Amid a whirlwind few days for the Chicago Blackhawks, an organization gearing up for a run at a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, we learned that club acquired the reigning Vezina-winning goaltender, Marc-André Fleury.
Great news, right?
It wasn’t immediately. After learning through Twitter that the Vegas Golden Knights dealt him to the Blackhawks, Fleury wasn’t as ecstatic as Blackhawks’ fans. Faced with the possibility of having to uproot his family, which includes two girls and a boy ranging from 2 to 7 years old, and moving them 1,750 miles across the country to Chicago, Fleury had to do some soul-searching.
In today’s must-read of the day, The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus helps tell Fleury’s story in a phenomenal one-on-one with the new Blackhawks goaltender, and I’m sure you’ll want to check that out.
"The goosebumps. The arena. Making a good save. The feeling you have inside, the battle, the competition — that’s something that I love."
My story on how — and why — Marc-André Fleury finally decided to play for the Blackhawks:
(50%-off deal in the link) https://t.co/YUVIiqfQIQ pic.twitter.com/c9PWrr7Vdr
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) September 22, 2021
Lazerus does a stellar job of helping Fleury paint a picture of the process that he and his family went through leading up to him making his decision to join the Blackhawks on August 1 with a short video in which he told Blackhawks fans, “I’m in, let’s get to work.”
https://twitter.com/NHLBlackhawks/status/1421901137263923204?s=20
Following his arrival in Chicago, there’s been speculation that the 2021-22 season might be his final in the NHL, but Fleury doesn’t sound like a guy who’s ready for a farewell tour just yet.
“Once I stop, I don’t know what I can do in my life that will bring me the same satisfaction or the same feeling inside,” Fleury said. “The goosebumps. The arena. Making a good save. The feeling you have inside, the battle, the competition — that’s something that I love. I’m lucky that I can keep playing and still have fun doing it.”
Do yourself a favor this morning and head over to The Athletic and check out the full story by Mark Lazerus for more on the new Blackhawks’ netminder.