Fleury brings championship pedigree, and a penchant for fun, to Minnesota

ST. PAUL -- New Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury glided down the steps of the airplane, plaid sport coat unbottoned like a man ready to swoop in and get to work.
He was missing only one thing: the gear he would need to do the job.
No worries, though. His equipment, as well as all of his belongings were still on the plane. But Fleury, the future Hall-of-Famer and proud owner of three Stanley Cup rings, is no first-timer when it comes to the dog and pony show surrounding a new arrival.

Fleury bounded off the plane the first time so the team's social and video teams could get a clean first impression of its newest addition.
Wild General Manager Bill Guerin, a former teammate of Fleury's with the Pittsburgh Penguins with whom he's been close with for years, waited as Fleury stepped off the plane and onto Minnesota soil as a member of the Wild for the first time.
"There's no chance," Guerin said with a laugh, "that I'm letting them get photos of me carrying your bags off this plane."

Just over two hours before the Wild hosted his former club, the Vegas Golden Knights, Fleury was, quite literally, in a hurry to go the two miles from St. Paul's Holmen Field to Xcel Energy Center, where he would serve as Cam Talbot's backup on Monday night, a few short hours after he was acquired from Chicago.
Not only did Guerin welcome Fleury onto the plane in the Windy City and ride with him to the Twin Cities, he also drove his new goaltender to the rink for the first time.
It's a partnership that once combined on the ice for a Stanley Cup, and when Guerin moved into the front office of the Penguins, was a part of two more championships.
They hope they'll collaborate for another this spring.

"I've known Billy for awhile right. It's always nice to see him in the hallway and stuff when we come visit," Fleury said. "Once I got on that first phone call with him after the trade to reassure me in the family stuff he was awesome. He's a guy you can always count on and rely on. It's pretty cool, pretty cool to be back on his team."
The 37-year-old Fleury, who has been a workhorse for the struggling Blackhawks this season, seems rejuvenated by the prospect of being on a team on the cusp of returning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
That's been the norm for him over almost the entirety of his career, including last season in Las Vegas, when he was perhaps the main reason why the Golden Knights upended the Wild in seven games in their First Round series.
Fleury started all seven games, posting a 1.71 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage in the series.

"I think it's a great team. They play a great structured game, play well defensively, they're heavy -- I think they're built for playoffs," Fleury said of his new group. "Billy did a great job putting this thing together. And it's not very far from Chicago, too, so I think it'll be easier for my family to visit or visit them through the next months here."
Fleury, playing in the final year of his contract, was hesitant to move just anywhere. Armed with a no-trade clause in his deal, Fleury liked the city he was in, his family was there with him, and the idea of moving just anywhere didn't seem like something he was keen on.
But the presence of Guerin, and the opportunity to chase a fourth Stanley Cup less than an hour plane ride away from his family, was very appealing.
"There's always the chance to win," Fleury said. "I love to compete and to play, the fun of the game, but I don't know. There's not much that beats winning. You can ask anybody who has won: You're always chasing that feeling and that achievement. Yeah, just want to keep doing it again."
Beyond the championships and the Vezina Trophy he won last season as the NHL's top goaltender, the more than 900 games he's played in the league over his career and the 162 games of postseason experience, Fleury will accomplish a career first this season in Minnesota.
Despite moving to his fourth club, he's never been traded midseason, thus, never having needed to grow comfortable with a new set of teammates, coaches, staff and systems that come with a trade.
"We don't have that many games left before playoffs start, so I think things are going to happen quick," Fleury said. "I haven't met the guys yet, so it'll be good to be in the room. We'll be playing pretty soon, so just to say hi to everyone, so hopefully things get moving quickly."
Perhaps the most important relationship he'll need to cultivate will come with the man he'll share the crease with, Monday night's starting netminder Cam Talbot.
But if there were any concerns about how the two veterans might co-mingle, those were quickly put to rest: Talbot was one of the first players to reach out to Fleury to welcome him to the team after the deal was announced.
"I met Cam, I think, at a photo shoot over the summer a few years back. It was great. I don't know him so much, right? But he just seems like a great guy, and I have a lot of respect for him and what he's done obviously," Fleury said. "To me, I don't like the competition between the guys, and I also think we're both part of the team and both want to help, so I think we'll just do whatever we have to do to accomplish that."

One of the best goalies of his generation, Fleury is also a showman in the crease that Guerin said Wild fans will have a blast watching.
This is a guy who bobs his head and stops his feet to the beat while on the bench, speaks to his posts after a puck bounces of of them, and has been known to jazz up a glove save or two.
"He's fun to watch. He's like watching Kirill except a goalie. He is," Guerin said. "He's a fun guy and that's one of the things that I love about him. Honestly that guy he treats everybody in the world the same way and loves life and has fun playing the game and he's real good at that. You need that.
"I love our goaltending. I do. I'm so confident in these two guys and to have two experienced veteran guys that I know are going to get along real well and make this thing work. I'm really excited about seeing these two work together."
The Wild, in the midst of a nine-game homestand, will see Fleury take the crease in a home sweater for the first time at some point in the coming days, perhaps as soon as Thursday night against the Vancouver Canucks.
Considering Fleury was just here with the Blackhawks as a visitor on Saturday night, one had to wonder if the veteran netminder may have known his fate was coming and packed a couple of extra belongings ... just in case.
Hey, he knows a guy here in town, right?
"I didn't overpack. I knew it could be a possibility but obviously there was nothing for sure at that time," Fleury said with a smile. "I was sitting there looking around [on the bench], the building was full, the crowd was into it and I think people really enjoy their hockey here. It makes it fun for the player when they come play, the building's always full and they're cheering for you, it's nice."