Fleury is done

[The Current One]

I know it's the preseason, but all signs point to a goaltender with absolutely no confidence or ability to stop the puck. He should have been moved after last year's playoff debacle, and now he's worth pretty much nothing. And, with no Vokoun to fall back on, this team is screwed. I hope Sid and Geno can put up four points a game because to win, they'll have to do so with their offense.

[SLF66]

true time to trade him. the preseason loss to columbus is the the last straW!

[RisslingsMissingTeeth]

I think what is happening on this board is that there are people looking at 'how' he is playing and those thinking that it doesn't matter how he plays, he will find a way to pull it together in the regular season like he does every year.

I was in the latter group until recently, but I'm watching the 'how' and noticing that it looks exactly like playoff Fleury: Completely lost and out of position. Is it a confidence thing or has he just lost it? I don't know but I was one of the people thinking we were just going to go to Vokoun anyway and now that option is off the board which brings a whole new light to this. I am concerned for sure and people on here who are not acting concerned...well, they concern me.

[columbia]

I'll be concerned until the evidence indicates that I shouldn't be.
The onus is on MAF to eliminate the doubts of his skeptics, the most important being Ray Shero.

Someone needs to post those comments from yesterday, because Shero possess a healthy amount of doubt right now.

EDIT: courtesy of Gaucho:

Dave Molinari ‏@MolinariPG 2m
Shero, on Fleury's camp: "It's been OK. A work in progress, so far."

Dejan Kovacevic ‏@Dejan_Kovacevic 40s
Shero: Fleury "is going to have to step up, no question."


Ringing endorsement.

[HockeyDaddy]

Shero's comments yesterday certainly have a different tone than his endorsement of MAF at the end of last season. It seems that Shero gave MAF an opportunity to improve (psychologist, training checklist, etc.) and the results are not what Shero had hoped for.

[meow]

Dear God

[Gaucho]

Yes.

[Penspal]

true time to trade him. the preseason loss to columbus is the the last straW!

I have not given up on him yet, and to your point, you would get much less than he's worth right now after his recent outings. If he doesnn't get some wins soon, oh boy!

[littlemoonboot]

I thought Fleury had an NTC, that would have complicated moving him. Pretty much see this year as his "last chance" though. Preseason is preseason, but he has to pull it together.

[pens_CT]

I know it's the preseason, but all signs point to a goaltender with absolutely no confidence or ability to stop the puck. He should have been moved after last year's playoff debacle, and now he's worth pretty much nothing. And, with no Vokoun to fall back on, this team is screwed. I hope Sid and Geno can put up four points a game because to win, they'll have to do so with their offense.

IF MAF played lights out in this preseason or the regular season are you going to believe he has turned the corner? The only thing that matters is how he plays in the playoffs. He has this year to show he is a number one goalie or he gets moved via trade or buyout.

[SolidSnake]

Ryan Miller to Pitt

[IMFC]

Anytime someone tries to change their approach to something, they are going to take a step back before going forward again. anyone that thought there was a magic switch that would just fix things is wrong.

Fleury is Ricky Bobby - "because it's what you love, Ricky. It is who you were born to be. And here you sit, thinking. Well, Ricky Bobby is not a thinker. Ricky Bobby is a driver. He is a doer. And that's what you need to do. You don't need to think. You need to drive. You need speed. You need to go out there, and you need to rev your engine. You need to fire it up. You need to grab a hold of that line between speed and chaos, and you need to wrestle it to the ground like a demon cobra!"

When he can get back to just playing and not thinking, he'll be more than fine.

[pcm]

It's true he won't be absolved until he performs in the playoffs. But when he's stinking it up in the preseason it's a pretty good indication that he's not anywhere close.

[Pavel Bure]

Fleury is the main reason I have very little excitement for this year.

[tfrizz]

I'll be concerned until the evidence indicates that I shouldn't be.
The onus is on MAF to eliminate the doubts of his skeptics, the most important being Ray Shero.

At this point, he's never going to please the majority of Pens fans. As one of the mods on hfboards said, Fleury could basically stop 40 shots in a 1-0 loss and 90% of people are going to complain about how Fleury cost them the game.

[tfrizz]

I thought Fleury had an NTC, that would have complicated moving him. Pretty much see this year as his "last chance" though. Preseason is preseason, but he has to pull it together.

He does, along with a NMC.

He's also the only goalie in the organization with any NHL experience now that Vokoun is on the shelf. Not only that, but Zatkoff is the only other goalie in the organization with more than 7 AHL games to his credit.

