Theo Fleury has walked on as a free agent to try-out with the Calgary Flames and it’s becoming one of the best feel-good stories of the NHL pre-season.
Anyone with a heart is pulling for the diminutive Fleury, who had battled substance abuse issues in the past. With the loyal Flames fans cheering his every move, he’s delivering with style. He scored a goal and added an assist on Sunday against the Florida Panthers, this after scoring the game winner in a shoot-out win over the Islanders last Thursday.
I admit that Calgary won’t have much trouble selling tickets this year with or without Fleury, but fans love to cheer for the underdog, a title and challenge Fleury has always embraced. You have to respect what he accomplished with 455 goals and 633 assists for 1088 points in 1084 career regular season games. He also had a point per game average in the playoffs with 34 goals and 45 assists for 79 points in 77 career playoff games.
This is a man with some real reasons to be motivated. He has stated that he is ashamed about how his career ended last time and is looking for redemption. As much as money is a strong motivator, pride has an element to it that can’t be measured or quantified. Likewise, respect also has an indelible quality that could infect the Flames dressing room and bring this team together. Hockey teams love to rally around a worthwhile cause, “us against the world”, if you will.
Furthermore, I believe that for players like Jarome Iginla, who seems like he’s been around forever but is only 32 years old, it would be inspirational to see that a man Fleury’s age can still play at a high level and he’s 41 years young.
From all of us here at MyNHLTradeRumors.com, Good Luck Theo.