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Sidney Crosby And Marc-Andre Fleury Send a Clear Message After Team Canada Thrashing
Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury sent a clear message after Team Canada's 7-1 win over Team Latvia at the World Championship.
The Pittsburgh Penguins missed the playoffs once again this year, and after getting another taste of winning for his country at the 4 Nations Face-Off a few months ago, Sidney Crosby decided to compete in this year's Hockey World Championship, currently going down in Sweden and Denmark.
When the Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche got eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he gave a call to his good friends Nathan MacKinnon and Marc-Andre Fleury to help him bring the gold back to Canada.
For Fleury, it was a no-brainer: he never had a chance to represent his country at such a tournament, and he couldn't turn down the opportunity of playing one last time with his friends in a high-profile tournament.
The former Penguins teammates Fleury and Crosby were absolute beasts on the ice yesterday, during Team Canada's game against Team Latvia. They both made amazing plays, were engaged physically, and showed that age hasn't slowed them down.
Fleury, 40, made some spectacular saves that he got fans used to over the course of his 20-year NHL career, and Crosby, 38, got involved in scrums and tried to distract his opponents.
Watch some highlights of the game here:
With their 7-1 win and their level of engagement, they sent a big message to the other countries: Crosby, Fleury, and the rest of Team Canada will need to be taken seriously in the tournament.
Fleury, who earned the player of the game title for Team Canada, opened up on his experience in an interview.
"It was a fun game. I had a bit of a tough start, but it was a great time. The Latvian fans were awesome and they were making noise all game long."
"The boys in front of me scored some big goals and had a lot of blocked shots, so that was a big help. This is a great roster and a great group of guys, and our chemistry is already very good."
"Everyone here wants to do well, and we know that goal differential is important in this tournament, so it was nice to get a big win today."
"Every time you wear the Canadian jersey, it's such a great experience and always an honor to play with that jersey on. And, you know, I haven't had the chance to play with some of these guys in the locker room before, too.
I think that was very appealing. And, yeah, I don't know-why not? It's a lot of fun, and I'm gonna try to enjoy it as much as I can."
"The boys in front of me scored some big goals and had a lot of blocked shots, so that was a big help. This is a great roster and a great group of guys, and our chemistry is already very good."
"Everyone here wants to do well, and we know that goal differential is important in this tournament, so it was nice to get a big win today."
"Every time you wear the Canadian jersey, it's such a great experience and always an honor to play with that jersey on. And, you know, I haven't had the chance to play with some of these guys in the locker room before, too.
I think that was very appealing. And, yeah, I don't know-why not? It's a lot of fun, and I'm gonna try to enjoy it as much as I can."
Stay tuned for the latest developments regarding the World Championship and Fleury's future.
| POLL | ||
MAI 12 | 304 ANSWERS Sidney Crosby And Marc-Andre Fleury Send a Clear Message After Team Canada Thrashing Do you think Marc-Andre Fleury, Sidney Crosby and Team Canada will win the Gold at the World Championship? | ||
| Yes | 297 | 97.7 % |
| No | 7 | 2.3 % |
| List of polls | ||