95 Facts About Theo Fleury

Theoren Wallace "Theo" Fleury was born on June 29,1968 and is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, author, and motivational speaker.

Theo Fleury was drafted by the Flames in the 8th round, 166th overall, at the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, and played over 1,000 games in the NHL between 1989 and 2003.

One of the smallest players of his generation, Theo Fleury played a physical style that often led to altercations.

Once considered unlikely to play in the NHL due to his small size, Theo Fleury scored over 1,000 points in his career, placing him 61st in career NHL scoring and won the Stanley Cup in 1989 with the Flames.

Theo Fleury twice represented Canada at the Winter Olympics, winning a gold medal in 2002.

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Outside of hockey, Theo Fleury overcame his addictions, operated a concrete business in Calgary with his family, and filmed a pilot for a reality television show about it.

Theo Fleury marketed his own brand of clothing, which led him to play two professional baseball games for the Calgary Vipers of the Golden Baseball League.

Theo Fleury was a recipient of the Indspire Award in the sports category in 2013.

Theo Fleury was born on June 29,1968, in Oxbow, Saskatchewan, the first of Wally and Donna Theo Fleury's three sons.

Theo Fleury is of Metis heritage, as his grandmother Mary was Cree.

Theo Fleury was subject to racism for being of the Metis descent throughout his playing career.

Theo Fleury's father was a talented man who could play a variety of instruments, such as the piano and guitar.

Always one of the smallest children in his class and without stable supervision at home, Theo Fleury adopted an aggressive posture and later described himself as a bully.

Theo Fleury turned to hockey as an outlet when he borrowed an old pair of skates and a broken stick to play his first game at the age of five.

Theo Fleury was described by his teachers as a determined youth, who would repeat any activity he failed at until he got it right.

Theo Fleury attended mass from age 6 to 12, serving as an altar boy until the church's priest died of a heart attack, depriving Fleury of one of his early positive influences.

Always lacking money and stable home life, Theo Fleury received support from the hockey community, in particular the Peltz family in Russell, who ensured that he and his brothers were fed and bought them new clothes when required.

Theo Fleury missed nearly a year of contact hockey as a result.

Always one of the smallest players in the game, Theo Fleury learned early that he had to play an unpredictable style of game to survive against players much larger than he was.

Theo Fleury found that the best way to protect himself was to intimidate his opponents by playing a feisty, physical game, which he said led to many retaliatory penalties and several arguments with his coaches.

Theo Fleury recorded 235 minutes in penalties in his final year of junior, nearly 100 more than any of the other top 10 WHL scorers.

Theo Fleury retained this style of play throughout his hockey career, routinely surprising opponents who felt their size was an advantage.

Theo Fleury twice represented Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships.

Theo Fleury first joined the team for the 1987 tournament in Piestany, Czechoslovakia.

Theo Fleury scored the first goal of the game and, as part of his celebration, used his stick to mimic firing a machine gun at the Soviet bench, a move that was criticized by Canadian officials.

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Theo Fleury was named captain, finished second in team scoring with eight points in seven games, and was named a tournament all-star as Canada won the gold medal.

Theo Fleury scored seven points in two regular season games, then 16 more in eight playoff games as the Eagles won the Turner Cup championship.

Theo Fleury added 11 points in the playoffs, helping the Flames to the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

Towards the end of the season, Theo Fleury set a league record by scoring three shorthanded goals in one game against the St Louis Blues.

Theo Fleury shared the NHL Plus-Minus Award with Marty McSorley, whom he tied for the league lead with +48.

Theo Fleury scored only two goals in the 1991 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but after his overtime winner in game six against the Oilers he famously slid the entire length of the ice in jubilation before crashing into the boards as his teammates attempted to catch up to him.

Theo Fleury recorded 17 points in ten games before the NHL's labour dispute was resolved, bringing him back to Calgary.

Theo Fleury agreed to take less money than he could have received on the open market out of loyalty to the franchise that had given him his NHL opportunity.

