Penguin Playoff Hopes Ride on Fleury’s Redemption

Last May, about the time the Penguins’ season was going up in flames in Boston, I was absolutely convinced that Marc-Andre Fleury was finished in the Burgh.

It was not just about a goaltender having a bad playoff series or his team failing to meet justifiably lofty goals.  Both of those results could be explained in a vacuum.  This was about a goaltender enduring his second consecutive miserable first round performance for a franchise with Stanley Cup or bust expectations.  The fact that Tomas Vokoun rescued the Pens, at least long enough for his teammates to flat line against Boston only exacerbated the issue.

There is no sugar coating the obvious, Fleury was abysmal, just as he was a year earlier against Philly.  Keep in mind this evaluation is coming from a well-known Fleury defender.  His critics were far less accommodating of his performance.

There were some mildly passable excuses for MAF’s performance against the Goons in 2012.  Dan Bylsma clearly and obviously overplayed him that season (nothing like 4 starts in 6 nights in December) and the Pens had a catastrophic, team wide defensive meltdown in that series.  I still say the team collapsed in front of Fleury before he imploded, for whatever that is worth.

There was however no justification for last year's performance against the Islanders.  Fleury was well rested and the team in front of him was at least competent defensively.  He was coming off a brilliant regular season and even opened the playoffs with a shutout.  And then after just one shaky goal early in game 2 everything came unglued.  What followed was a mortifying parade of leaky goals, several of which he inexplicably kicked in to his own net.

By the end of game four, Bylsma had no choice but to switch goaltenders.  And when Fleury was given a second chance of sorts against Boston, he looked completely lost.  Given that precipitous fall, the overriding cup or bust pressure on the Pens, and the Fleury’s excessive salary cap figure I was almost positive he would be tending goal in Edmonton or Miami this season. 

Amazingly that did not happen. 

I’m not sure if it was true faith or the lack of a readily available alternative but the Pens stuck with Fleury.  And they were rewarded with what was, in my opinion, his second best season in the Burgh (behind only the 2010-11 year).  At face value he was brilliant, often carrying a team that was decimated by injuries and lacking any semblance of 3^rd and 4^th line depth.  A good argument could be made for him sharing the team MVP award with Sidney Crosby.  His brilliance this season stoodon its own, without consideration of the extenuating circumstances.

It was even more brilliant when you consider where he was a year ago and the pressure he was under this season as a result.  I still recall national media sites running stories and pasting up video of Fleury allowing a soft goal…IN A TRAINING CAMP SCRIMAGE.

Fleury often gets criticized for being mentally soft.  Admittedly that assessment is hard to dispute when he follows two straight brilliant regular seasons with apocalyptic post season meltdowns.  When you consider how low he was at the end of last season, it’s nothing short of miraculous that he put it back together.  Many athletes could not recover from such a fall, as least now without a change of scenery.  Fleury did so, right under the spotlight of his critics. 

It takes incredible strength of character to pull that off.  Fleury should be commended for how much of that he showed this season.

Alas the harsh reality is that as of this morning, none of it matters. 

It’s a fact of hockey life that goaltenders are always under pressure in the playoffs.  The pressure on Fleury however is astronomical.  He has literally reached a crossroads in his career; one where any meaningful evaluation of his performance beings in mid-April.  There is virtually nothing he can do in the regular season to dissuade his critics; most of whom accept that strong regular season play from him is a given.  It’s literally ALL about the post season for Marc-Andre Fleury.  

I’ve been watching sports for nearly 35 years and I honestly cannot remember another athlete who was under this type of post season pressure.  Fleury’s not alone under the microscope of course; at the very minimum he’s got a time share with Dan Bylsma, but the spotlight shines brightest on the Penguin net-minder.  I would be shocked if any reputable playoff preview does not lament the potential for a Fleury meltdown to take down the Pens.

Further compounding the issue is that this year’s Penguin team has some fairly obvious red flags.  Excepting Brandon Sutter, the 3^rd and 4^th lines are substandard for a championship contender.  They’ve struggled to find a winger to replace Pascal Dupuis.  And the team was far too dependent on special teams’ play and shootout victories for its regular season success.  For the first time since 87 and 71 missed the playoffs in 2011, the Penguins are justifiably not a Stanley Cup favorite.

For a team with such a make-up to have a deep run, or dare I suggest live up to the Stanley Cup aspirations of its fan base, Fleury must be nothing short of brilliant from start to finish.  I’m talking Tim Thomas 2011 or Jonathan Quick 2012 style brilliant.  Or better yet, Fleury 2008 brilliant.

Is the point clear yet?

