A little prouder to be a Pittsburgh Penguins fan

I rarely go on message boards. If I did, I would think that Marc Andre Fleury was washed up and the worst thing to ever happen to Pittsburgh. If I did, I would think the Pittsburgh Penguins should trade Evgeni Malkin and get rid of half the team. If I did, I would think that the Penguins have no chance at ever winning a game again. No offense to the people who post on these things, but message boards are always filled with knee jerk reaction, pessimism, and spammers who like to create controversy.

Luckily, the Consol Energy Center was filled with a different type of fan last night vs the Tampa Bay Lightning. These fans were the forgiving type. The supportive type. The give the guy a chance type. The I havent forgotten what you have done for me type. And this made me proud to be a Pittsburgh Penguin fan

Before the National Anthem even started, the chants of FLEUR-E...FLEUR-E started. It would have been easy to start the mock chants, but no, these fans were here to support their guy. They were there to support their goaltender on to victory. They were there to see Marc Andre Fleury become the 7th youngest goaltender, at 25, to record his 150th win.

The cheers didnt end at the Anthem either, these fans were behind Fleury's every move. The show of support was strong and the players took note as well.
"Maybe I heard maybe a couple tough things [before], but the crowd tonight behind me right from the start cheering," Fleury said. "It was a good feeling. It was awesome."


"I'd like to give some props to the fans," Talbot said. "It was pretty good what they did at the start of the game. I'm sure that gave him a little extra jump, screaming his name.
“It was great from our fans,” head coach Dan Bylsma said. “You could tell they were standing in the goal with him.”


This could have been just what the doctor ordered for Fleury, who has appeared to lack confidence this season. Let's hope last night was the beginning of something special and if so, there were 18,275 fans that can pat themselves on the back.






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