The Minnesota Wild were recently eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round of the Stanley Cup, ending Marc-Andre Fleury's legendary career.
The former first-overall pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins spent 13 seasons in black and gold, winning three Stanley Cups with Sidney Crosby.
On Sunday, the Penguins' captain announced he was headed to Sweden to represent Canada for the 2025 IIHF World Championships. Then, on Monday afternoon, Fleury announced that he would make his first World Championships appearance, reuniting with his old teammate.
Internationally, Fleury is an Olympic Gold Medalist, winning with Team Canada when Crosby scored the golden goal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC.
During his junior days, Fleury won back-to-back silver medals at the World Junior Championships in 2003 and 2004 while claiming the tournament's Most Valuable Player and Best Goaltender awards at the 2003 event.
If Fleury can help Canada win its 29th World title, he'd become a member of the Triple Gold Club, having won three Stanley Cup rings (2009, 2016, 2017) and a Gold Medal (2010).
Meanwhile, Crosby joined this exclusive club with only 30 members in 2015 when he completed his quest with a World Championship. He had won three Stanley Cups with Fleury and an Olympic Gold Medal in 2010 and 2014.
Both former first-overall picks skated with the Penguins from 2005 to 2017, dressing together for the final time on June 11, 2017, when they hoisted the Stanley Cup at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN.
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On Thursday, the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/minnesota-wild">Minnesota Wild</a> suffered a <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/minnesota-wild/latest-news/minnesota-wild-eliminated-in-first-round-against-the-vegas-golden-knights-in-six-games">heartbreaking 3-2 loss in Game 6</a> to the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/vegas-golden-knights/">Vegas Golden Knights</a>, eliminating them in the first round for the eighth time in their last 10 postseason appearances. <br>
During the 2024-25 season, Crosby joined the 600-goal club, broke Mario Lemieux's franchise assist record, and recorded his 1,600th point, moving into the top-10 scoring all-time.
Meanwhile, in Minnesota, Fleury surpassed Roberto Luongo for the second-most games played (1,051) in NHL history, recorded his 76th career shutout, and secured his 575th win, which ranks second all-time.
Since Fleury announced his plans to retire after the season, he'll begin his mandatory three-year waiting period following the World Championships to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame, where he's guaranteed to be a first-ballot inductee in 2028.