Fleury Sends Message To His Youngest Fan: "I Don't Want To Make Everyone Sad, Just Keep Cheering"
APOLLO (KDKA) -- Five-year-old Bella Ament was inconsolable when her favorite player, Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, was replaced by Matt Murray, starting in Game 4 last Friday night in Ottawa.
After her mom posted a video of Bella's meltdown online, Fleury now has a message for his young fan.
Bella is from Apollo, Armstrong County.
She was watching the game Friday with her mom and stepdad when: "Out of nowhere, she just started crying," said her mom, Tiffany Orr. "As soon as I asked her why, I was like hold on, I've got to get this on video!"
So she recorded her daughter's dismay, asking her in the video: "Tell me why you're crying?"
Through all the tears, the answer from Bella was: "'Cause Fleury's not in there."
"She's a 5-year-old. They have meltdowns almost on a normal basis, but I knew this was going to be something special," said Bella's stepdad, Billy Orr.
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When asked about the video of Bella, Fleury responded: "I thought that was sweet, but you know, I don't want to make everyone sad, though. The Penguins are still going. Just got to keep cheering."
When pressed about what he would tell Bella, he said: "Keep cheering for the Penguins. We're in good shape."
Bella says she'll do that.
When asked why she loves Fleury so much, she agreed that he's a good player, but she also said it's because her grandma has his jersey.