ST. PAUL, Minn. — It was an optional morning skate for the Minnesota Wild before Game 6 on Thursday.

Five skaters cycled pucks around one end of TRIA Rink in downtown St. Paul. One goalie occupied the net.

Start walking closer to that net, you hear the same familiar laugh. The occasional chirping. Walk close enough, and you still see the trademark smile flash through his mask.

He’s probably not playing in a game his team has to win to keep its season alive. His playing days are over with one more loss, as fate would have it, against his former team.

It was still a good day to be at the rink for Marc-Andre Fleury.

The 40-year-old has never taken these days for granted. Especially now at this point of the season, when starts are at a premium and ice time isn’t guaranteed.

And there’s also the fact that Fleury, the second-winningest goaltender in NHL history with 575 victories, called his shot before the start of his 21st NHL season that it would be his last.

“I said it was going to be my last year because I got sick and tired last year of people asking me if I was done playing,” Fleury said, laughing. “So I was like, ‘I’m not doing this again.’ I’m just gonna say it, so when we’re done, we don’t have to talk about it.”

Fleury’s career ended with the Wild’s 3-2 loss to the Golden Knights on Thursday, sealing a 4-2 first-round playoff series defeat.

He didn’t go into the season wanting a farewell tour.

The attention that came with it caught him off-guard. Every road trip, every stop at former stomping grounds, the adoration and respect was “a little crazy, a little unexpected,” he said, even for him.

“Maybe once I’m done and I sit back and think about the last year, I’ll realize it maybe a bit more,” Fleury told the Review-Journal. “So many nights, the way fans have treated me, the way different organizations have been so good to me. I feel like it’s been a bit crazy, but also fun, too, to see everybody and say thanks.”

Season of acknowledgment

Others thanked him as well.

Fleury, drafted No. 1 overall in 2003 by the Pittsburgh Penguins, whom he played with for 13 seasons, played his final game in Pittsburgh on Oct. 29. A giant flower bouquet of his number 29 greeted him in the hallway.

Fleury, fittingly, made 26 saves and got the 5-3 win against the franchise he won 375 games and three Stanley Cup championships with.

He took one final lap around PPG Paints Arena and was showered with a standing ovation.

In what was expected to be his last visit to T-Mobile Arena on Jan. 12, though he didn’t end up playing, the Knights acknowledged him during a timeout with a congratulatory graphic, followed by a standing ovation from the crowd.

On Jan. 30, the Sorel, Quebec, native recorded a 19-save shutout against the Montreal Canadiens in a 4-0 win. His teammates mobbed him after, and he was met with a rousing ovation at Bell Centre. The Canadiens stood at center ice to shake his hand.

The respect was even shown on nights he didn’t play. Longtime rival Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals lost 4-2 to the Wild in Minnesota on March 27. Ovechkin, the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer, led his teammates back onto the ice and led them in a line to shake Fleury’s hand.

“It’s crazy. I’m not looking for it,” Fleury said. “I just play the game I love. I feel lucky and fortunate to do this, and I’ve done this for so long.”

‘Got some goosebumps’

But no moment may better show how beloved Fleury was than Game 5 of the Wild’s first-round series against the Knights.

With the Knights leading the Wild 2-1 heading into the third period, Fleury replaced starter Filip Gustavsson, who was dealing with an illness.

It’s a crucial point in the game. The series is tied 2-2. The Knights are winning.

And the first sound coming from the T-Mobile Arena crowd was “Fleury” chants.

“Having the opportunity to work with him and see how he handles all that has been amazing,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “Even though he gets all the fanfare, just how grounded he is. A great teammate to Gus, a great teammate in general, and it’s been awesome to see.”

Fleury’s first thought was trying to keep the score close. The Wild did their part. Right wing Matt Boldy tied it three minutes into the third, and center Ryan Hartman nearly won the game late, but the goal was overturned on an offsides challenge.

