Quote:
Originally Posted by moon
To me Iginla was a much more iconic guy based on his better play on the ice, much better leader and of course miles better person off the ice.
The comeback is a perfect example where Fleury was clearly two steps behind everyone else and just awful out there and instead of realizing this and handling it properly he takes shots at the team and management when it was his own lack of ability at that age that kept him off the team. To me that lack of taking responsibility, lack of class and looking to blame everyone else for his failure is a perfect example of what Fleury is/was and why I have no desire to see his jersey retired.
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Exactly, IMO any comparing Iginla to Fleury is brutal, especially as the "prototypical" Calgary Flame. Most everything Iginla did on the ice and off, he did with class and humility, outside of his one holdout.
Sure, Fleury was a really good player for the team, when he was on, he was on (look at some of those playoff games vs SJ) sometimes the only thing worth watching in the mid 90's to later 90's, given his tenacity, skill, and sometimes, waiting for the car wreck to see him flip out in one way or another. But being the best player and "face" on a average team for 4 or 5 years (1994ish-1999) doesn't automatically gain you rafter status, no matter how fiery or demonstrative he was.
If guys like MacInnis(not just honored) or Mullen etc were up in the rafters, then I can could see the argument for Fleury...the Flames are holding players to higher standards than that obviously. Goodness knows the owners, many of who were here while Fleury was playing and knowing how much they had to deal with his off ice issues, and then him wanting out of here, have their feelings about him that go beyond on ice accomplishments.
Thus, I have zero issue with Fleury not being up there.