Report: Fleury under investigation by team, NHL
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ESPN.com news services

Blackhawks forward Theo Fleury is under investigation by his team and the league as the result of an altercation early Sunday outside an Ohio strip club, the Chicago Tribune, citing team sources, reported Wednesday.

According to a Columbus police report cited by the Columbus Dispatch, Fleury said bouncers hit him several times. A Columbus ambulance squad was summoned, but Fleury refused treatment for a cut over his left eye, the report said.

Witnesses told the Dispatch that employees at Pure Platinum struck Fleury after he punched one of them as he and two other men were being thrown out of the club.

The police report indicates Fleury was intoxicated, although no tests were conducted. If the league determines Fleury, who missed the season's first 25 games for violating his substance abuse aftercare program, was intoxicated, it likely would be a further violation of that program and could result in a suspension of at least six months.

The decision on such a suspension rests solely with the doctors who are monitoring him, the Tribune story said. As part of the program, Fleury, 34, is tested randomly for drugs and alcohol three times a week. The Blackhawks also have hired a friend of Fleury's, Jim Jenkins, to be with him nearly every waking moment, the newspaper said.

No charges were filed in connection with the incident. The names of Fleury's companions involved were not known. Fleury was listed as a victim of assault by the reporting officer, but he refused to sign the report, a police spokesman told ESPN.

Blackhawks general manager Mike Smith told the Chicago Tribune that he met with Fleury on Tuesday afternoon about the matter in Chicago but did not issue a statement.

"Without knowing all the facts, it's hard for me to say much on it," Smith said. "I've been looking into trying to find out what went on."

The fracas began at about 4 a.m., said several Pure Platinum dancers and employees who requested anonymity, about 3½ hours after the Blackhawks arrived in Columbus from a game in St. Louis on Saturday. One club employee said Fleury and the others had been asked to leave.

"All three of them got to the door and then (Fleury) turned around and threw a punch," one employee told the Dispatch.

Fleury and his companions walked across the street to a gas station, where an employee summoned an ambulance. But the players left in a cab before the ambulance arrived. Police stopped the cab at 4:45 a.m., police officer John Wish said Tuesday night.

"One of the guys got out of the car, said they were famous, and they did not want to be identified," Wish said. "I wanted to get somebody to come look at (Fleury), because it looked serious. That's why we called the squad."

Fleury played against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night. His face was bruised and swollen, he had a cut over his left eye, and his right hand had several cuts and scrapes. Fleury doesn't usually wear a visor, but he wore one in the Blackhawks' 5-1 loss.

One Blue Jackets player spotted Fleury getting stitches Sunday in Nationwide Arena, the Dispatch reported.

Asked Monday night about the incident, Fleury told the Dispatch, "Those are rumors, and I don't respond to rumors."

Fleury, in his 15th NHL season, said his injuries were sustained when he was checked into the boards during a loss Saturday night in St. Louis, but observers couldn't recall a hit that would have caused such injuries.

Pure Platinum is a popular spot with visiting NHL players. The club does not have a liquor license but allows customers to bring in alcohol.

Fleury was cleared to return to the NHL in early December after being suspended indefinitely on Oct. 8 for violating his aftercare program. He made his season debut on Dec. 6, scoring a goal in a 4-3 loss to Anaheim.

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Oh oh ! Das riecht nach richtig Ärger....

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Jody Shelley Games: 43 ; Majors: 18 ; PIM: 150
P.J. Stock Games: 40 ; Majors: 12 ; PIM: 120
Sean Avery Games: 28 ; Majors: 7 ; PIM: 103

Fleury could be in trouble again
By Tim Sassone Daily Herald Sports Writer
Posted on January 22, 2003
Theo Fleury's problems appear to be far from over.

The Blackhawks say they are investigating an incident that a police source said took place early Sunday morning at a Columbus, Ohio, night spot involving Fleury and two of his Hawks teammates.

According to a Columbus police source, Fleury and two others were asked to leave the Pure Platinum gentleman's club by a manager between 4 and 5 a.m., and a fight between the players and club personnel ensued outside the establishment.

At least two sources claimed Fleury suffered cuts around his left eye and on his right hand. Police were called by an attendant at a gas station across the street from the club after Fleury, bleeding badly, went there to call for a taxi.

The police source said the responding officers recognized Fleury as an NHL player, but the source said there was no mention made of the other two players with Fleury.

