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M H J O N L I N E . C O M | J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 3 30 Russo's Rants Photo / Pittsburgh Penguins Fleury left a lasting legacy in Pittsburgh, including a brand new state-of- the-art playground for neighborhood kids. "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." —Marc-Andre Fleury "But I love what sports brings to kids for the activity, for how it teaches you about people and teamwork. I want them to work hard. I want them to have fun, not just in a school setting. I feel my dad was that way, too. He'd sit away from the parents maybe with another dad or two, just have a beer and watch me play. My mom (France) would get nervous. My dad would sit back and relax and love the fact that I was having fun. That's all that matters at a young age. Fun, and being a goalie is fun." A nd nobody has more f un than Fleur y. Just watch him even during warmups before a game he's starting. He's posing for pictures, throwing pucks into the crowd, signing jerseys for fans. It's all because of what hockey has given him, what being a goaltender provided him. This is a g uy who w i ll be in the Ha ll of Fa me one day, somebody who is cha sing dow n one of his idols, Patr ick Roy, for the second-most w ins (551) in N HL histor y. "My dad always told me to be grateful," Fleury said of his hero, who passed away three years ago. "People, kids, they're watching, and they're the reason why I can do this. Usually, honestly, when little kids want jerseys and stuff signed, to me, to talk to a kid on a game day, it doesn't affect me. It doesn't change my focus. I know a lot of goalies it does. "When I was a kid, I went to a Montreal game, and I was watching (Martin) Brodeur during warmups. He threw pucks to kids. I remem- ber thinking, 'I wish I caught that puck so bad.' Since then, I always toss a couple pucks into the crowd because of Brodeur." Fleury hopes he can be the same influence on young goalies his heroes were to him. Michael Russo writes for The Athletic. He's is his 18th season covering the Wild and 28th cover- ing the National Hockey League. He has three podcasts: Worst Seats in the House on talknorth.com and The Athletic Hockey Show on Wednesdays and Straight From The Source for The Athletic. All three podcasts can be heard wher- ever you get your podcasts. Russo can be heard weekly on KFAN (100.3-FM) and seen throughout the hockey season on Bally Sports North and the NHL Network. Follow Russo on Twitter and Instagram at @RussoHockey. To subscribe to The Athletic at a discount, go to theathletic.com/ straightfromthesource. P R E S E N T E D B Y