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Thanks to his friendly personality and acrobatic style, Fleury has been a fan favorite everywhere he goes. 29 J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 3 | M H J ON L I N E . C O M FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME Fleury and his wife, Veronique, have three children, 9-year-old Estelle, 7-year-old Scarlett and 3-year-old James. His two daughters learned how to skate when Dad played for the Golden Knights and love hockey. His son likes hockey for different reasons. He likes the popcorn, loud music and cool jerseys. He's not the type of hockey dad that would steer his kids away from being goalies. But he also wouldn't steer them to it if they don't enjoy the position. "My dad (Andre) took me to every practice, all the tour- naments, but he never pushed me toward hockey," Fleury said. "He always told me to just have fun and work hard. In the summer, he didn't make me play hockey. Soccer, baseball, he was just as happy watching me play. It was good how he never pushed it on me. He just let me fall in love with it naturally. P R E S E N T E D B Y 51 percent of the minutes in the NHL and Premier Hockey Federation by the year 2030. That's quite ambitious considering only 17 American goalies played an NHL game by late November this season and only six of those are considered their team's true No. 1—Lakeville native Jake Oettinger for Dallas, Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck, A na heim's John Gibson, Los Angeles' Jonathan Quick, Vancouver's Thatcher Demko and Edmonton's Jack Campbell. In Las Vegas, there has been a huge uptick in kids that play goal since the Golden Knights came into existence. That 's natural and a common trend in any market that gets an NHL expansion team. But those in youth hockey circles in Las Vegas says it has a lot to do with Fleury and how kids just gravitate toward his style and bubbly personality. Go to any Golden Knights game, and despite the fact Fleury no longer plays there, the number of No. 29 jerseys in the crowd worn by youth and adults alike is remarkable. "It gives me goosebumps when people tell me that and when I see it," Fleury said. "It's humbling. I love the game. I love playing. And I love kids who play and have fun. If I can show them it's fun to play goalie, I think I've done my job well. To me, there are only a few rules in hockey. Practice hard. Play hard. Have fun. Be a good teammate. If a couple kids pick that up from me and do it, then it makes me feel happy."