Marc Andre Fleury leaves Wild star “star-struck.”

If you've watched the National Hockey League for any length of time there's a pretty good chance that the name Marc Andre Fleury has become one that you're quite accustomed to hearing. Fleury has been a star goaltender in the NHL for a long time now and although that means he is getting on in his years it also means that there are now players coming into the league that grew up idolizing him as well.

This week Fleury was traded at the NHL's trade deadline and became the newest member of the Minnesota Wild, and as it turns out he has at least one really big fan among his latest group of teammates. Recently Minnesota Wild star forward Kevin Fiala spoke to the media about his newest teammate and it was then that Fiala revealed he was a big time Marc Andre Fleury fan growing up. So much so in fact that Fiala even considered becoming a goaltender himself at one point due to his love and appreciation of Fleury's play with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"He’s my favorite goalie all time,"  said Kevin Fiala as per Wild insider Mike Russo. "I wanted to be a goaltender because of him when I was young watching Pittsburgh Penguins all the time. (Sidney) Crosby, Fleury, just two of my favorites. Looking at him now, he’s in our locker room. It’s not realistic kind of."

While this no doubt makes the acquisition of Fleury an extra special thing for Fiala, his love of Fleury hasn't always been such a positive thing for him throughout his NHL career. In a nice moment of honesty Fiala admitted that being so enamored with Fleury may have made it difficult for him to face off against the reigning Vezina trophy winner at times during his career as an NHL forward.

"Ever since I got to the league I felt like I struggled to score on him. Maybe it’s a little star-struck," admitted Fiala. "I don’t know, but he’s a great goalie. He reads the play. He’s like a defenseman out there it feels like (the way) he sometimes jumps out. … To be honest, it can get in your head."

While facing off against Fleury may have proven to be a challenge for him in the past, thankfully for Fiala, Wild general manager Bill Guerin has guaranteed that won't be a problem moving forward. Fiala won't have to worry about facing Fleury anywhere outside of practice for the remainder of the regular season and the Stanley Cup playoffs.