CRANBERRY — Like old times. In so many ways. Such as when goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury — throwback yellow pads and all — made a windmill save on Sidney Crosby during Pittsburgh Penguins practice Friday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, drawing guffaws and applause from the packed house.

See for yourself.

“The one where I batted (the rebound in) out of the air?” Crosby bantered later. “He made a good initial save for sure. We’re having the feeling of getting back into the past this morning.”

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And Crosby laughed:

The two longtime former Penguins teammates — and just about everyone else — seemed to have a great time as Fleury, 40, returned for a special weekend. Although he retired after last season, his fourth with the Minnesota Wild, Fleury signed a tryout contract with the Penguins with the intent of practicing with the team Friday and playing a period of Saturday’s preseason game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at PPG Paints Arena.

Of course, there were some pranks, only this time the first ones were courtesy of Fleury’s son, James, who had a bag of gags.

Winger Bryan Rust said there was a rubber snake in the restroom, and a toy cockroach in Evgeni Malkin’s stuff. the cockroach was sitting in Fleury’s locker stall when he came off the ice.

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“I did a little extra checking with all my stuff,” Rust said. “I thought something might be coming. Something might be coming for him from somebody in this room. We’ll see how the next 24 hours or so go.”

Not only did Fleury get to practice with, chirp and enjoy time with some of the players he won three Stanley Cups with, but he also made an impact on some of the young players in training camp.

His practice session included young goalies Sergei Murashov and Filip Larsson. Fleury spent some time talking to both.

“You better try hard. I’m coming to take your spot,” Fleury joked that he told them.

In fact, Fleury cleared up one thing about his retirement. Despite this weekend and his PTO, the surefire future Hall of Famer said he wants to be known for retiring as a member of the Minnesota Wild.

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“Out of respect for Minnesota, I didn’t want to say I’m retiring as a Penguin just because that’s where I played my last real game,” he said. “But I’m very grateful to finish (in Pittsburgh) where everything started for me.”

Other young Penguins loved the practice.

“Oh, that was sweet,” said defenseman Owen Pickering.

“It was an honor,” said 2025 first-round draft pick Ben Kindel. “He’s such a legend. He meant so much to the organization.”

Fleury said he worried about his stamina since he had not trained all summer for the first time in a couple decades. He does miss it.

“Obviously, I love hockey,” he said. “I love everything. I love the game. I love being around the guys. I love playing. I love practicing.

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“I found out there’s nothing else I can do that will fulfill that hole of playing hockey. But at the same time, I’m older, slower, more sore, less flexible, less fast. I think it’s time.”

Fans were lined up early Friday. This was three hours before the start of the practice:

As far as his appearance against Columbus on Saturday — he is slated to play one period, although we don’t know which — Fleury offered, “I know it will be fast. … It feels like I’m not up to tempo yet maybe. But it will be fun to play in front of the Penguins fans at PPG one last time.”

Fleury’s full interview:

PHN’s Dan Kingerski contributed to this post.

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The post Yellow Pads, Big Saves, Bigger Smiles; Marc-Andre Fleury Full Story & Reaction appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now.

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