Nobody from the club pressed charges against the players, nor was a police report filed, according to a Columbus police information officer.

The Hawks fielded a full lineup Monday against the Blue Jackets, Fleury included, in a 5-1 loss at Nationwide Arena in one of their worst games in a month.

Fleury played wearing a half face shield for the first time this season, claiming after the game he was protecting cuts suffered from a check into the boards in Saturday's game at St. Louis.

Hawks general manager Mike Smith had little to say Tuesday about the allegations, which he refused to confirm even took place, or about possible repercussions from the league against Fleury based on his history of trouble.

"In the end, if in fact something happened, we will look at it as an internal discipline matter," Smith said. "I don't have much to comment (on) here because I don't know all the facts of what happened. Without knowing all the facts, it's hard to say much on it. I've been looking into trying to find out what went on."

Fleury met with Smith at Smith's United Center office Tuesday for approximately 30 minutes. Also at the meeting was sponsor Jim Jenkins, who travels with the Hawks and has been Fleury's road roommate.

When asked where Jenkins was Saturday night after the Hawks arrived in Columbus from that night's game in St. Louis, Smith said, "At the hotel."

Even with Jenkins supposedly around to help Fleury through difficult situations while in his aftercare stage, the weekend's incident, if true, would be the third time Fleury has gotten into trouble.

According to a Hawks source, there was an incident involving Fleury at a Detroit casino after the Sept. 29 preseason game there that ultimately resulted in his suspension on Oct. 8 for violating his substance-abuse aftercare program.

Then on Nov. 29, after Fleury was reinstated, he and Jackson overslept and arrived late for practice in Los Angeles.

Jenkins is being paid a reported $200,000 by the Hawks to watch and help Fleury. The Hawks have disputed that figure.

Smith said he couldn't comment on Fleury's ongoing aftercare-treatment program when asked if the incident over the weekend could be considered another violation.

The NHL is expected to conduct its own investigation of what took place in Columbus using its own security people. It's possible Fleury could be looking at another suspension - maybe for the rest of the season - if the NHL's investigation finds the Hawks winger violated any rules of his aftercare program.

Smith said Tuesday he had not been in contact with anyone from the league or from the aftercare program.

It's also possible the Hawks could impose their own suspension on the players involved for violating team rules, though coach Brian Sutter had no curfew in place Saturday night since Sunday was an off-day.

Sutter trusts his players to be responsible on the road, and at the least this would be a violation of proper player conduct.

Fleury didn't play well Monday. He was minus-1 in almost 17 minutes with 3 shots on goal, but he looked behind the play much of the night.

Fleury's play has fallen off considerably of late. He has no goals and 1 assist in the last five games and just 1 goal in the last eight games.

In Antwort auf:

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The club does not have a liquor license but allows customers to bring in alcohol.

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Lustiger Schuppen !

If you can't beat em, at least beat'em up !
In real life you get 5 years, on the ice only 5 minutes...
Norrie/Rich/Tasker/Verbeek/Lakos - Toledo Storm Fighting Brigade 2001

Mhmm,

soll er nach Europa kommen, hier kann er saufen und rumhuren wie er will, was verschiedene Lions-Spieler in der Vergangenheit ja bestens bewiesen haben

Soll ein mal beim Herrn Lefebvre oder Andrej Vasiljev nachfragen, oder oder oder...

Wenn er dann bei uns genauso abgeht wie die beiden genannten soll es mir recht sein

Watching hockey with my girl - Could life get any better???

tja irgendwo hab ich das zwar schonmal gelesen, aber:

der spielt besoffen immer noch besseres hockey als manch annerer in unseren reihen !

Centurion
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Brashear’s beating actually broke McCarthy’s helmet in half
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In Antwort auf:

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der spielt besoffen immer noch besseres hockey als manch annerer in unseren reihen !

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Und nüchtern würde er sogar besser spielen als unsere Spieler besoffen...
Fleury spielt NUR gut, wenn er voll ist...

Greetz,
DOC

If you can't beat em, at least beat'em up !
In real life you get 5 years, on the ice only 5 minutes...
Norrie/Rich/Tasker/Verbeek/Lakos - Toledo Storm Fighting Brigade 2001

In Antwort auf:

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Fleury spielt NUR gut, wenn er voll ist

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jup ! - dann ist er so ein richtiger kleiner motziger wadenbeisser mit psycoblick !

Centurion
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Brashear’s beating actually broke McCarthy’s helmet in half
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