Crosby, Fleury Exchange Epic Pranks During Weekend In Raleigh For What May Be The Final Time

The Pittsburgh Penguins were in Raleigh, NC, this past weekend ahead of their 4-3 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. The night before – on Saturday – the Minnesota Wild visited the Hurricanes as well.

It just so happened that the Penguins and Wild ended up at the same hotel at the same time for a little while – which gave two future Hall-of-Famers some downtime to pull a final epic prank on one another.

Penguins forward Sidney Crosby and Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury go way back, as the two spent the first 12 years of Crosby’s NHL career playing together in Pittsburgh and became good friends as a result.

Fleury’s famous pranks are well-known across the league, but perhaps no one is more familiar with his shenanigans than Crosby. Earlier this season, before Fleury played what is presumed to be his final game in Pittsburgh on Oct. 29 – he is likely to retire at the end of the 2024-25 season – I asked Crosby if he, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang had any plans to try to get Fleury back one last time.

“No, I don’t think so,” Crosby said at the time. “I’d be afraid of the retaliation.”

Evidently, the Penguins’ captain had a change of heart somewhere down the line, as he took advantage of a small window of opportunity on Saturday.

While Fleury and the Wild were at the rink for their morning skate, Crosby and a few minions – also former teammates of Fleury’s, which leaves Malkin, Letang, and Bryan Rust as potential suspects – were able to get their hands on Fleury’s room key. They “rearranged” the furniture in Fleury’s room for him to find it.

In retaliation, Fleury located Crosby’s equipment bag at the rink and rubbed Vaseline on his visor, laced his skates through backwards, and put beef sticks in his jock strap.

Fleury told The Athletic’s Michael Russo: “I just had a little fun. Wait! I’ve said too much. It wasn’t me. I wasn’t there.”

Crosby has not yet been reached for comment on Fleury’s retaliation.

The Penguins and Wild will face off one more time this season on Mar. 9 in Minnesota, which is just two days after the NHL trade deadline on Mar. 7. It remains to be seen whether or not Crosby and Fleury will have one final chance to prank each other that weekend.

Regardless, the Fleury-Crosby prank saga is something that will live on in the hockey history books for years to come – including this gem from the 2022 NHL Media Tour: