During a drive up from Calgary, Alberta, to the Be Brave Ranch opening in Edmonton, ESPN.com had the chance to ask former all-star winger Theo Fleury about the current state of the National Hockey League, commissioner Gary Bettman and a whole host of issues the league faces. Here's what he had to say:
KATIE STRANG: What do you think of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and the current state of the league?
THEO FLEURY: Let me tell you a story that not many people know. When I was going through all those problems in New York, he called me into his office one day. And he basically said, 'Are you OK? Are you OK?' He basically said, I don't really care about you as a hockey player, but I really am asking you, 'Do you need help or is there anything we can do to help?' I wasn't at a point in my life where I could even accept any help at all. I was just flat-out surviving, day-to-day surviving. I'll never forget that as long as I live. When people talk badly about him, I always go back to that time. Then when I made my comeback [in 2009], I had to go see him to get reinstated. It was so great to see him. He was happy and excited for me. I thought it was pretty cool. Nobody gets to see that side of Gary Bettman.
STRANG: You don't hear many players leap to his defense.
FLEURY: I will defend him to the day I die because of that.
STRANG: What do you think of the job he has done for the league?
FLEURY: When you're in a position of leading one of the four major sports franchises, it's the hardest job. We're all humans. We're all going to make mistakes. We're all going to make decisions that are unpopular, right? And, the league has never been in a better position financially. Did he have something to do with that? Yeah, absolutely. Can he do some things differently? Absolutely, but change, especially in an old-boys school, doesn't happen overnight. It takes time. It takes injection from new thinkers.
STRANG: What sort of changes would you like to see?
FLEURY: I would like to see more offense. F---, I played in the greatest era of absolute pure talent, most talented hockey players ever, I believe. Just pure talent. Just pure, pure talent. The Malcolm Gladwell philosophy [from the book "Outliers"] -- the 10,000-hour guys. And we didn't play because we wanted to be rich. We played because we f---ing loved to compete, we loved to score goals and make plays, you know.
STRANG: Why do you think that has changed?
FLEURY: Because coaches make just as much money as the players. Coaches don't design offenses, they design defense. And if I'm going to pay $250 to go watch a game, I don't want to watch a 1-0 game. I'll watch a 1-0 game if there's 80 shots on goal, right? But I won't watch a game that's 17-15 shots and they're banging the puck off the f---ing boards all night long. I want to see talent. I want to see guys take risks.
STRANG: Which players do you enjoy watching now?
FLEURY: [Sidney] Crosby, [Alex] Ovechkin, [Evgeni] Malkin, [Jonathan] Toews, {Patrick] Kane, the Sedin twins [Daniel and Henrik] -- I call 'em "One Brain" -- Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn ... Marty St. Louis, Steven Stamkos.
STRANG: How do you feel about the current dialogue about fighting and its place in the game?
FLEURY: We're training better, eating better, taking better care of ourselves, so obviously we're creating bigger, stronger, faster athletes, so the tough guys are absolutely doing the same. Their pounds per square inch per punch is 10 times more dangerous now than it ever was, right? And what we know about the brain now is that you cannot take blows like that [repeatedly].
STRANG: Would you want to see fighting completely eradicated from the game?
FLEURY: There's a place in the game for that, always. Because if guys didn't stand up for me, I wouldn't have had a career in the NHL. If the Tim Hunters, Sandy McCarthys, Mike Pelusos, Paul Kruses, Stu Grimsons, those guys made me f---ing play like I was f---ing 10 feet tall. But I would do the same for them, too.
STRANG: How progressive do you see the NHL?
FLEURY: I think [it's] very progressive. Because they're developing committees to look at the game -- how do we make it better? That never happened before. I think the players and owners now, because they profit share, they share in the knowledge as well, and that's good.
STRANG: From a social standpoint, how progressive do you consider the league? For example, do you think the league would support an openly gay player?
FLEURY: Of course, absolutely. Who gives? You know what I mean? If he's helping us win, I don't care what he does away from the rink.
STRANG: Has that changed from when you played?
FLEURY: I don't understand why this is an issue in society, an issue as to [a person's] orientation of whatever because it's none of your business.
STRANG: How much of the hockey tradition do you see as part of the league today?
FLEURY: If you forget where you came from, you're done. The NHL can't forget that piece, ever. Because I know who Howie Morenz is and that was almost 100 years ago, I know who Gump Worsley is. And there's kids who play the game now who don't know who I am, they don't know who Wayne Gretzky is.
STRANG: Do you see the current conditions of competitive hockey expenses pricing certain kids out?
FLEURY: The next Wayne Gretzky is out there, but he can't afford to play hockey. I think it's absolutely hilarious that, if you have to get your kid out of bed to go to practice, he's not going to play in the NHL. If you have to carry your kid's bag to practice, he's not going to make it to the NHL. When I say that to parents, their heads drop.
STRANG: What about growing the game? Where would you like to see the NHL expand?
FLEURY: Everywhere. I think we need to go across the sea. Make it the WHL: The World Hockey League.
STRANG: Is that in part because of your experience playing abroad, in Ireland? How was that?
FLEURY: Phenomenal. I've learned more from traveling than [I] ever did sitting in a classroom. There's a lot to be said about that because I'm a horrible student but I'm f---ing brilliant from my experiences in the real world.