NHL Playoffs: Fleury of Rumours
The playoffs continue to entertain and last night's games were no exception. Part of the fun of the playoffs is the extended play against a conference rival creates both major drama on and off the ice.
The hottest story right now is the state of goaltending affairs in Pittsburgh and their main backender, MA Fleury. Compounded by Fluery's meltdown against the Flyers in last year's playoff, he has provided major speculation about near (and long term) future plans of goaltending in the Steel City.
On the near term, many are asking whether the Pittsburgh's coaching staff should be opting to use Vokoun for Game 5 or do the dance with the partner that brought ya? On the longer term, fans and pundits wonder whether Fleury is the right goalie for the team and whether he can deliver the goods from this point on and into future seasons. It seems harsh, especially since these discussions only really flare up this quickly when it comes to goaltenders and not other positions or players. The chain is short, goalies.
Some excellent points of advice have been brought up and many have remarked that Fleury is looking like the Fleury of (really) old. This Fleury is the one prior to winning the Stanley Cup. This is the one that was over-sliding, over-committing, and over-playing most of his junior, AHL, and rookie years in the NHL. It has all started to come back and Fleury's only solution seems to be more of the same in a higher degree of desperation. Most of the general advice comes along from the idea getting back to basics that Brent Johnson gave Fleury last year.
The theory that I have about Fluery is that he is not able to key in veteran patience and coolness. His low panic threshold may be compounded when he is playing on the side that is expected to win. Fleury is an underdog goalie who can excel when he can just forget about the score, forget about the consequences of losing, forget about team defensive systems and just let it all hang out and use his amazing natural abilities. Just because your engine is a 454, it doesn't mean you have to redline it when parking in Walmart. His playoff and personal success came when his upstart and young team were battling the near-dynastic Red Wings. Now that he sits in the dynastic throne, he has a real difficult time adjusting and letting the game come to him.
The pressure is building and now the real test for Fleury begins.
Over-playing...
Over-committing...