Hear the one about how Marc-Andre Fleury helped an old lady cross the street, cured cancer, brought peace to the Middle East and then, in his spare time, made 78 saves on 79 shots?
Only half of that is fact, I think. Can't tell anymore.
This is in no way an attempt to diminish what Fleury has accomplished this season. His run with the Vegas Golden Knights, leading an expansion team that no one — NO ONE — thought would be a playoff team, let alone a Stanley Cup finalist, has been nothing short of amazing.
Divine intervention? Perhaps.
Or maybe it's just been the work of a highly motivated goalie jilted by his former employer who is playing on a team that has caught lightning in a bottle. I'm guessing more the latter.
But some of the revisionist history that has reared its head again over the last two weeks regarding Fleury has been more than a little amusing.
Fleury was a great goalie, best in franchise history and, by all accounts — my own included — a good guy. Well, Matt Murray is also a great goalie and though, not as gregarious, is also a good guy.
If you're going to blame Murray and his .908 save percentage for the Penguins not winning a third-straight Stanley Cup, fair enough, never mind that no team has won three titles in a row in 36 years. But, first, I'd suggest you look at the lack of secondary scoring the Penguins received and the quality of chances that Murray had to face.
I'd also suggest that Fleury was far, far more responsible for the Penguins not winning the Cup in 2012 and 2013, when he posted save percentages of .834 and .883. Fleury was so rattled in '13, he was yanked in the first round for Tomas Vokoun. Wait, did Vokoun only get the job because he was Dan Bylsma's guy?
To his credit, Fleury rebounded from those massively underachieving years with the help of a sports psychologist and Mike Bales. It wasn't until the summer of 2013 that the organization finally relented, hiring Bales as their first full-time goaltending coach. That's kind of a not-so-minor detail.
The fact is, Fleury's name is on the Cup after helping the Penguins to back-to-back titles in 2016 and '17, and they may not have even beaten Washington last year if not for him. But when it really mattered, it was Murray in goal. The celebrations in San Jose and Nashville proved that to be the right call then, as it does now.
The other fact is, the Penguins had little choice but to move one of their two goalies. It would not have been fair to either Fleury or Murray to keep both. If you love someone, set them free. But sentimentality aside, going with a younger, cheaper and equally good — if not better — goalie is a pretty sound business decision.
Fleury very well might make history with the Knights — and here's hoping he does — but there's no need to re-write his history. It is what it is.
• Trading Phil Kessel certainly makes sense if the Penguins are simply looking to free up cap space. But how many teams are willing to pay $6.8 million — Toronto still picks up $1.2 million of his $8 million cap hit — for a perceived enigma? Whatever his reputation, Kessel works with the Penguins and vice versa.
• Yes, Daniel Sprong could potentially make up for Kessel's lost production, if he were to be traded. Some in the organization think the Dutchman with the lightning-quick release could score 40-plus in a season, something Kessel has never done. But if you're a team that has to win and win now, trading a known commodity to open space for a 21-year-old, who has twice failed to stick in the NHL, that's quite a risk. Or it's placing a lot of confidence in Sprong.
• Penny for Jim Rutherford's thoughts when he saw Tom Wilson fighting Braydon Coburn in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final on Wednesday night? Thinking if Wilson played for the Penguins, Pittsburgh fans might have a different opinion of him.
• With apologies to Tampa Bay and Winnipeg, two deserving teams, Washington vs. Vegas is about as good as the NHL could have hoped for. Not only are the Capitals and Knights two evenly-matched teams, the league is a business and, well, U.S. television ratings matter.
• Nothing would be better for the game and spreading the gospel of hockey more than a Capitals victory. They have put out a strong on-ice product for a decade — if not longer — and have a sellout streak in D.C that dates back to 2008-09. After 44 years of playoff futility, a Stanley Cup could solidify the Washington market as a true hockey town.
• In my line of work, I don't root for teams but I do pull for good storylines and good people. The Knights and Capitals have no shortage of both. Deryk Engelland is certainly on that list.
The former Penguins tough guy didn't reach the NHL full-time until 2010-11 when he was 28. Now 35, "Engo" is the de facto captain of the Golden Knights who did a wonderful job addressing the Vegas crowd before the team's first home game following the mass shooting at the Mandalay Bay and handled the Clarence Campbell Bowl presentation with aplomb after the Knights won the Western Conference.
Engelland, who posted career highs in assists (18) and points (23), has already signed a one-year extension for next season. Needless to say, this season been a win-win for him.
• If the Cup Final goes six or more games (I believe it will), and Fleury doesn't completely melt down (I don't believe he will), the Golden Knights goalie should win the Conn Smythe, win or lose. No question. Only Roger Crozier (1966), Glenn Hall (1968), Reggie Leach (1976), Ron Hextall (1987) and J-S Giguere (2003) have won while losing.