Theo Fleury missed much of the preseason with a stomach ailment, but joined the team for the season opener.

Theo Fleury was reluctant to assume the captaincy, but did so out of loyalty to the team and because there was nobody else capable of taking on the role.

Theo Fleury relinquished it two seasons later after deciding that it was harming his play and affecting his relationship with his teammates and coach Pierre Page.

Theo Fleury was the Flames' lone representative at the 1997 All-Star Game.

On November 29,1997, Theo Fleury scored his 315th career goal, breaking Nieuwendyk's franchise record.

Theo Fleury participated in his fifth All-Star Game that season, but the Flames again missed the playoffs.

Theo Fleury held the record for 10 years until surpassed by Jarome Iginla in 2009.

Theo Fleury's popularity was such that during a game in 1999, after Fleury was sent off the ice to change a bloody jersey, a fan threw his own souvenir jersey over the boards so that Fleury would not miss a shift.

Theo Fleury put the jersey on before realizing it was autographed and handed it back.

Theo Fleury made his debut for the Avalanche the day after the trade and was met with loud cheers from the Denver crowd.

Theo Fleury had missed only seven games during his 11-year career in Calgary.

Theo Fleury touched off a wave of anger on signing with the Rangers when he claimed he was unappreciated in Calgary, comments he later stated were directed at the Flames' owners and not the team's fans, who he said always supported him.

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Theo Fleury later apologized to his teammates, claiming he was deeply stressed by family problems.

Theo Fleury claimed they were not judging him fairly, and threatened to retire.

Theo Fleury did achieve a personal milestone during the season, however: on October 27,2001, Fleury assisted on a goal by Mike York, scoring the 1,000th point of his NHL career.

Theo Fleury missed the first two months of the season before being reinstated.

In January 2005, Theo Fleury announced that he had joined his cousin Todd Holt and former NHL players Gino Odjick, Sasha Lakovic and Dody Wood in playing for the Horse Lake Thunder of the North Peace Hockey League for the Allan Cup, Canada's national senior amateur championship.

Theo Fleury hoped to serve as a role model for kids on the Horse Lake First Nation.

Theo Fleury played his first game for the Thunder on January 22,2005, scoring a goal and two assists.

Theo Fleury remained embroiled in controversy at the 2005 Allan Cup tournament.

The Thunder were repeatedly accused of paying players despite being an amateur team, and Theo Fleury angrily denied rumours that he was secretly being paid $100,000.

Theo Fleury scored three goals and added four assists and a fight in his first game, against the Edinburgh Capitals.

In late 2008, Theo Fleury joined his brother Ted with the Steinbach North Stars in a second bid to win the Allan Cup.

Unhappy with how his NHL career ended, Theo Fleury hired a personal trainer in February 2009 and began an attempt to return to the NHL.

Theo Fleury said he wanted to prove to himself that he could still play at the NHL level, though his skeptics pointed to his child support payments and the failure of his concrete business, as well as the planned release of his autobiography, and argued Fleury's comeback was financially motivated.

Theo Fleury played four exhibition games, scoring four points, before being released by the Flames.

General Manager Darryl Sutter expressed his pride in Theo Fleury's attempt and commended his effort, but decided he was not one of the top six wingers in camp, which Sutter and Theo Fleury had agreed was a condition of the tryout continuing.

On September 28,2009, Theo Fleury announced his retirement at a news conference at the Saddledome.

Theo Fleury thanked the Flames for allowing him to attempt the comeback, and expressed satisfaction at how his career ended.

Theo Fleury returned the following year despite a knee injury, helping Canada win the silver medal at the 1991 tournament.

Theo Fleury finished fourth in the tournament with four goals, but Canada finished in second place after giving up four goals in the final four minutes of the championship game against the American team.

Theo Fleury scored a goal for Canada, who lost their semi-final match-up against the Czech Republic in a shootout and failed to medal.

