All smiles in Pittsburgh as Flower Power makes his long awaited return

After signing his Professional Tryout Agreement, which will allow legendary goaltender Marc André Fleury to retire and finish his lengthy and successful career where it all started here in Pittsburgh, it was back to happy and nostalgic times in the 412.

Penguins fans have been waiting for these specific 48 hours of the entire preseason and today it kicked off with Fleury's last practice as a member of the Penguins and it was everything a fan could ask for.

Fleury, 40, spent 13 seasons with the Penguins dating back being drafted in 2003, he played 692 games with the Penguins, notching a .902 save percentage and 2.90 GAA. His record in his tenure with the Penguins was 375-216-68 in the regular season and 62-51-0 in the 11 playoff seasons with the team and helped lead the to three Stanley Cups, in 2009, and helped contribute alongside Matt Murray to help win back to back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. Throughout his playoff games with the Penguins, he had a .908 save percentage and a 2.65 GAA.

The Penguins practice facility in Cranberry was completely full as the City of Pittsburgh wanted to lay eyes on number 29 one final time at practice. Lines were long outside the facility and the excitement was off the charts. The Flower continued his traditions of pranks and the famous smile he always had on around the team.

Nowadays every team had the core four and the real core four for the Penguins has always been Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Fleury. Today, they all reunited and it was something to behold as the day went on. The core four has gone through a lot with the ups and downs and the amount of playoff series they have been through.

The player personnel on the ice sheet was very small but had some surprises and not so much surprises. The practice consisted of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, but in surprise Anthony Mantha, Justin Brazeau and top 2025 draft pick Ben Kindel.

Fleury was welcomed to loud cheers from the Penguins faithful and a standing ovation, so loud it put a smile on the face of the captain which was the common theme all day.

Fleury made a classic two pad stack on a five on zero on the captain which in the eyes of Penguins fans must have brought back memories upon memories. That was a feature of today which was five on zero work to allow flower to shine in front of Penguins fans one final time in Cranberry.

Flower continued to show his funny humour and pranks by letting goaltenders Filip Larsson and Sergei Murashov in on the advice they should take from the legendary goalie who could easily still start in the National Hockey League.

"“They better try hard. I’m coming to take your spot.”"

Fleury on the advice he offered.

The Penguins captain spoke so highly after practice on the legacy and the ethic he had each and every day as a member of the Penguins organization.

""He always showed up and worked hard, always had a smile on his face, and that hasn't changed from his first day to now. Above and beyond what he's accomplished, that's the most impressive part.""

Sidney Crosby on Fleury and his legacy.

Fleury will get to cap off his Penguins career and tenure for one last period in the NHL on Saturday, Sept. 27, at 7:00 p.m. (EST) against the Columbus Blue Jackets which will feature all his past teammates (still on the team), and most likely the projected regular season roster. The game will be broadcasted on SportsNet Pittsburgh, ESPN+, Sportsnet (Canada) and the NHL Network.