Years later, Fleury again a longshot

The first reaction?
Don't do it.
Theoren Fleury has not played in the NHL since the 2002-03 season, when he was suspended for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Since then, he has been, essentially, retired.
Now, he is up for reinstatement, skating in the usual summer sessions organized by players in a bid to get in shape and hoping that some team will bite as he tests the waters on a possible comeback at age 41.
His reinstatement bid will likely be expedited, because he has been sober for about four years and complied with the league's after-care program following his days in detox.
Obtaining NHL approval is the easy part of his quest. The hard part is convincing an NHL club that he can still compete at a high level and demonstrate the scoring prowess and tenacity that made him a special player in spite of his five-foot-six frame.
Fortysomething players with personl problems, who have not played in the NHL in six years, are not exactly in high demand in this salary-cap era that emphasizes the need for young, cheap talent. It's hard enough coming back after being off for half a season. Just ask Mats Sundin.
Claude Lemieux also made little impact with the San Jose Sharks last season after being retired for a few years, and Fleury's former Calgary teammate Jim Peplinski had a forgettable comeback a couple of seasons or so after he retired prematurely at the age of 30, although the Flames were mediocre then.
The first instinct is to tell Fleury not to embarrass himself. But, on second thought, who has the right to judge his attempt? If some team is willing to give him a shot, let him take it.
Does he deserve another opportunity?
Based on his previous play, yes.
Based on his on-ice and off-ice antic, maybe.
The notorious yapper and agitator's main on-ice miscue in the NHL occurred when he flapped his arms imitating a chicken while with the New York Rangers. He was never an angel, but he was never a Marty McSorley or Donald Brashear, either.
Quietly, you kind of hope he makes it back, just so that he can prove people wrong – again. I happened to be covering the Calgary Flames when Fleury, an eighth-round draft choice in 1987, made his debut midway through the 1988-89 season, when his callup from Salt Lake of the now-defunct International League sparked the Flames to their only Stanley Cup title.
Ironically, Fleury was only 19 at the time, and he has yet to win another one. He was the classic underdog because of his size, his smalltown Russell, Man., roots, and the fact former Flames general manager said he only drafted him to help increase attendance in Salt Lake.
But he captured fans' attention the way few players ever have.
(Who's more compelling? Fleury of Sidney Crosby? Discuss.)
Irongically, all these years later, he is a longshot again.