Sign up for one of our email newsletters.
Updated 6 minutes ago
On a night that was supposed to belong to Sidney Crosby, the loudest cheers were instead for Marc-Andre Fleury.
The most poignant moment, however, came in the near-silence of the Penguins dressing room afterward.
Crosby and Chris Kunitz posed for photos with the puck to commemorate the captain's 1,000th NHL point. Then Crosby stopped at Fleury's locker for a brothers-in-arms handshake, the kind shared by those who have gone to battle together.
The Penguins captain gave his goalie a look, one that spoke volumes. Where Crosby had his milestone moment, for Fleury it might have been his fond farewell.
Minutes earlier, Fleury was asked if the fans chanting his name during the 4-3 overtime victory over Winnipeg on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena made it any more special, knowing what he doesn't know about his future with the franchise.
“I don't know. The support here is always amazing at home,” Fleury said, letting out a deep breath to compose himself. “Like you said, you don't know what's coming. It was a nice feeling. I tried not to (think about it). I tried to just stay focused on the game, but I could hear them. They did it a few times. It was nice. It was a good feeling. Hopefully, there are many more.”
It was a glimpse into how even a fan favorite can possess a fragile psyche.
These are unsettling times as there is an air of uncertainty surrounding cornerstone players for the Penguins and Pirates.
Fleury, the No. 1 overall pick in 2003, could be dealt by the trade deadline. Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, a first-rounder in '05, spent the offseason as the subject of trade rumors.
McCutchen touched on his trepidation about being traded in a first-person account for The Players' Tribune:
I'm not gonna lie. I Googled my own name more than a few times this offseason to see if there was any news. It was hard not to when just about every conversation I had with friends, family and even strangers started with them asking me, “So, what's the latest?”
Truth was, I didn't know any more than anybody else. But there were times when the rumors got so intense and the stove got so hot that I would look down at my phone, almost expecting it to ring.
Cutch, you've been traded.
It's always the things that haven't happened yet that scare us the most. The fear of the unknown. And I honestly didn't know where I was going to play baseball in 2017.
We live in a sports world where fans are fantasy owners as cold and calculating toward star players as Bottom-Line Bob Nutting.
As loyalty has been replaced by analytics and salary-cap savings, Fleury and McCutchen run the risk of being traded because the Penguins and Pirates have their replacements ready.
McCutchen was moved to right field — against his wishes — as the Pirates believe Starling Marte is better suited for center.
With Fleury injured, Matt Murray seized the starting goaltender job and led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup championship.
That made Fleury expendable, and the injury to defenseman Olli Maatta could necessitate a trade.
So, if what started as Crosby's night was really Fleury's last hurrah, it was meaningful and memorable.
What Fleury and McCutchen have showed is how to handle tough times with class. They are faces of their franchises who love Pittsburgh. They smile through their pain, masking the fear of the unkown.
McCutchen said the trade talks served as motivation to “get in the cage and hit until my hands bled,” yet a reminder that he is just an employee.
I'm not the boss. Remember, this is a business. And if upper management thinks putting me in right field gives this team the best chance to win — or if the front office still entertains the idea of trading me — that's just business. It's not personal. It comes with the territory.
Somehow, the thought of trading Fleury or McCutchen feels personal.
It's hard to imagine either wearing a uniform representing another team, another town.
Then again, it's always the things that haven't happened yet that scare us the most.
Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at kgorman@tribweb.com or via Twitter @KGorman_Trib.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
