By Ethan Neufeld, Student Reporter
Around the middle of September this year, I got word that a life-long favourite NHL goalie of mine, Marc-André Fleury, was returning to his home team for his retirement game in Pittsburgh.
Seeing this goalie has been a dream of mine for countless years, as I had been following him since Grade 1 when I got into hockey. In fact, I started playing as a goaltender because of him, and stuck with it for roughly nine years.
Although in 2017 he was traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Vegas Golden Knights, so I followed that team and continued to cheer for him when he was traded to other teams.
After getting word that he signed a one-game contract with the Penguins and would be suiting up on September 27, I immediately asked if I could fly out to watch the game. My plan was to go alone but could not because of certain laws in the United States, and so I had to think of another plan.
After talking with my mother, she remembered that the rig that my father ran was only three hours from Pittsburgh, and so we talked to some of the guys down there and got permission to come down and get a personal tour of the rig.
After we learnt that, we knew it would be worth it to go on the trip. We left less than two weeks later.
The hockey game was electric, with fans from all over the world coming to celebrate Fleury’s last game before retirement back with his old team.
To see him play with the Penguins has been a dream of mine since I was a child, as well as even just seeing a game on the Penguins’ home ice. All around the game was an unforgettable experience.
The best part of the trip was yet to come though, as I then got to drive out to my late father’s rig and get a personal tour with my mother.
There, meeting the people I have heard countless stories about my whole life was astounding, as they knew so much about me when I hadn’t seen any of them since I was five years old.
Getting to see my father’s home away from home was unreal and I hope to see it again in the future. It was a very heartwarming day and both my mother and I were treated extremely well by everyone there.
