*Penguins draft Marc-Andre Fleury in 2003. Fans love Fleury.
*Fleury wins a Stanley Cup in 2009. Fans love Fleury even more.
*Fleury doesn’t immediately win more Cups. He plays bad against Philadelphia in 2012 playoffs. Fans hate Fleury. Blame him for everything.
*Fleury gets hurt in 2016. Matt Murray wins Cup.
*Fleury = underdog. Fans love him again.
*Murray gets hurt in 2017. Fleury eliminates Washington in playoffs. Murray returns from injury, wins Cup. Fans love Fleury, don’t yet hate Murray.
*Fleury leaves. Fans blame Murray because Fleury left. Fans hate Murray because he’s not Fleury.
*Fans like Tristan Jarry because he’s not Murray.
*Murray’s flaws constantly and incorrectly over-analyzed, just like Fleury’s were when fans didn’t like him.
*Fans think Fleury is a great guy. But he was a great guy when the fans hated him, and 99.9 percent of the fans never met Fleury anyway.
*When things go wrong, fans blame the goalie no matter who it is.
*That brings us to this past Sunday, when ungrateful fans embarrassed themselves by showering Murray with mock applause after making routine saves.
That timeline is exact. If it sounds stupid, it’s because it is. You spoiled pissants should have been around for Gordie Laxton.
Courtesy of Getty Images.