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For veteran Marc-Andre Fleury, no matter what, Las Vegas will feel like home

dane mizutani, pioneer press
·3 min read
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LAS VEGAS — Marc-Andre Fleury admittedly didn’t know much about Las Vegas before the Golden Knights selected him in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. He remembered traveling to Sin City once prior, with his experience more or less defined by what he saw on The Strip.

As time progressed, though, Fleury fell in love with Las Vegas, and maybe more importantly, Las Vegas fell in love with him. He was the face of the Golden Knights during their first season in the NHL as they shocked the world en route to reaching the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.

In total, Fleury played 192 games for the Golden Knights before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in a move that devastated the fan base. Nowadays, the 38-year-old Fleury is with the Wild, and he was set to be between the pipes on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“Only my second time so it’s still a little weird,” said Fleury, who started a game last season in his former home arena. “I have great memories from my time.”

Most of those memories were spawned by the magical run the Golden Knights went on during the 2017-18 campaign.

“We started from scratch and built the chemistry that first season,” Fleury said as he reminisced on everything that particular team accomplished. “We beat the expectations. We had great success. We connected with the fans and the community and stuff.”

As for Fleury, he remembers simply trying to stay relevant after being exposed by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. He hinted that doubt started to creep into his mind. Even if it was only for a moment.

“I didn’t know how much time left I had to play,” Fleury said. “I didn’t want it to go to waste. It was about trying to work and give us a chance to be competitive every night. I think the chemistry we had in the room was amazing. Together we made it successful.”

To say the the fan base in Las Vegas took to the Golden Knights would be putting it lightly. The whole city was consumed by them that first season with Fleury typically at the epicenter of every memorable moment.

That statement remains true even with Fleury gone. No player on the current roster — not Jack Eichel, not Mark Stone, not Jonathan Marchessault — can compete with Fleury when it comes to fandom.

“I feel very fortunate to have had the chance to play here for so long,” Fleury said. “I feel very fortunate for the welcome that the people gave me.”

In the process, Las Vegas became home for Fleury, and he plans to return in the future.

“I really enjoyed it here,” Fleury said. “We’re in the process of building a house so when I retire we’ll live in Las Vegas for the school year and then we’ll still spend summers in Quebec. There’s something about it. It’s an easy place to live.”

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