by Matt Pennino
Sure bringing back Theo Fleury looks good on paper, but so has this Ranger team the last couple of years.
Let me ask you all this…. How many chances are you willing to give this guy before he costs us more games and embarrass this organization further? How many more times do you have to be frustrated by his antics? If you are concerned about this team’s success then you should not want Fleury back.
Do any of you think that all of a sudden things are going to change? That all of a sudden Bryan Trottier is going to turn him around? Absolutely Not! Do you know why? Because people don’t change! Yes that is a strong statement but it’s absolutely true. Sure its commendable that he’ll accept more money to come back to the Rangers but I wouldn’t resign him for a penny.
To be quite honest, New York itself is the LAST place in the world a firecracker like Theo Fleury would want to play. The media is unforgiving as is the Madison Square Garden crowd. Yeah he plays with heart…. until the referees make a call he doesn’t like and then he goes off. I lost count on how many times he negated a Rangers power play by getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing with an official.
If he doesn’t like the call, then too bad. No matter what you want to think or say, his reputation has been tarnished by his antics in this league. If they keep up, it will only get worse, and we as fans will grow more frustrated.
The one thing that absolutely set me off was one game during the Penguins in Pittsburgh when he walked out on his teammates because he didn’t like the referee’s call. Oh Boo-Hoo! Get your butt back in there and play. Yeah sure it was late in the game and they were losing by three goals but that shouldn’t matter. Now that’s not being a good team player is it?
Whether you’re a fan of him or not you need to realize that he costs this team more games than he helped win them. Not to mention his three years here in New York were ones in which he didn’t put up very good numbers unless you count one the one where he all of a sudden had to go into a rehab center during a career year and when the Rangers needed him to help fight for a playoff spot. Team player anyone?