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Four years later, Theo Fleury was invited by General Manager Wayne Gretzky to participate in Canada's selection camp for the 2002 Olympics.

Theo Fleury earned a spot on the team and recorded two assists in six games as the Canadian hockey team won its first Olympic gold medal in 50 years.

Theo Fleury considers the championship to be the pinnacle of his career.

Theo Fleury continued to battle drug and alcohol addictions, revealing in a November 2004 interview that he had not overcome the problems that ended his NHL career a year and a half earlier.

Theo Fleury met Jennifer when he was playing for Horse Lake in 2005.

Theo Fleury feared that Jennifer's frustration with his drug use would cost him the relationship, and, with her help, quit drugs and drinking on September 18,2005.

Theo Fleury has a son and daughter, Beaux and Tatym, with his first wife, Veronica, and a son, Josh, born in 1987 to his high school girlfriend, Shannon.

In 1994, Theo Fleury joined a group that involved his former junior coach, Graham James, fellow NHL player Joe Sakic, and professional wrestler Bret Hart as a minority owner of the expansion Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League.

Theo Fleury filmed a pilot episode in 2007 for a reality TV series based on his concrete business called Theoren Fleury: Rock Solid: "We want to show people that if you have a dream, anything is possible with a little ambition, " Fleury said of the show.

The conversation led to talk of Theo Fleury playing a game for the Vipers as a publicity stunt.

Theo Fleury made his professional baseball debut on August 9,2008, at the age of 40, hitting a single in a pinch-hit appearance against the Yuma Scorpions.

Theo Fleury started the second game at left field and struck out twice before he was replaced.

Theo Fleury launched a hockey school in the mid-1990s that ran for seven years in Calgary and another eight in Russell, and donated the proceeds to minor hockey associations.

Theo Fleury participates in Flames Alumni events and volunteers with the Calgary Dream Centre, which helps people overcome addiction.

Theo Fleury was a participant on the second season of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation figure skating reality show Battle of the Blades, aired in the fall of 2010, and was donating his winnings to The Men's Project, a charity that provides support for men abused in childhood.

Politically, Theo Fleury identifies as a conservative, although on occasion has previously voted for the Liberal Party federally.

Theo Fleury is a member of the United Conservative Party and endorsed Brian Jean for party leadership in 2017.

In 2018, Theo Fleury was a guest speaker at a fundraising event for the Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island.

Theo Fleury has expressed dissatisfaction over Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and several conservative politicians due to opposition over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In January 2022, Theo Fleury appeared on Fox News host Laura Ingraham's program where he criticized Canada under Trudeau's leadership and offered a conspiracy-laden critique of the prime minister, suggesting Trudeau was operating under the sway of unnamed foreign entities.

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Theo Fleury voiced support for the impending “trucker” protest on Parliament Hill, which he described as a “revolution.

Theo Fleury blamed the abuse for turning him into a "raging, alcoholic lunatic", and claimed to have placed a loaded gun in his mouth and contemplated suicide in 2004.

Theo Fleury revealed that he had spent most of his income on alcohol, drugs, gambling and women.

Theo Fleury shared that he failed 13 consecutive drug tests while playing for the Rangers, but that the league did not want to suspend him because he was a top scorer.

Theo Fleury met with Winnipeg police in January 2010, who began an investigation when he formally filed a complaint.

Theo Fleury praised the response by Canadians and stated his desire to the outrage to press for changes to the legal system.

Theo Fleury released his first single titled "My Life's Been a Country Song" and it reached over 20,000 plays on SoundCloud within the first 24 hours of being released.

Theo Fleury collaborated with long-time friends Phil Deschambault and Paddy McCallion and together they created over 30 songs worth of material that would be later cut to ten songs for the album.

In 2017, Theo Fleury wrote a song, "Longshot", for the video game Madden NFL 18 story mode of the same name.

Theo Fleury has received the honorary Siksika Nation Chief and an honorary doctorate in science from the University of Guelph-Humber for outstanding contributions to the mental health of Canadians.