those saves, at least some of them......last night, with 11 plus minutes left, Letang turns the puck over at the blueline, creating a breakaway chance on Johnson with the Pens up 5-2. If that puck goes in shorthanded, the Senators would have all the momentum and 11 plus minutes to score two goals to tie this game. Johnson MADE THE SAVE that snuffed out the hopes of the Senators and sealed the win. As he did early in the game, allowing the Pens to jump out to the lead. I have another question for Ron.......what if Bylsma was the sap you want him to be and he plays the stone cold goalie in favor of the red hot goalie Thursday night against Nashville and Fleury shits the bed again and the Pens lose? Now you have created more of a goalie controversy than you have now. It is no guarantee by any stretch that Fleury comes in and plays well. You keep playing Johnson until he cools off or the first back to back games. If Fleury takes advantage of that chance and plays well, win or lose, he gets the keys to the mazerati again. I very much hope that Johnson stays hot and Fleury sits a bit longer due to the fact that the points will pile up for the Pens. I also hope that when Fleury gets his chance again,which will be soon either way, that he plays lights out and takes the job back, as his playoff experience gives the Pens the best chance in the spring. He is one of the four horseman that the current Pens team was built around. In the long run, Johnson playing 20-25 games at least this year would probably benefit Fleury come spring time. Finally, as part of analyzing the two goalies, I ran their career statistics which are pretty similar in the regular season.

MAF played 305 games, winning 148 of them or 48.5%. BJ played 274 games winnning 125 of them or 45%. MAF has a career GAA in the regular season of 2.83, a save percentage of .906 and 16 shutouts. BJ has a carreer GAA in the regular season of 2.62, a save percentage 0f .904 and 13 shutouts. All in all, they have very similar career REGULAR season numbers, and if that were the yardstick one could make the argument that if MAF does not get hot they could be a 1A and 1B tandem. Besides the fact that is not a great situation, the experience and resume of Fleury in the playoffs is far greater than that of Johnson in terms of games played and victories. Fleury has played in 62 playoff games already at the age of 25. He has won 38 of those games or 61%. His GAA is 2.62 and a save percentage of .911. In contrast, Johnson has only played in 13 playoff games, winning 5 of them or 38%. His GAA is 1.84 and his save percentage is .929. Though both of those stats are better, they come in far fewer games, and the big stat of wins is better for MAF in both sheer number of wins and percentage of games won. Add to that the fact that MAF was two wins away from the Cup in 2007-2008 and won the Cup in 2008-2009 and you can definitely see that we need a sharp and focused Fleury come spring time if we want our best shot at the hardware.