Theo Fleury answers his critics and the skeptics:
Fleury 'willing to play anywhere'
Vicki Hall, The Calgary Herald, August 10, 2009
CALGARY - At 41, Theoren Fleury realizes his quest for a storybook return to the National Hockey League could involve a chapter or two in another less-glamorous setting.
Like the American Hockey League or ECHL. Maybe even some far-flung circuit in Europe or Asia.
After all, Claude Lemieux toiled in China and Worcester, Mass., last season before making a comeback at age 44 with the San Jose Sharks.
"I'm willing to play anywhere," Fleury said Monday after skating with a handful of NHLers in Calgary. "I just love to play hockey. It doesn't really matter."
Still, Fleury believes he can compete with the best in the world in the NHL - even if others think he needs his brain examined to even entertain such a far-out plan.
"If the opportunity for a (NHL) training camp passes me by, I might have to start at the bottom and work my way up," he said. "But I know if I get to a training camp, I'll take care of the rest."
Regardless, Fleury realizes the road ahead is likely bumpier than a secondary highway in his native Manitoba. Six years have passed since he last skated in the NHL - and Fleury is not exactly known for an obsessive dedication to off-ice conditioning like Chris Chelios, a defenceman who just finished his 25th season in the league.
"I think people forget who I am and what I've accomplished in this lifetime," Fleury said. "I know everybody thinks the odds are insurmountable. But they were insurmountable in 1987. They were insurmountable when I walked into Moose Jaw (of the Western Hockey League)."
As for the criticism?
"It fuels the fire," said the five-foot-six dynamo. "I learned a long time ago that I shouldn't take other people's inventory - that I should keep my own house in order."
Should Fleury feel like torturing - or motivating- himself, the former Canadian Olympian need only hook up to the Internet.
Too old. Too deluded. Too desperate. The cynics - and there are many - believe a comeback is less likely than Paula Abdul kissing and making up with American Idol.
"With the Internet and everything, everybody's got their opportunity to comment," Fleury said. "So be it. That's their right."
Also standing in Fleury's way is the NHL itself. Officially, Fleury is still under suspension for failing to comply with the NHL/NHLPA Substance Abuse & Behavioral Health Program before he walked away from the game in 2003.
With four years of continuous sobriety, Fleury hopes to get an audience with commissioner Gary Bettman on recommendation of the counsellors who administer the program.
"We're just waiting around to see what happens," said Fleury, a recovering alcoholic who credits the 12 steps for turning his life around. "I can only control certain things. When I try to get involved and get in the middle, I end up screwing things up. I'm just going to stay back, be patient, continue to have fun in the gym and continue to come here and skate with the guys.
"And hopefully at the end of it, something good will happen."
Fleury looked positively svelte wheeling around the ice Monday with Calgary Flames defenceman Cory Sarich, Minnesota Wild blue-liner Nick Schultz and a handful of other NHLers.
"I don't know what your body feels like at 41 after that many years in the league," said Schultz, 26. "If he can get himself in good enough shape, anything is possible.
So how does the old guy look?
"It's tough to tell out here," Schultz said after playing some four-on-four with the grandpa of the group. "You've just got a few guys zipping it around in the off-season.
"But he's still great with the puck. In today's game, if he can get the puck to the right guys and play with some good players, he can definitely be effective."
Sarich, 31, said it's unfair to evaluate any professional hockey player in the second week of August.
"We'll give him the benefit of the doubt, just like the rest of us," Sarich said. "He's still got good hands. He's very smooth out there."
But what if smooth isn't enough to convince a general manager to give him another shot? Or what if the counsellors decide against recommending reinstatement?
Can Fleury live with an unhappy ending to his comeback bid?
"I don't know what the future holds," Fleury said. "All I know is that life is great. I have a great wife who supports me tremendously. I have great kids who are back in my life and trust me and respect me. That's probably more important than anything else.
"If something comes out of this, then great. If it doesn't, I think I'm smart enough and resilient enough to move on to something else."
Calgary Herald
vhall@theherald.canwest.com
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