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The Lighter Side Of Marc-Andre Fleury

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Marc-Andre Fleury and his wife, Vero, will soon welcome their first child into the world and little baby Estelle will quickly find out what his Penguins teammates have known for years - Fleury likes to have fun.

It's on display at the end of many Penguins practices when the team holds a shootout. That's when Fleury goes from goalie to showman.

They say goalies are a different breed, but Fleury is different from most goalies.

"He is different," Pascal Dupuis said.

"Yeah, he's a different bird," Tyler Kennedy said.

From jumping jacks to the use of props, Fleury does just about anything he can to distract his opponents from scoring.

"When you taunt them," Fleury says with a laugh, "and they don't score, that's the best."

"It's actually harder to score when he does that," Dupuis told KDKA-TV's Jory Rand. "Because you don't know where he's [going to] land or what he's gonna do. So, you wind up trying to shoot for the net that's empty but he dives sideways or does a split or a jumping jack and you end up still hitting him."

Tyler Kennedy has been affected by Fleury's antics.

"He definitely screws with your head a bit," Kennedy said.

"Half the time when he's doing it, you could shoot the puck and beat him and he wouldn't be able to recover. But, most times you want to see what he's actually able to complete. Or the move he's trying to do. And by that time you're so close you can't score anyways," Matt Cooke said.

So that begs the question, would Fleury ever take those moves out of practice and into a game?

"I've given it some thought," Fleury said while laughing. "I can't lie. But, I don't think I'm [going to] do it. I would feel awful if they scored, or if they came back or something. I'd hate myself for losing. So no."

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