Cale Fleury has the potential to become a much-loved player in the Montreal Canadiens organization after the amount of growth he’s gone through this year.
The 2017-18 season didn’t end as positively for Cale Fleury. He started with the Kootenay Ice serving as team captain before getting traded to Regina. It was a positive move throughout the entire organization as no matter what happened; the Montreal Canadiens 2017 third-round pick would be in the Memorial Cup.
The Pats were one of the stronger teams in the WHL earing a top three spot in the East Division. Fleury continued his scoring ways from the point setting up teammates and sending in goals of his own. He and Sam Steel looked to be a settling force as the season went on.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t get as far as they would’ve liked in the playoffs. Their series against the Swift Current Broncos went to seven games, and they came out on top. Fleury and the Pats had to sit back and wait, watching the team who eliminated them go on to claim the top prize in the WHL.
The Memorial Cup was where they could get their redemption. They defeated Will Bitten and the Hamilton Bulldogs and the Broncos to earn a spot in the semi-finals. After double dipping on Hamilton, the Pats were in a position to become the fifth team in franchise history to raise the Memorial Cup.
Something stood out more for Fleury in those four games, and that was his physical edge. The defenceman never shied away from laying the body, but fans saw more of it as the tournament went on. Fleury never layed up, even in the final minutes of their championship match against the Titan.
Cale Fleury with a monster hit at the end of the Memorial Cup final. pic.twitter.com/DuBcxTKh3y
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) May 28, 2018
This ‘don’t stop until you hear the whistle’ style is going to make him a fan favourite within the Montreal Canadiens organization one day. Fans gravitate to players like Brendan Gallagher, Paul Byron and Andrew Shaw who don’t know the meaning of quit.
Fleury has that factor and at the same time has shown improvements in both factions of his game. It’ll be interesting to see what the future has in store for the young defencemen, and most importantly when those big hits will be seen at the Bell Centre.
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