Which Flame is the biggest jerk to fans off the ice?

[Kipper_3434]

Originally Posted by Sandman

His tweets are worse than conspiracy theories, they are dangerous because the morons who make up a significant portion of the population actually rally behind his insane rants.

That's absurd. You're acting like he's a cult leader, personally convincing the masses. I highly doubt even one "moron" credits Fleury with being the one who convinced them not to get a jab, or any of the other nonsense.

[Sandman]

Not absurd at all. I follow him on Insta, and every time he posts dumb crap about the government, or the environment, or immigrants,etc.- there's hundreds of idiots that say, "thanks for being brave and telling it like it is, Theo!", or "you should run for PM, Theo!".

He has a big following, and gives a voice to all the scared idiots. Like I said, they rally behind him.

[Mightyfire89]

I’ve had only three interactions with NHLers in my life. One was Gary Roberts signing some hockey cards for me at a sports store in Calgary back in maybe 95? He couldn’t have been nicer or cooler. Second was Brendan Shanahan walking into a ripper joint in Vancouver while I was walking out I said “Hey Shanny” and he just looked at me and winked. The third was Fleury at a house party in Calgary. I saw him and sorta sidled up to him and was like Hey Theo and he was very cool, he talked to me for a minute and then moved on. Seemed like a normal dude at a party.
I think how people perceive other people, famous or not depends on when and where you meet them and their mindset at the time.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by Sandman

His tweets are worse than conspiracy theories, they are dangerous because the morons who make up a significant portion of the population actually rally behind his insane rants.

The things he posts are too aggressive, outlandish and over the line to be excused by a traumatic past.

Plenty of individuals who experienced awful things in their formative years went on to channel that toward good causes.

Theo went the opposite way, and his refusal to slow down or chill out is entirely on him. Using retroactive reasoning to absolve his present day decisions is silly.

Don't care how chummy he seemed for 5 minutes in 1996. That's not reason enough to grant him a hall pass for using his platform and status to be a lunatic that rallies other lunatics to perpetuate dangerous ideas.

Yeah, obviously the guy isn't all bad. But let's keep the whole picture in perspective too.

[Sandman]

Excellent post, Trent!

[Snazu]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

The things he posts are too aggressive, outlandish and over the line to be excused by a traumatic past.

Plenty of individuals who experienced awful things in their formative years went on to channel that toward good causes.

Theo went the opposite way, and his refusal to slow down or chill out is entirely on him. Using retroactive reasoning to absolve his present day decisions is silly.

Don't care how chummy he seemed for 5 minutes in 1996. That's not reason enough to grant him a hall pass for using his platform and status to be a lunatic that rallies other lunatics to perpetuate dangerous ideas.

Yeah, obviously the guy isn't all bad. But let's keep the whole picture in perspective too.

It's also the problem with most social media in general. Everything gets filtered down to being in line with your beliefs and it turns into an echo chamber where almost all interaction you have is with people that think the same way as you. During covid, I lost a couple family members down this rabbit hole. One of them finally saw what was happening and pulled back. The other one has unfortunately gone even further to the point where anything Fleury says is mild in comparison.

[mikeecho]

The bad...
- Theo Fleury. I got to spend some time with him in the early 2010's at a charity hockey tournament. This was a few years after his book and "comeback' attempt and before he became a lightning rod for other reasons. He was indignant to anyone and everyone around him. He'd throw water bottles at teammates on the bench and threaten anyone who didn't give him the puck. It was a no slap shot tournament, but he'd walk into the slot and tee up slappers. Ref would waive off the goals and he'd threaten the ref, so they'd just count the goals. At first it seemed like a shtick because it was so absurd, but it was very real. Off ice, I found it very interesting. It seemed like key members of the Flames Alumni like Peplinski, Lanny, Macoun, etc... would basically be at his hip babysitting him and keeping him away from people like they were concerned he was on the verge of coming undone.

The good...
- Lanny obviously. I've been out with him a few times. He's the best guy all of the time. It's gotta be tough for him. He's always being approached when he's out in public for conversation, pictures, high fives, etc... The guy has a table full of beers from people who send them over as thanks for '89. He barely gets 5 minutes to himself but he always has time for everyone and is genuine.

- Regehr/Sarich - Used to see them at kids hockey / lacrosse. Both pretty quiet and reserved but very nice and normal.