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halliewriteshockey · 2 years

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Hi I was wondering if you have any goalies you'd recommend who are super fun/interesting to watch? I've been looking at some, but you're a Goalie Person and I've only just gotten into hockey so I thought I'd ask an expert

Oh my GOD you have come to the right place, I'm cackling maniacally right now. Buckle up, my love, this may get long (it'll be worth it, I promise)

First up, obviously, is He Who Reigns Supreme in My Heart, Marc-Andre Fleury, aka Flower, aka You Little Shit. This man is the ultimate troll. He's a prankster known for his trickery and hijinks, but the best part is he's never mean-spirited about them. All his pranks are harmless and silly, like taping former teammates' sleeves inside out or moving all the furniture out of a teammate's hotel room so he comes back to a completely empty space, or zipping himself up inside an equipment bag and popping out when his teammate opened it.

He's also pretty damn good at the whole hockey thing and he's never lost his joy at playing the game, which makes him SO much fun to watch.

He's also pretty much universally beloved. Even Flyers fans rarely have anything negative to say about him, despite him being a Penguin for the bulk of his career. Here are some of my favorite examples of him being a menace:

The time he pretended not to know how to skate and literally flipped over a wall because of his commitment to the bit

A video I took myself, the one time I was able to see him play (still one of my best memories), and he tried to assassinate an Avs player in cold blood (his stick to Donskoi's skate - he's just trying to overbalance him so he's not in position for the upcoming to play)

He's the sweetest guy in the world but he will not put up with intruders on his crease

He kisses his goalposts and thanks them in both French and English when they make a save for him

The ice-cream truck story (also a great example of why his wife is perfect for him)

Shooting a puck at himself so he could stop it during warmups

Okay we're gonna be here all night if I don't stop myself now, so I'll end my treatise on why you should accept Flower into your heart with one final offering. For backstory, mans really wants two things in his NHL career. To get in a fight, and to score a goal. The problem with the fighting is his team adores him so much that they absolutely won't allow any harm to come to him, so the second he tries something, they will dogpile him to keep him safe.

Watch what he does with Matthew Tkachuk's helmet (at 19 seconds) and his team's reaction to Chucky's aggression Gotta be one of my very favorite videos of him.

Okay, the rest under the cut

Next up, Elvis Merzlikins. Not only is he a ray of sunshine and the sweetest boy in Columbus (now that Panarin is gone) but he's also pretty as hell

He's incredibly athletic

Tattoos 👀

He's SO classy

His reaction to his wife going into labor (he's from Latvia)

When Nick Foligno was on the team, this was how he and Elvis celebrated wins:

This happened after Nick left and I cried

So fans stepped up to hug him

Another of his and Nick's hugs

When I say he's classy I mean he's really a great guy

He has an adorable dog named Koby

He's funny

And uhhh flexible *sweats*

Moving on before I combust—next we have Thatcher Demko! Goalie for the Canucks, he recently earned the starter position but he captured my heart a long time ago. My tag for him is 'welcome to donut' and you'll see why

He loves his teammates

He's never heard of toxic masculinity, thanks

He gives great hugs

He almost never gets angry, so it's always startling when he does

Welcome to donut

He's super silly

SO silly

And he can't dance (but that doesn't stop him)

He's legendary for the college story

And here's the video of it

This picture

And finally, the video that made me fall in love with him

Okay, LAST ONE. Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers is not only one of the best goalies in the world (he just won the Vezina this year) but he's also delightful. He's very quiet, shy and introverted, but when he's comfortable with people, he's an absolute troll and it's SO funny

He and Panarin are really good friends

Panarin's very much a jokester and Igor's loosened up from being around him

This was me when I first saw him play

His teammates love him a lot

He's got no time for Brad Marchand

He wears headbands!! Under his helmet!! They were "cheap deal from Amazon" according to him

He cut his hair himself

He doesn't speak much English but he understands a lot more than he can speak, and once teased his translator for forgetting what he was saying

And he looks like this out of his gear

There you go, my top fave goalies chosen for their personalities. They're all worth following, although sometimes their teams... not so much

#Marc Andre Fleury #Thatcher Demko #Elvis Merzlikins #Igor Shesterkin #hockey #goalies #sorry this took so long but it's been a month of a week #Igor also trolled the Penguins once after a win and it was very funny #(he waved goodbye as they left the ice)#and the funniest part was how insane it made Pens fans #like swearing instant hatred for life on the basis of a wave #hockey fans are something else man #anyway I hope you enjoy my goalie primer and also that I don't break Tumblr by posting this

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