The Deal Is Done!

The Penguins have yet to make an official announcement, but multiple sources have reported (and Flower's agent has confirmed) that the Pittsburgh Penguins have signed Marc-Andre Fleury to a new 7-year contract worth $35 million. The signing comes as part of a wave of good news out of Camp Shero today as the Penguins continue to pick up the pieces after being burned by Marian Hossa just over 24 hours ago.

I really like this deal. A lot. I have been very vocal for about the last 18 months that I thought the Penguins should sign MAF to a long-term deal. I was thinking somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 years, but I'll take 7. This leaves the Pens set in goal for the next 7 seasons, and leaves Jordan Staal as the only one of Shero's self-proclaimed core players without a long-term deal in place.

Get used to this face come springtime in Pittsburgh.

Flower will still be just 30 years old when this deal expires, so this is hopefully not the last contract he will sign in Pittsburgh. Regardless of that, there is every reason to think that MAF will have established himself as the best goalie in franchise history by the time this deal is up. He is only 150 wins and 11 shutouts behind Tom Barrasso for the franchise record in both categories. MAF should take over the lead in shutouts sometime in the 2009-10 season, while it will obviously take a little longer to overtake Barrasso in wins. The other big category in this discussion is naturally Stanley Cup wins, where Barrasso holds a 2-0 edge, but the pieces are definitely in place for Fleury to make a serious run at that mark as well over the next 7 seasons.

While it can be fun to look ahead and say "What if... ?" the most important thing to remember here is that the state of Pittsburgh Penguins goaltending is now better than it has ever been. With all of the firepower on the Penguins roster, we can't forget that it is nearly impossible to win the Stanley Cup without excellent goaltending. The Penguins have secured that for the next 7 seasons. And The Legend of MAF continues...

This Flower Has Officially Bloomed!

I'm still working on getting this blog "up and running" the way I want to, but there is no way I could not comment on the legendary performance MAF put on in Detroit last night. If there was any doubt before, Marc-Andre Fleury has officially arrived as an elite NHL goalie. The Legend of MAF has started to form, and what better stage for the opening chapter than a must-win Game 5 in the Stanley Cup Finals.

People everywhere are heaping praise on The Flower and going on and on about how this was the best game of his life. I'm going to take that one step further... this was the best goaltending performance in Pittsburgh Penguins history! There is not even any doubt in my mind about that when you consider how MAF played and the magnitude of the game. The only games I can think of that I would even put in the discussion would be Tom Barrasso's 1-0 shutout in Game 3 of the Finals against Chicago and Ken Wregget's performance in the 4 OT classic against the Capitals. MAF was a stud all game long and then took his game to a whole new level to stop all 24 shots that Detroit threw at him in overtime. MAF was on the biggest stage a person in his profession can be on, and he delivered in the biggest way possible.

Here is what some of Fleury's teammates and coaches had to say:

"It's the greatest game I've ever seen him play."
-Max Talbot

"He was outstanding tonight, he was outstanding in overtime and while both goalies played well, it was probably his most important win in his career."
-Michel Therrien

"He was awesome. He was the MVP of the game, he made huge saves in the end, in the middle - everywhere."
-Rob Scuderi

"If it wasn't for him, there's no way we'd have gotten to the point we're at now. He's carried us through the latter part of the season and the playoffs."
-Ryan Whitney

And finally, I'll just leave you with this: