Marc-Andre Fleury 'embarrassed' by his performance this season.

Given that veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is such a beloved figure among fans and players alike in the National Hockey League, it can be easy to forget that beneath that loveable exterior there resides a hyper-competitive individual. You simply have to be to reach the upper echelons of the NHL, as Fleury has throughout his career, and after a bad start to the season Fleury is showing signs of that competitive drive taking a mental toll on him early in the season.

Fleury has unquestionably had a terrible start to the season, perhaps one of the worst starts of his NHL career. Although he has made 2 appearances for the Wild already this season, Fleury has stood between the pipes for a total of just 79 minutes. That's due in large part to his abysmal 8.37 goals against average and an equally ugly .776 save percentage over that stretch of play.

It's simply not what one would expect of an NHL level goaltender, especially not one with Fleury's pedigree, and it certainly isn't what Fleury has come to expect of himself. Recently, Fleury admitted that he felt embarrassed when running into fans following the game due to his poor performance, although much to the credit of the fans in Minnesota it sounds like none of them have been giving him a hard time about his poor start.

“It doesn’t feel great coming to meet the fans and still being pissed off and mad, but everyone was very welcoming,” Fleury said as per The Athletic. “A few people came up and said, ‘Oh, no worries, no worries. It’s early in the season.’ They understand.

“But even personally, it’s been such a rough start. When you meet the fans, you feel embarrassed about it.”

The situation is amplified by the fact that many feel Fleury contributed in large part to pushing goaltender Cam Talbot out of town after Talbot found some success for the Wild late last season, although that ship has long since sailed.

It seems almost impossible that this trend will continue for Fleury, but it sounds like it may already be taking a bit of a toll on the usually jovial netminder.