Fleury made six saves. The seventh shot he faced was center Brett Howden’s game-winner in overtime to give the Knights a 3-2 win.

“It didn’t matter that much that it was (against) Vegas, but it was still special,” Fleury said. “It was a cool experience to go back on the ice one more time in Vegas. Having people chant my name in that building, it brought back some memories from my time there. Got some goosebumps on the ice there. A good memory that I’ll keep.”

‘One of my best times’

Fleury welcomed the move to Las Vegas with open arms.

After being a pillar for more than a decade in Pittsburgh, the Penguins exposed him in the 2017 expansion draft. Without hesitation, the Knights selected their next face of the franchise.

It was an unforgettable four-year run that Fleury still feels, at times, was a dream.

Fleury appeared in 192 regular season games and won 117 of them, including 23 shutouts. He led the Knights to an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final in the inaugural season, coming within three wins of a title.

“He’s one of a kind,” defenseman Shea Theodore, a fellow Original Misfit, said. “He was special when he played here in Vegas, and you see how loved around the league he is.”

Fleury led the Knights into the playoffs all four seasons and capped it off with his first Vezina Trophy in 2021. The Knights traded him to the Chicago Blackhawks that July after signing goaltender Robin Lehner to a five-year extension in October.

Though his time in Las Vegas had a bitter end, Fleury’s positive memories outweigh that.

He remains proud to be part of the inaugural team that helped the city rebuild after the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting that killed 60 people on Oct. 1, 2017, five days before the Knights played their first regular-season game.

It was a time when “we wanted to just give people something else to think about when they go to the rink,” Fleury said. “I felt like we just wanted to ease the pain a bit, win some games.”

When asked how he would characterize his time with the Knights, Fleury took a long pause.

“I think we did all right. Even from training camp, too, the building was full every practice, every game,” Fleury said. “There was some doubt. Going to Vegas, I was like, ‘Is hockey going to work here?’ It was such a good surprise, such a happy surprise, how much people liked the game and liked to cheer us on.

“Having this bunch of Misfits come together, find a way to create some chemistry, get some wins and made it all the way to the Final that first year, was one of my best times in hockey.”

Minnesota acquired him prior to the 2022 trade deadline to give Fleury a chance at one more playoff run, but to also serve as a mentor for the future.

The Wild’s future in the crease centers around Gustavsson, the 26-year-old from Sweden who won a career-high 31 games this season. Minnesota also has 22-year-old Jesper Wallstedt, its first-round pick from 2021, in the fold.

Fleury has had a hand in helping both of them.

“The last couple of years, getting to know him off the ice, you grow more fond of him as just a fan,” Wild captain Jared Spurgeon said. “Now as a teammate and a person, the way he treats everyone professionally, whether it’s the staff or the teammates or just a new player coming in, it’s something that you just admire.”

End of an era

The horn sounded Thursday night. The Knights held on for a win to advance to the second round. The Edmonton Oilers await them later this week.

Both teams gathered at center ice to shake hands. Fleury, by design, was the final one in the Wild’s lineup.

Fleury went down the line, hugging former teammates, shaking hands of former rivals.

Fleury moved to shake hands and hug the officials. The Knights, waiting by their bench, tapped their sticks on the ice. Fleury was met with one more standing ovation. This time, from his home crowd.

He gave one quick, final wave and dashed directly to the locker room. His career, by the hands of his former team, came to an end.

Fleury, his wife, Veronique, and their three kids — Estelle, Scarlette and James — will likely stay in Minnesota for the foreseeable future so the kids can have a stable school life.

He’ll spend that time figuring out if he wants to do anything in hockey after that.

The next time Fleury is involved in hockey may not be until a trip to Toronto in 2028 — when he’s eligible to go into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

If this season was any indication, it won’t take much to find support for that.

“A hell of a career. I’m proud to know him as well as I did,” Theodore said. “He’s definitely a Hall of Famer, in my opinion.”

Contact Danny Webster at [email protected]. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.