To ratchet up the pressure a tad higher, Fleury is likely playing for his future in the Burgh.  The team is already excessively top heavy against the salary cap; a situation which further deteriorates next year when new contracts for Letang and Malkin kick in.  There is simply no room for a $5 Million per year goaltender if he cannot raise his game when it matters most.  And unlike last year, there is no safety net behind him.  It seems highly unlikely the Pens will turn to Vokoun (after a season of inactivity) or Jeff Zatkoff should MAF flounder again.  Simply put, the Penguins will sink or swim with #29.

For what it’s worth, I genuinely hope Fleury steps-up.  This goes beyond being a Penguin fan and understanding that Fleury’s ‘A’ game is a prerequisite for post season success.  The Flower by all accounts is one of the truly good guys in professional sports.  He seems to genuinely love playing the game.  And he’s had too much success in his career to be branded solely on his recent post season failures.  As a reminder, that success includes 289 regular season victories, two trips to the Stanley Cup finals, and one very memorable championship. He’s absolutely capable of being great when it matters most.

Nothing would make me happier than to see Fleury carry the Pens this post season. It would be a fabulous and deserved redemption story; one that seemed incomprehensible 10 months ago.  If that does not happen my prediction from last May likely comes to pass; a year later than expected.

ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY PENGUIN…BLESSED BE THE PENGUIN, FOR IT IS GOOD.

The End of the Line for Marc-Andre Fleury

Over the years I’ve been a passionate supporter, and defender of Marc-Andre Fleury.

That has not always been easy given the legion of Fleury critics amongst both Penguin fans and the local and national media.  There were many who chose to blame Fleury for every Penguin ill while downplaying or even ignoring his contributions to their success.  I never understood it; especially when you combined Fleury’s track record of victories with his eminently likeable personality.

So let me start off by acknowledging what should be but is not assumed to be obvious; Marc-Andre Fleury was a critical component to the Penguins success over the past seven years.  More to the point, he was a critical component of back-to-back Stanley Cup finals runs and the franchise’s elusive 3^rd championship in 2009.  His game 7 saves on future hall of famers Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Lidstrom are rightfully considered the stuff of legend.

He was part of the foundation; a core superstar.  There was every reason to believe he would mind the nets in the Burgh for another decade.  And as we sit here today; I see it as unlikely he will be a Penguin next month.

Simply put, Marc-Andre Fleury is playing himself right out of Pittsburgh.

Another concession to the obvious; goaltending is fairly low on the list of reasons the Penguins were man handled by Boston in game 2.  Before we get to Fleury or Tomas Vokoun, a good hard look needs to be taken at Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin, and just about every other front line player on the roster.  The head coach and general manager are hardly above scrutiny either.

That does not change the fact that the Marc-Andre Fleury we once knew seems long gone, at least when the season becomes best 4 out of 7.  What remains is a goaltender with zero post season confidence, one that seems incapable of making even the most basic saves on a consistent basis.  It’s a stunning and perhaps unprecedented fall for an elite Pittsburgh athlete in my lifetime.

Fleury’s issues are not about physical ability and I think we all know it.  There are few goaltenders in hockey as athletically gifted as MAF; a point he continually demonstrates with superior regular season play.  Fleury’s critics like to point out the overall talent on the Penguins or his comparatively pedestrian statistics (excluding wins of course).  In so doing, they conveinently overlook the Penguins often lackadaisical approach to defense.  Does anybody truly believe that Brian Elliott would post a 1.95 goals against average playing for this team?

No, Fleury’s current post season issues are unequivocally between the ears.  His confidence seems to come undone after a bad goal or two and once it does his entire game breaks down. I’m not talking about struggling to control rebounds or giving up the occasional soft goal.  I’m talking about a goaltender that seems to lose even the most basic constructs of his position in the post season.  When you juxtapose that against his regular season play and early career playoff success, it’s impossible to come to any other conclusion.

The irony is that this is the exact criticism Fleury faced during the early part of his career; even though it was totally unfounded by the results on the ice.  I wrote an impassioned defense of Fleury after he lead the Penguins to the 2009 Cup pointing out that but for one bit of bad luck at the World Junior Championships, there was nothing in his actual resume that substantiated his reputation as a big game flake.  Fleury’s performance from 2006-07 through that 7^th game in Detroit was exemplary; especially given the team’s aforementioned aversion to strong defensive hockey.

You could make a convincing argument that Fleury’s post season play was trending downward in 2010 and 2011; although I maintain he played better in the hopeless Tampa series than he gets credit for.  In both the Montreal and Tampa series there was at least a debatable premise regarding Fleury’s level of culpability.  You could argue accurately that he was not the reason the Pens lost either series; but just as accurately that he did not consistently raise his level to be the difference maker.   I would distill it down to this; he was part of the problem in those losses but by no means the root of it.  