[columbia]

I'll be concerned until the evidence indicates that I shouldn't be.
The onus is on MAF to eliminate the doubts of his skeptics, the most important being Ray Shero.

At this point, he's never going to please the majority of Pens fans. As one of the mods on hfboards said, Fleury could basically stop 40 shots in a 1-0 loss and 90% of people are going to complain about how Fleury cost them the game.

He doesn't need to worry about fan opinions, just what Shero and the other GMs think of him.
The terms (and location) of his next contract are riding on his performance over the next two playoffs. Right now, it's not trending towards him getting an improved deal.

[Malkamaniac]

I don't care about MAF until the playoffs. He racks up wins in the regular season. Which should be enough time to get used to whatever he is learning new. This is however his last chance.

[tfrizz]

Just to put preseason performance in perspective, here's how things played out in 2007 (prior to his career best season) and 2008(prior to winning the cup):

2007
Sep 17 - Lost 3-2 to Montreal (Fleury)
Sep 18 - Won 5-2 over Montreal (Sabourin)
Sep 21 - Lost 1-0 to Detroit (Conklin)
Sep 22 - Lost 5-2 to Detroit (Fleury)
Sep 28 - Lost 6-5 to Buffalo (Sabourin)
Sep 29 - Lost 4-3 to Buffalo (Fleury)

Fleury gave up 12 goals in 3 games with a 0-3 record


2008
Sep 20 - Lost 5-4 to Tampa Bay (Fleury)
Sep 22 - Won 3-2 over Tampa Bay (Sabourin/Curry)
Sep 24 - Won 3-2 over Toronto (Sabourin)
Sep 26 - Won 5-4 over Toronto (Fleury)
Oct 2 - Won 4-1 over Jokerit (Fleury/Sabourin)

Fleury gave up 8 goals in 2.5 games with a 2-1 record



To add to that, Fleury has been a pretty notorious "slow starter" over the course of his hockey career - which likely alludes to a bit of laziness in his off-season routine.

[bhaw]

I'll be concerned until the evidence indicates that I shouldn't be.
The onus is on MAF to eliminate the doubts of his skeptics, the most important being Ray Shero.

Someone needs to post those comments from yesterday, because Shero possess a healthy amount of doubt right now.

EDIT: courtesy of Gaucho:

Dave Molinari ‏@MolinariPG 2m
Shero, on Fleury's camp: "It's been OK. A work in progress, so far."

Dejan Kovacevic ‏@Dejan_Kovacevic 40s
Shero: Fleury "is going to have to step up, no question."


Ringing endorsement.

I think those are way out of context. This was posted right after the news of Vokoun, so I took this more as "Fleury is going to have to step up because we are losing the guy who was going to play at least 30-40% of the games this year."

The first quote is neither here nor there.

If we had the rest of the interview and it was actually "Fleury is going to have to step up because this is his last chance to prove himself and he hasn't been up to par," I'd say there's a point. Something tells me Molinary paraphrased for a reason... to get people talking about how Shero doesn't believe in Fleury.

[bhaw]

What he posted was actually pretty similar to someone posting:

"Sid will not be at practice due to major issues with his head..."

*rest of the real quote: "gasket. His car will not start so he can't get to the rink."

[columbia]

Not really.

[tfrizz]

I'll be concerned until the evidence indicates that I shouldn't be.
The onus is on MAF to eliminate the doubts of his skeptics, the most important being Ray Shero.

Someone needs to post those comments from yesterday, because Shero possess a healthy amount of doubt right now.

EDIT: courtesy of Gaucho:

Dave Molinari ‏@MolinariPG 2m
Shero, on Fleury's camp: "It's been OK. A work in progress, so far."

Dejan Kovacevic ‏@Dejan_Kovacevic 40s
Shero: Fleury "is going to have to step up, no question."


Ringing endorsement.

I think those are way out of context. This was posted right after the news of Vokoun, so I took this more as "Fleury is going to have to step up because we are losing the guy who was going to play at least 30-40% of the games this year."

The first quote is neither here nor there.

If we had the rest of the interview and it was actually "Fleury is going to have to step up because this is his last chance to prove himself and he hasn't been up to par," I'd say there's a point. Something tells me Molinary paraphrased for a reason... to get people talking about how Shero doesn't believe in Fleury.

That's how journalism works today. Headlines, tweets, etc. are all about creating controversy so they're more likely to get views.

[Gaucho]

Not really.

[bhaw]

sorry guys. You're right. His quotes are crystal clear. Sorry for questioning you. Twitter is certainly reliable.

Forgot how touchy the MAF subject was over the offseason.