But having his name engraved on the Stanley Cup isn’t the only way Fleury made an impact on the game.

Fleury endured hardship in many aspects of life and has since become a voice for others who have experienced abuse or struggled with addiction. His memoir, Playing With Fire, was a No. 1 bestseller in Canada — and is now being adapted into a feature film titled Fleury, a biopic that has been partially filmed at Munn Ice Arena on the campus of MSU.

The success of the film starts behind the scenes. Co-writer, producer and director Michael Young worked closely with director of photography and executive producer Brian T. Murray — a Michigan State graduate — and executive producer Jim Curran to bring Fleury’s story to life.

Murray graduated from MSU in 2005 with a degree in digital media and technology and a minor in English. He previously worked for NFL Films and collaborated with Young as a cinematographer on Madden: Longshot and other projects.

“(Murray) is an MSU alumni, he’s won Emmy’s, he was at NFL Films, EA Sports and he moved here a couple years ago to start a film studio. They have partnerships with MSU Athletics. So that’s part one — is our close relationship and his passion to tell a story.” Young said about Murray. 

As a Spartan alumni, Murray helped the filmmaking team bring the magic to Munn Ice Arena. The crew transformed the boards with era-appropriate advertisements, turning the rink in East Lansing into the 1991 home of the Edmonton Oilers to recreate iconic NHL moments.

“The relationship with the school has been incredible. The coaches and the people who run the facilities just open their doors to us, let us in there for basically three days and we transformed the stadium to Edmonton in 1991 and Calgary in 2009, changing out the green tape at the bottom of the boards to yellow and changing all the modern ads to stuff that was in Calgary back in the day,” Young said. “It just became bigger than we ever dreamed of.”

The film not only gave exposure to Munn Ice Arena — it gave MSU hockey players a chance to shine on screen. In 1991, Fleury scored a game-winning overtime goal against the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. His celebration — dropping to his knees and sliding across the ice — is one of the most iconic in NHL history. Ten players from the MSU roster stepped into the roles of former NHL stars like Mark Messier and Doug Gilmour to help bring the moment to life.

“It goes to show you again, Michigan State, you could have filmed it anywhere. To have the facilities we have, it was cool for our guys, I just peeked my head in and Ike (Isaac Howard) told me that no one backstage, I wasn’t allowed back in the room,” MSU hockey head coach Adam Nightingale said. 

Behind the student-athletes on the ice, the crowd was filled with extras — most of them MSU students. Wearing red to match the opposing team’s colors, students cheered loudly to help recreate the high-energy scene. Fans, including the Munnsters — the student section in the northeast corner of Munn Ice Arena — had the chance to sign up as background extras for Fleury’s iconic game-winner. For sophomore public relations major Madison Vollmer, it was a unique experience.

“Who knows if this would have happened a few years ago,” Vollmer said. “To think that a famous hockey movie is being filmed at Munn and with our players in it, and having the students kind of be in it, cheering, doing whatever they need to do, it’s a cool opportunity you don’t get very often.”

The project provided a unique and fun experience for both students and student-athletes, allowing them to step into the spotlight. The moment fostered a sense of involvement on campus and helped grow hockey culture in East Lansing. With a revitalized program and athletes who’ve fully embraced Spartan identity, the spotlight on MSU hockey — and the university itself — continues to grow.

“I think it speaks volumes to just seeing how much, even student athletes are still college students, but they still want to be a part of the community,” Vollmer said. “They want to see how our students interact, and just seeing how obviously we’ve had a couple players here, Isaac (Howard) winning the Hobey, coming back, Trey (Augustine) coming back, it’s just so cool how see how much they care about the program itself and they want to see the difference made.”

As hockey continues to grow at both the professional and collegiate levels, the sport keeps building powerful connections between fans and players. Opportunities like this are rare — but the memories they create will last a lifetime.