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Just Like Old Times: Fleury Shows Little Has Changed Print
Northwest
Written by Mike Cook   
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 20:32
Northwest Division Notebook:

Theo Fleury is taking advantage of his opportunity, and in the process he is making it hard for the Calgary Flames to keep one of its all-time greats off the ice.

"I'm starting to feel more comfortable, the rust is coming off and I'm starting to play the way that I can play, the way I knew I could play when I started this thing in February," Fleury said after tallying one goal and one assist in a 5-2 win over Florida Sept. 20. "I'm here to make the team. I want to get better and better."

It is remarkable that the 41-year-old Fleury is even in position to make the Calgary roster. Out of the game for six years following an indefinite suspension for violating the NHL's substance abuse policy, Fleury has been sober for four years.

"I knew I wanted to achieve sobriety at some point in my life," Fleury told the Associated Press in August. "I knew I had a problem. I never hid that fact from anybody. At heart, I'm a hockey player, first and foremost. Obviously I didn't go out the way I wanted to."

He has operated a cement company in Calgary in recent years.

Drafted in the eighth round of the 1987 draft, the 5-foot-6 Fleury was thought to be too small to succeed in the NHL, but he played much bigger, often camping in front of the net and not being afraid to get into scuffles. In 791 games over 11 seasons with Calgary, Fleury scored 364 goals and had 466 assists. After 15 games with Colorado, Fleury spent three seasons with the New York Rangers and 54 games with Chicago in 2002-03. He won a Stanley Cup with Calgary in 1989 and earned a gold medal with the Canadian team at the 2002 Olympics.

The seven-time All-Star has been playing on a line with Daymond Langkow and Curtis Glencross.

"When you play with great linemates like Daymond and Curtis it makes the game pretty easy to play," said Fleury, who scored the shootout winner in his first exhibition game.

"It seems to be working well. We're working well and creating chances," Langkow said. "He scored another goal, so that's good for him."

That game, nor the two thereafter, have proven if No. 14 can be like the Fleury of old for the long haul, but you've got to start somewhere.

"I just wanted to get that one over with, and I was thankful with the result, but I'm here to make the team and I just want to get better every day, every game and I've been able to accomplish that so far."

COLORADO

Expected to replace the retired Joe Sakic as the Avs top-line center, Paul Stastny said he hasn't changed his game as he enters his fourth year in the league. A broken forearm sustained blocking a shot limited Stastny to 11 goals and 25 assists in 45 games last season. An emergency appendectomy limited Stastny to 24 goals and 47 assists two years ago. ... Wojtek Wolski, who played center during the second half of last season, appears to be heading back to left wing. ... D Adam Foote has been named team captain for 2009-10. "It's definitely big shoes to fill coming after Joe Sakic," he said. "I was able to learn a lot off him and other great leaders that have been in this dressing room." ... C Matt Duchene, the third-overall pick in June's draft, has seen time at the point on the team's power play unit. "At age 18 it looks like he's got all the tools," said Milan Hejduk. ... C Ryan Stoa, the team's first-round pick in 2008, was sent to Lake Erie of the AHL Sept. 21. Stoa led the University of Minnesota with 46 points in 36 games last year.

EDMONTON

Center Patrick O'Sullivan has been playing alongside recently signed C Mike Comrie. In three exhibition games, O'Sullivan has four goals and an assist; Comrie has seven assists. ... After dislocating his right shoulder seven months ago, D Lubomir Visnovsky appeared in his first preseason game Sept. 20. "I feel very good that I survived this game. I'm very happy. The shoulder is still strong," he said. ... Coach Pat Quinn is doing a lot of teaching and putting more of an emphasis on systems. "It's different atmosphere and we're going to keep building on some of the fundamentals that Pat and the coaching staff have been instilling in us," said D Sheldon Souray. "It's going to take a little time. He's got a lot of different ideas we're not used to, but we can all say to a man what he's teaching is very useful to us." ... In the battle to backup Nikolai Khabibulin, Jeff Deslauriers, last year's second netminder, has a .949 save percentage and stopped 56 shots in 119 minutes of action; Devan Dubnyk has a .898 save percentage and stopped 44 shots in his 118 minutes of action.

MINNESOTA

LW Andrew Brunette and C Mikko Koivu were both injured last week in practice. Although the team's official stance is both injuries are not serious, neither played in the team's first four exhibition games. Coach Todd Richards called the moves "precautionary." ... RW Martin Havlat has made an immediate impact for the new uptempo offense the Wild look to install this year. Signed to a six-year, $30 million deal July 1, Havlat scored two goals Sept. 20 against Chicago, his former team. ... RW Petr Sykora added some scoring punch by signing a one-year deal with the team Sept. 17. He had 25 goals in 76 games with Pittsburgh last year, and has 300 in his 14-year career. ... After allowing three goals in the exhibition opener in St. Louis, Minnesota posted consecutive shutouts against Columbus and Colorado. ... D Tyler Cuma, the team's 2008 top draft pick, has been slowed in camp with an elbow injury. ... RW Cal Clutterbuck, who led the league with 356 hits last year, had two goals in the Sept. 18 preseason game. He had 11 goals last year.

VANCOUVER

The backup goaltending job features oft-traveled veteran, Andrew Raycroft, against former Canucks first-round pick Cory Schneider. Schneider, the AHL Goalie of the Year last season with Manitoba, wasn't scored upon in his first two-and-a-half periods of exhibition play but allowed four goals on 17 shots Sept. 21. Coach Alain Vigneault said he'll see action in at least one more exhibition game. ... Michael Grabner, the team's 2006 first-round pick, needs to play better to make the team. "I saw him last year in Manitoba and he was a dominant player in that league," Vigneault said. "He hasn't been able to do it so far at our level. He's played three games of the first four. If his expectations are to be with us this year, he's going to have to have a better week." ... RW Sergei Shirokov, who had four points in his first two preseason games, is expected to miss about a week after suffering a first-degree knee sprain Sept. 18. ... RW Ronald Petrovicky is expected to miss 4-6 weeks after injuring his injured his MCL Sept. 17. ... Out with a bulging disk in his back for two months, C Cody Hodgson missed the team's first preseason game, but looked good in the team's next three. "I played with some great wingers in (Alexandre) Bolduc and (Mikael) Samuelsson, and I think we did great," he said. Hodgson had 43 goals and 49 assists in 53 games with Brampton of the Ontario Junior League last year.

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Very nice article on Fleury. Looks like he is on a mission.
Sam Woo , September 23, 2009

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Last Updated on Monday, September 28, 2009 15:13