Together Again, One Last Time; Fleury Joins Crosby, Canada

A day after Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was named to Team Canada for the IIHF World Championship, his long-time friend and teammate Marc-Andre Fleury also has joined the contingent for what likely will be the final time they play on the same team.

Fleury, 40, officially retired from the NHL after he and the Minnesota Wild were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, and the NHL Players Association confirmed Monday that he has officially ended his NHL career after 21 seasons. Like Crosby, he will a be sure Hall of Famer.

Around the same time Monday, several reports — including one from his long-time agent, Allan Walsh — surfaced that the goaltender will join Team Canada for the worlds, which begin Friday and will be held in Sweden and Denmark. Canada’s first game is Saturday against Slovenia.

Fleury confirmed his Team Canada appointment during Minnesota’s exit interviews later Monday.

“After we lost (in the playoffs), I was, like, aw, I’m done,” he said, “but then a couple days go by and I was like, yeah, I think that would be pretty cool. … So just a little longer.

“I went home. My kids were crazy. I was, like, geez, I’ve got to keep playing. No, they were not that bad.”

This will be Fleury’s first time playing in the worlds, although he was on two gold-medal world junior teams and was the backup goaltender for the 2010 Canadian Olympic team that won gold when Crosby score the overtime “golden goal.”

“I’m excited to go. I’ve never played in a world championship. And I haven’t played with Sid in a while, obviously. It will be fun to go spend some time together and yell at him in practice a bit — keep him honest in practice.”

The Penguins selected Fleury first overall in the 2003 NHL draft, and he made his NHL debut that season. By the time the Penguins made a handshake deal to leave Fleury exposed for Vegas to select him in the 2017 expansion draft, Fleury had gotten his name on the Stanley Cup three times with the Penguins and had made an indelible impression on Penguins players and fans for his play, his outgoing personality and his penchant for pulling pranks.

Crosby and Fleury — widely known as “Flower” — became particularly close and were seatmates on the team plane.

Fleury retires second overall in NHL history in wins (575-339-98 record in 1,052 games), with a career 2.60 GAA, .912 save percentage and 76 shutouts.