Monday, January 25, the Pittsburgh Penguins met the New York Rangers at Madison Square Gardens. My boyfriend Marc-Andre Fleury, who sat out several games with a broken finger, was back in net for the first time since the injury. I was all set to marvel at the sexy athleticism on the Penguins’ side when I realized that opposite Fleury, all bedecked in catching gloves and giant leg pads stood… Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

Well, I’ll get to Lundvqist later. But because today is my twenty-fourth birthday, I thought I would share with you the hotness that is Marc-Andre Fleury!

Beware: extremely image-heavy below the cut.

Fleury is a 25-year-old French Canadian from a small town near Montreal. The beginning of his professional career in hockey was starting and stopping. I would describe his play as exceptionally talented but inconsistent: when he’s good, he’s unquestionably in the top few of goalies in the league, but his quality of play isn’t level; it goes through highs and lows, and he can have pretty bad games, but very quickly rebound and demonstrate exactly why he is so valuable to have around.

Please note!

He normally does not wear the ugly moustache on his upper lip that show in a couple photos; it is a NHL tradition to let your facial hair grow unabated during the playoffs in hope of a full beard by the time you win the championship — he is so much hotter with his usual understated soul-patch, which you will see more of below.

(In general, the pictures get better the closer to the end ;))

For a long time Fleury wore bright yellow pads/gear, but eventually switched to white because the yellow was so easy to see against the background of white ice and thus easier to get around — white blends in enough to make it more difficult for offensemen to get past.

Fleury’s teammates most often describe him as immature, happy-go-lucky, care-free — he never seems to take anything too seriously, is always ready to have some fun, and is a general goofball.

A couple magazine covers from his younger days:

In mask:

He appears cross-eyed when you see him looking out of his goalie mask from a certain angle. I find this endearing.

In action:

The moment we won the Stanley Cup…

Winter Classic (Ty Conklin was the man in net that day, but there is always another goalie dressed for the game):

Victory parade (which we went to, which sucked but at least I can say we went!!)

Interviews and press conferences:

(Fleury can never talk without grinning. It’s adorable.)

GLASSES OMG:

Named to Team Canada:

Sidney Crosby walking with Fleury. The shirt Sid is wearing was a team t-shirt the 2007-2008 season (iirc) which had the word “SACRIFICE” written on it in the five different languages spoken by various members of the team. (This picture shows just how damn lanky Fleury is. You may have noticed I have a thing for skinny guys.)

In the locker room:

No comment!

I told you he was a goofball:

(I found this one with the filename “poor sleeves.”)

No comment again:

*cough*

Puppy!

Convinced yet?

How about a video of Fleury rocking out to Rock Band with a wild white wig and pink sunglasses?

I rest my case.