Fleury Furious Following Loss, Taking Personal Leave From Wild

Following a 6-5 overtime loss, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury took the blame for a defeat at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres and is taking a personal leave from the organization. Russo tweeted, “Never seen a goalie beat himself up like Fleury. He’s slamming things, apologizing to teammates, cursing, saying 5 goals should be a win every time…”

Apparently, Fleury is feeling the heat for the Wild’s recent struggles and while the rest of the team refused to let him take the blame, noting some incredible saves he made in the third period of their recent loss, it hasn’t stopped the veteran netminder from walking away for a bit. A report by Russo noted that “Fleury will not be available Sunday versus the Blues due to personal reasons.”

Russo adds that Fleury has reportedly been dealing with a personal issue for the last week or so, and he needs a couple of days at a minimum to take away from the NHL and the team to sort whatever is he’s been dealing with out. It could explain the tension and frustration he’s been displaying. He’s expected to rejoin the Wild in time for their two-game road trip that begins Tuesday versus the New York Rangers.

Russo’s tweet about Fleury losing it got a lot of attention, some not all good. The report felt the need to explain why he shared the netminder’s reaction to allowing what he called a “stupid goal” and noted the loss was on him. he even got upset with his teammate Matt Dumba for trying to shield Fluery from criticism and snapped, “No, it’s on me. Fifth goal. Horses—. Can’t happen. On me. So stupid. Stupid. I let you guys down.”

Clearly, something more than hockey is going on with Fleury, who has been in the NHL a long time and has seen his share of ups and downs.

Michael Russo writes:

The context of my tweet had to do with Fleury and how disappointed I was by some of the replies even after I reported he’s dealing with a personal matter and is leaving the team temporarily. These are human beings, have real-life problems and WE (me too) should all be more decent. This is hockey. We all love it. It’s meant to be entertainment, and last night was one entertaining game. I appreciate the passion, but the nastiness and negativity I see daily on my timeline too often makes me meltdown. We should all treat everybody with greater respect (end).”

Here’s to hoping that whatever is bugging Fleury, he can take care of and get back to a team that clearly wants him to do well and feel good about how important he is to the club. They know how critical he is to their success and that they need to be better in front of him.

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