News

It's a story that Pascal Vincent says tells a great deal about Marc-Andre Fleury, from the 2000-01 season when Vincent was coaching Cape Breton of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Fleury, now the starting goaltender for the Vegas Golden Knights, was his 16-year-old rookie.

"We didn't have a statistician, so we had our backup goalie keeping stats on the bench, where shots and goals were coming from," said Vincent, who coaches Manitoba, the Winnipeg Jets' American Hockey League affiliate.

"One game, things didn't go well for Marc-Andre so I pulled him. He comes to the bench and after the second period I'm looking at the stats sheet and there's nothing on it. I know he's not happy that I pulled him, but he's supposed to be keeping the stats. I turn the page and on the back it says something like, 'I'm a goalie, not a statistician.' "

Vincent laughed as he related the conflicting emotions he had that night.

"I was really angry with Marc-Andre because he wasn't doing what was requested of him," he said. "But at the same time, that day I realized that this kid would go a long way because he had serious character and he wanted to compete."

Now Fleury has helped the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season after winning three championships with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Golden Knights host the Washington Capitals in Game 1 on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS).

"I'm not surprised at all," Vincent said of Fleury, 33, who came under his wing as a 15-year-old who was too good to be returned to his Montreal-area AAA midget team. "Marc-Andre has invested so much in himself and his skills. He's won three Stanley Cups and is still performing like he is now because of all the work he has put in over many years, starting when he was 14, 15."

As coach and general manager of Cape Breton, a franchise that had relocated to Sydney, Nova Scotia, from Granby, Quebec, in 1997, Vincent selected the 15-year-old Fleury at No. 16 in the 2000 QMJHL draft, fully intending to return the gangly goalie to his College Charles-Lemoyne midget team.

"We didn't feel that Marc-Andre was ready for major junior back then," said Vincent, 46, the AHL coach of the year this season. "But he showed up at training camp that fall with blue pads that were a little too short for him and he was just the best goalie on the ice."

Fleury remembers his English not being very good. "It helped me that [Vincent] was French," he said. "So he helped me with some of that."

Vincent said the culture shock was dramatic for an often unilingual francophone arriving in a city that spoke precious little French.

"Back then, a kid going to Cape Breton from Montreal was basically like going to Russia," Vincent said. "It was a new franchise, so far from home (about a 900-mile drive east). There were a lot of things a kid didn't know."

Vincent recalled having several goalies in camp in 2000 but being dazzled by Fleury.

"I remember his first exhibition game as if it were yesterday," Vincent said. "He was extremely quick already, but it was his work ethic and attitude that impressed me the most. The humble, down-to-earth person you see off the ice today is who he was back then. But as soon as he put his equipment on, he changed into an aggressive goalie. Aggressive in a good way. He was a really solid competitor who believed he could stop every single puck. It was impressive to see him start to grow into the player he is today."

Idolizing and working to emulate legendary goaltenders and fellow Quebec natives Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur, Fleury played 151 games over four seasons for Vincent, going 63-52-17 with a .933 save percentage, the latter a glittering statistic in often freewheeling junior hockey. In 2008, Fleury's No. 29 became the only number in franchise history to be retired.

Fleury was highly touted heading into the 2003 NHL Draft, but few expected him to be chosen No. 1 by Pittsburgh, which he was. He played 13 seasons for the Penguins, his only professional team until he was selected by Vegas in the NHL Expansion Draft in June.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.nhl.com/news/golden-knights-marc-andre-fleury-fondly-recalled-by-junior-coach/c-298785574?tid=280751088