The issue the last two years is that the quality of his post season work is no longer debatable.  He’s gone from trending downward to a complete train wreck.  His play has become indefensible; in spite of meager efforts from his coach and teammates to do just that.  Keep in mind this critique is coming from an unabashed Fleury fan; one who was often branded an apologist in my persistent battles with his critics.

To be fair, the Penguins played HISTORICALLY bad defense in front of Fleury in last year’s loss to Philly.  They broke down first and he follow suit with a meltdown of his own.  This year he collapsed of his own volition, even if the team’s defensive work against the Islanders was less than inspired.  Vokoun’s strong performance in relief made that abundantly clear. 

My opinions about Vokoun’s abilities are also a matter of public record on this blog.  I’ve never thought him better than a second tier starter, if that.  Fleury at his best is the superior goaltender.  So it should not be taken lightly when I state that for better or for worse, Vokoun should be the only option the Penguins consider in goal the remainder of the post season, however long that should be. 

That is exactly how I expect this to play out. 

Dan Bylsma is smart enough not to bury a popular and accomplished veteran in the media and thus tends to downplays Fleury’s struggles at every turn.  In reality, I believe he’s lost all confidence in MAF, an issue no doubt compounded by concerns about his own jobs security.  No matter Bylsma’s public disposition on the topic or the journalistic meanderings of Puck Daddy and others, I cannot fathom that Fleury will start another game; barring injury to Vokoun.  The hope is that the team rediscovers its form and that Vokoun for lack of a better term can “Osgood” them to a championship.

I truly believe that last night was Fleury’s last shot.   In a game where the situation was already bleak he was given one last opportunity to resuscitate his game. The hope was that Fleury would rediscover his 2008/2009 post season form; or for that matter his 2013 regular season form, either of which is a better option than Vokoun.  Instead Fleury emphatically reaffirmed Bylsma’s decision to take away his net with another very shaky effort.

In the bigger picture, Fleury’s time in the Burgh is likely at its end.  The team as currently constructed is in the heart of their championship window.  They cannot support a goaltender who in back-to back years has demonstrated a profound inability to perform in the post season; let alone one who takes $5 Million annually off their salary cap.  The issue is magnified against the specter of another disappointing post season finish and the team’s imposing future contact obligations.  Kudos to Ray Shero for having the foresight to hedge his bets this season with Vokoun but realistically, he’s not the long-term answer either.

Fleury will land on his skates; he’s too talented not too.  And a new, lower pressure environment might be exactly what he needs to rebuild his fragile confidence.   I hope it happens for him, I just do not see it happening in the Burgh.

Free Ride is Over for Fleury

At his best, Marc-Andre Fleury is one of the top goaltenders in the National Hockey League.

And like most elite goaltenders, Fleury often suffers at the expense of unreasonable fan expectations.  Which is a politically correct way of saying he bears the brunt of the blame whenever the red light goes on, deserved or not.

That’s the life of an NHL goaltender; especially one who plays for a talented team that can be charitably described as “lapse” times defensively from time to time.  Tom Barrasso lived in comparable fashion during his best years in the Burgh, long before he became a local media pariah.  It's fair to say that life as a Penguin goaltender is far more challenging than it is for say, Brian Elliott in St’ Louis.

Perhaps it truly is a matter of expectations.  We have seen that Fleury at his best can be as good as any goaltender in the game.  So to whatever extent he’s not at that level it’s considered a letdown.  That may very well be the case but I struggle to believe that Henrik Lundqvist faces the same level of vitriol as Fleury after a bad performance.

More often than not I think Fleury is an easy scapegoat.  Most fans remember Michael Grabner’s shot going under Fleury’s arm; not the horrendous giveaway by Deryk Engelland that precipitated a 100 foot breakaway. 

So with that preamble in the bank, I will now contradict pretty much everything I’ve stated above.  As great as Fleury is and can be, as great as he was during back to back Stanley Cup finals’ runs, he is officially on notice.  He has to be better, especially in the post season.  And if he is not, he will not play.  The Penguins made that crystal clear by bringing in Tomas Vokoun as their second goaltender.

Ray Shero could have signed any number of back-ups during the offseason.  He could have brought in a reliable second guy like Chris Mason or Al Montoya.  Instead he chose a goaltender with a decade long track record as a 60+ game starter.  That was not an accident or coincidence, it was a message.  The goaltending paradigm in the Burgh has changed.

Simply put, the days where Marc-Andre Fleury can expect to start 4 of 5 games on reputation alone are over.  The Pens have made it clear that if he’s not the best goaltender, he sits.  I truly believe Fleury must outplay Vokoun to keep his job, for better or for worse.

