After 21 years, Minnesota Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury's career has reached its final stretch.
The revered three-time Stanley Cup champion announced his retirement last April, and his Wild have just nine games to go (plus a presumptive postseason run) before closing up shop.
Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin was once a frequent foil of Fleury's, but on Thursday he went out of his way to show the goalie respect—gathering his teammates to shake Fleury's hand one-by-one before leaving the ice.
The remarkable gesture after a 4–2 Minnesota win lasted over a minute and drew stick taps from the Capitals' opponents.
Ovi gets the Caps line up to shake hands with Marc-Andre Fleury pic.twitter.com/im9VaCniRB
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) March 28, 2025
Washington center Dylan Strome said via Joe Smith of The Athletic that Ovechkin talked to the team about paying respect to Fleury before the game.
Dylan Strome said Alex Ovechkin talked to the team before the game about the “classy gesture” of doing a postgame handshake line with Marc-Andre Fleury. Called Fleury one of the best people in the game. “You have to respect greatness.” #mnwild
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) March 28, 2025
Fleury, in addition to being one of hockey's most respected people, is also a potential Hall of Famer. He has finished in the top five of the Vezina Trophy three times, won the award once, and backstopped two of the most iconic teams of this century (the dynastic Pittsburgh Penguins and expansion Vegas Golden Knights).
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Alex Ovechkin Spearheads Capitals' Classy Goodbye to Marc-André Fleury.
