Montreal Canadiens Fans Show Their Incredible Class With Ovation For Marc-Andre Fleury

The Montreal Canadiens fans are not often celebrating anything at the end of a shutout loss on home ice.

But that was not the case on Thursday night. As the final seconds were ticking down on a 2-0 win for the Chicago Blackhawks inside the Bell Centre, the fans were about as loud as we have heard them all season.

Of course, the team they would usually cheer for hasn’t given them all that much to be excited about this season.

However, it was an opponent and a player who has never played for the Canadiens that was getting an ovation on Thursday night. It would be one thing if the player once played for the Canadiens like Phillip Danault returning and getting a nice round of applause for all he achieved during his time with the Canadiens organization.

But no. The fans were cheering for Marc-Andre Fleury who has played for three teams in his lengthy NHL career but never for the Canadiens. The fans in Montreal simply root for local players, no matter what team they play for and they know the game well so they were not surprised to learn it was Fleury’s 500th career NHL win.

So, as the time ticked down on what would be a Blackhawks victory, the fans inside the Bell Centre began chanting the name of the opposing goaltender and when the buzzer sounded they met Fleury with a resounding cheer.

It really shouldn’t have surprised anyone that the fans were very respectful and acknowledged Fleury’s accomplishment. He became just the third goaltender, and third French Canadian goaltender to win 500 games, after Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy also achieved the same feat years ago.

This is a crowd that would often cheer for a Vincent Lecavalier goal or a great play by Martin St. Louis over the years. While they love their Montreal Canadiens, they admire all players from the province of Quebec and make sure they feel welcomed by the fans of their home province when they arrive as a visitor.

Fleury is from nearby Sorel, Quebec so many fans in attendance were probably family members or friends of his from decades ago when he was a kid playing minor hockey in the area.

It has been a long season for the Montreal Canadiens on the ice already. But it was heartwarming to see the fans in the stands still appreciate the great things being done by players from Quebec, whether that player wears a Canadiens jersey or not.