The issue is no longer assessing Fleury’s culpability in losses.  It’s now about whether Fleury can be the difference maker in Penguin wins.  Good is no longer good enough.  Fleury has to be great, and consistently so.

That’s his pedigree and his pay grade.  When you have a $5 Million per year goaltender and a shaky defense, the expectations are clear.  Fleury needs to return to his 2009 and 2010 post season form.  He cannot be a caretaker net minder on this team; he has to be the Jonathan Quick or Tim Thomas style difference maker he is fully capable of being.

There is no getting around the fact that Fleury was terrible against Philly last year.  We can debate the reasons why; including my staunch belief he was grievously overplayed in the regular season (twice starting 4 games in 6 days).  There is no doubt in my mind he wore down physically in April.

And I will not let the Penguins off the hook for what was a historically bad defensive performance in that series.  No goaltender would have thrived behind that defensive abomination.  That loss put everyone on notice; the team has to be better from 1 to 20; including the head coach. 

But simply put, Marc-Andre Fleury must be better.  He has to be a post season difference maker on this team every bit as much as Crosby and Malkin.

 
The Pens have departed early from the playoffs in three straight seasons.  There were plenty of reasons the Pens lost in 2010 and 2011 and Fleury is only one of them.  In fairness, Fleury played better than he gets credit for against Tampa and without 87 and 71 there was little or no chance the Pens would win that series.

Last year however was a different animal.  Yes the defense was exceptionally poor at times but it also became clear that other than game 5, Fleury was not making the big saves when needed.  He lost his confidence and his game fell apart.  Even after the Consol crowd performed mental CPR in game 5, Fleury crashed back to earth in game 6.

His performance was bad at face value; incomprehensible in the context of how great Fleury was for most of the season. 

It was truly the first time since he arrived in Pittsburgh that I questioned Fleury’s future with the organization.  It was also eerily reminiscent of his early season struggles in 2010-11.  That was the year that Fleury struggled terribly for two months; coinciding fortuitously with the greatest stretch of performance in Brent Johnson's life.

Which brings us back to Tomas Vokoun.

I am by no means his biggest supporter.  He always struck me as a great regular season goalie on bad teams; a guy who puts up a high save percentage but never wins anything.  You cannot objectively evaluate Vokoun’s career without conceding that he has only twice appeared in the post season and NEVER won a playoff series.  Even his work for the Czech Olympic team was subpar the one year he was their starter.

But there is no questioning that Vokoun has a number one track record and a starter’s pedigree.  There is also no question that the Penguins have never teamed a goaltender of this caliber with MAF.  At the very least, he’s capable of pushing Fleury; at the most he’s capable of taking his job.  That’s something Johnson could never do; even during his career season of 2010-11.

At face value, Vokoun was brought in to ease Fleury’s workload.  In reality however he was brought in as goaltending insurance and a legitimate threat to the number one job.  To wit, Fleury had a strong game last week in Ottawa and followed it up with a so-so performance against the Islanders; a game where he allowed just one obviously weak goal.   It’s the type of game that you could easily excuse a goaltender for given that the Pens were flat top to bottom.  In past years, that’s exactly what would have happened.

Not this year.

This year, Bylsma went immediately to Vokoun.  And Vokoun responded with a tremendous and stabilizing performance behind the best Penguin defensive effort of the year.  My guess is he will be back in the nets on Saturday against New Jersey.  A strong performance there and he might get the floundering Craps on Sunday as well.  That never would have happened with Johnson last season.

In the end, this is a good thing.  I believe Fleury is at his best when he’s pushed; as shown by Johnson in 2011 and by Ty Conklin in 2008.  Fleury never played better than he did after Conklin set a shockingly high bar with career best work.  When Fleury is at that level he is absolutely a game changing goaltender.  Having legitimate competition for post season playing time might very well push him back to it.

I also recall Bob Johnson doing the same thing to Barrasso during the first half of the 1990-91 season.  Barrasso was coming off a sluggish 1989-90 season and perhaps taking his number one position for granted.  I’m fairly confident that Tommy was not thrilled sitting behind the uninspired likes of Wendell Young and Frank Pietrangelo but ultimately the message got through; you have to be better.  That season ended with Pens carrying their first Stanley Cup.

The Penguins have some work to do to be legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.  That includes addressing a glaring need for grit and two obvious holes; a defensive defensemen and a second line winger.  As talented as this team is, those needs MUST be addressed. 

And just assuredly, they must get elite level goaltending.  Fleury has proven he can give that in the past.  This year, he'll have to prove it again.