Marc-Andre Fleury says his retirement is still sinking in after Wild’s playoff exit

The reality that he’s retired didn’t dawn on Marc-Andre Fleury during one last curtain call at Xcel Energy Center after the Wild were eliminated from the playoffs to officially end the goaltender’s NHL career.

He waved to the crowd Thursday night and then ducked off ice, Fleury not wanting to get emotional and prolong his final farewell after a season full of goodbyes.

On the drive home, he thought about how lucky he was to play so long and to make his childhood dream come true.

But a few days later, as the Wild were back in St. Paul to wrap up the season, Fleury still couldn’t believe he was done.

He’s worried it will take months to sink in, until September when training camp starts.

Not for him, though. Not anymore.

“Still a little unbelievable that it’s over,” Fleury said Monday. “Twenty-some years went by so quick, right? I love my teammates. I love my team here, too. I thought the guys played so well in the playoffs and gave a good run. Vegas is one of the best teams in the league, and we all believed we could come back and have a chance there.

“You know it’s coming, right? I knew it’s coming, but it’s still sad when it happens for real.”

A year since he announced he would play one more season, his 21st, the end is here.

After getting drafted first overall in 2003, winning three Stanley Cups and then a Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie, and surpassing 1,000 games, Fleury leaves the league as the second-winningest goaltender in NHL history. He’s a lock for the Hall of Fame, which he can be inducted into when he has been retired for three seasons.

“I’m done,” he confirmed. “I feel like I’m not as good as I was. I feel like I’m not as flexible as I was. I don’t do things like I used to, and that [ticks] me off. After I play, I feel like a car hits you sometimes.”

That’s been frustrating for Fleury; as much as he tried to stay healthy and take care of his body, time caught up with him. But the 40-year-old still made a memorable exit.

The backup to Filip Gustavsson, Fleury earned one more victory in the Wild’s regular-season finale, when Gustavsson tabbed Fleury to replace him for overtime vs. Anaheim after the Wild locked up a playoff spot thanks to being tied at the end of regulation.

Fleury, who went 14-9-1 this season, also came in cold in Game 5 of the playoffs, taking over after Gustavsson was too ill to continue, and Fleury made six saves in the third period and overtime before the Golden Knights won 3-2. He knew that could be his last action, and like he usually does, he celebrated the blocked shots in front of him with a “Woo!”

“He was a kid every time he put on the pads,” alternate captain Marcus Foligno said. “He just loved the game, and that’s what he rubbed off on so many guys with that kind of attitude.”

Fleury was a three-time champion for Pittsburgh, nabbed the Vezina with Vegas and picked up his 500th win while playing for Chicago before the Blackhawks traded him to the Wild on March 21, 2022.

“There was a buzz around our room, for sure,” Foligno remembered. “Everyone couldn’t stop smiling.”

To Fleury, this tenure will represent the finish line.

With the Wild, he eclipsed 1,000 games on his way to playing the second most all time, and he passed Patrick Roy for second in victories. He finished 575-339-97 with a .912 save percentage, 2.60 goals-against average and 76 shutouts alongside the deluge of distinctions.

“It was a great season and a great bunch of guys,” said Fleury, who mentioned he still had autographs to sign with teammates asking for sticks and pictures.

(As for one final prank, Fleury didn’t pull one off but pointed out he hadn’t left the building yet.)

Fleury was honored throughout the season, including when he returned to Pittsburgh and when he faced the Canadiens in Montreal after growing up in Quebec, and he was named a finalist for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

“It’s so easy to just get so down on yourself, and it’s just a black hole of thoughts that don’t help,” said defenseman Brock Faber, who admitted to being star-struck by Fleury at the beginning. “Flower, however, is one of the hardest human beings in the world on himself. He holds himself to such a high standard, but he’ll never not have a smile on his face and treat his teammates with love and respect.”

Although he and his family were building a house in Las Vegas, it was an “easy choice” for Fleury, his wife, Veronique, and their three children, Estelle, Scarlett and James, to remain in Minnesota.

It’s no surprise the Wild are trying to keep him around as their emergency backup goalie, which Fleury is on board with, but he isn’t sure whether he’ll take on another role. Fleury said he’ll see what President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin has in mind; he isn’t interested in coaching or media, but Fleury feels helping the younger players could be fun for him.

“My first thing, though,” he said, “is I want to be home more. I want to be there for my kids’ birthday and their school play and just go walk [on] Halloween with them.”

James started playing hockey this year and has a knack for retreating into his own end and sliding on the ice. Fleury hoped to play long enough for James to remember, and he believes James will.

“Maybe I’ll show him the two-pad stack and poke check,” Fleury said. “We’ll see.”

Fleury anticipates playing more tennis, which he loves, and he wants to go skiing, which he did when he was younger.

“I want to try everything,” he said.

Now he’ll have time for everything — right after Fleury jets off to Europe to make his world championship debut alongside former Penguins teammate Sidney Crosby for Team Canada.

“Just a little longer,” he said, “right?”