Fleury pulls off one last prank on Sidney Crosby.

Former Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury pulls off one last prank on Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.

I think after this latest bit of information we can safely say that beloved Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury will officially retire as the National Hockey League’s uncrowned prank king when he finally hangs up his skates for good at the end of the season.

It would seem that Fleury pulled off one last prank against his former team over the weekend when the Pittsburgh Penguins and Wild ended up in the same hotel in Raleigh, North Carolina on Saturday morning. Even more important than the fact that it came at the expense of the Penguins however was which Penguin was targeted, Fleury’s good friend Sidney Crosby.

“I just had a little fun,” said Fleury as per The Athletic before quickly correcting himself.. “Wait! I’ve said too much. It wasn’t me. I wasn’t there.”

Now to be fair to Fleury here it sounds like Crosby and the Penguins brought this on themselves when they obtained Fleury’s hotel room key and snuck in while Fleury was hitting the ice, rearranging some of the things in Fleury’s hotel room in a manner that clearly got the veteran prankster’s attention. Unfortunately for Crosby and the Penguins however, Fleury was more than ready to get a measure of revenge.

Word has it that when Crosby showed up to play the Hurricanes on Sunday night, he would discover that his equipment had been tampered with by his old friend. Crosby’s visor was reportedly covered with vaseline, his jock strap had been filled with beef sticks and, perhaps my personal favorite, discovered that his skate laces were upside down. It would seem that Fleury hunted down Crosby’s equipment bag after discovering his hotel room had been tampered with, knowing full well that his old friend had been responsible for the prank.

It may very well be the final time that Fleury will get the chance to prank his longtime friend while both are still active players in the NHL but something tells me that, while he may be retiring from the NHL, Fleury won’t be announcing a retirement from pranking anytime soon… if ever.