Red Deer’s Haydn Fleury ready for pressure-packed Memorial Cup season

The pressure that comes with a Memorial Cup season doesn’t faze Red Deer Rebels star defenceman Haydn Fleury. He believes it’s part of the game to feel pressure to succeed on the ice.

“I think pressure is a good thing,” says Fleury. “We always want to win and want to play with that attitude. We want to go into the Memorial Cup with confidence and win a WHL championship before that. Having some pressure is a part of all this. I think if you don’t like pressure in hockey, well then you’re in the wrong sport.”

In an effort to better understand what’s yet to come as the Memorial Cup hosts, Fleury, along with his teammates, have looked for advice from people who have been there and done that. They didn’t have to look far, as Rebels associate coach Jeff Truitt appeared in the tourney three years in a row (2003, 2004 and 2005) as a coach for the Kelowna Rockets.

“We’ve talked about what the (Memorial Cup) season is like with people that have been through it,” says Fleury. “Jeff Truitt has been there before and knows what it takes to play in it. We’ve found out more about what to expect and how to prepare for it.”

Ultimately, on top of aiming to help lead the Rebels to the prestigious tournament, the Carolina Hurricanes first-round pick is looking to have a bounce-back season on his stats sheet. His point production dropped significantly last year from his draft season in 2013-14. He netted six goals and 28 points in 63 games in 2014-15 (.44 points-per-game average) following posting eight goals and 46 points in 70 games (.66 points-per-game average) the year before.

Fleury, 19, feels his season got off to a rough start before he started to make a bigger impact in the latter half of the year.

“When I came back we didn’t get a win in the first nine games and that’s shows I didn’t get off to a good start to the season,” says the Carlyle, Sk., native, who played for the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox, Sk., before joining the Rebels in 2012. “I didn’t come back from Carolina with the right mindset and needed time to adjust to everything. But I felt I improved as the year went on played better in the second half of the year.”

Nonetheless, when looking beyond the numbers, the 6-foot-3, 207-pound Fleury feels he improved his overall game last year. Moreover, his focus on taking steps forward in his game away from the puck played into his point total decreasing.

“(Last year) I thought I needed to work on all areas of my game and become a better well-rounded player,” he says. “I turned my focus to that and I think that played into not scoring as many points.”

In addition to helping Red Deer post a strong 10-4-0-0 start to the season, Fleury has gotten his offensive game straightened out this year. He has scored three markers and nine points in eight contests.

“The team’s success has led to it,” he says about his point production. “We have a good attitude here and a good coaching staff full of a lot of smart coaches. The team also made some changes (in the offseason) and brought in some new faces that have made us a better team this year.”

Fleury feels his experience at Carolina’s training camp and in the pre-season has played a role in his early success this year. He felt much “more comfortable” the second time around at an NHL camp.

“I felt a lot more comfortable this year,” says Fleury. “It was a more personable experience and allowed me to be more comfortable and take in the experience. I enjoyed it and learned a lot being around players like the Staals (Eric and Jordan). It was a great experience.”

Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen