It doesn't really matter what Marc-Andre Fleury does in the Vegas Golden Knights' first-ever Stanley Cup playoffs series against the Los Angeles Kings, because Vegas already loves the goalie.
That's especially true if the Bellagio Resort & Casino speaks for Las Vegas, because it was at the Bellagio, in the hotel's Patisserie bakery, where pastry chefs spent five weeks crafting none other than a life-size chocolate statue of the Golden Knights net-minder.
After all, if a 90-pound hunk of sugar sculpted into your likeness isn't enough to covey unconditional postseason support, then what is?
As Jana Karel reported for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the real-life McFleury started taking shape soon after Vegas clinched a postseason berth in March, becoming the first team since 1979-80 to earn a playoff spot in its inaugural season. More than a month later, with the help of crispy rice, fondant icing and a whole lot of chocolate, chefs Yamilet Hillers and Jerome Jacob finished the edible Fleury, complete with a Vegas uniform and helmet.
On display at the Bellagio, the statue has since been endorsed by both Fleury (the non-chocolate one) and Golden Knights teammate Jonathan Marchessault, who told Karel that he wouldn't be able to score on the bakery's version of the goalie.
