A chocolate Marc-Andr Fleury stands at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas

Already widely known as one of the NHL's nicest players, an especiallysweetversion of Vegas Golden Knights goalieMarc-AndrFleurystandsat theBellagioHotel in Las Vegas, madeentirely out of chocolate and sugar.

The former Cape Breton Screaming Eagleplayed with the Sydney team from 2000 to 2004, but is now earning applause as the Knights' goalie. Fleuryled his team to a first-round sweepand has only allowed three goals so far, on an expansion team that many predictedwould finish near the bottom of the league standings.

"He's a huge part of the team," saidYamiletHillers, an assistant executive pastry chef at the hotel andone of two leads for theproject.

"I was here one day for like 18 hours," said Hillers. "It probably took 10 to 12 hours just to paint it."

40-kg Fleury

Her co-creator wasJerome Jacob, another assistant executive pastry chef at the Bellagio. With Hillers' background in cake andJacobs' in chocolate, together they madethe perfect team.

The 40-kilogramchocolate sculpture depicts Fleuryin full hockey gear,mid-save.

"I worked on the helmet for many, many hours, just trying to replicate it," said Hillers.

Thegoalie pads are ninekilogramsof Rice Krispiesand the clothing is 4.5kilogramsof fondant. Sugar paper were usedfor letters and fine details.

Fleury checkedout his chocolate version

The whole chocolate Fleury took fiveweeks to make.

It's on display at theBellagioPatisserie, where people purchase baked goods and chocolates at the hotel.

"He actually came in between two games [to see it], which we didn't think he would do," saidHillers."We assumed he would be resting, but he took time out of his day."

Hillers, a Golden Knights fan herself, hopes the sculpture will be moved around to celebrate the team.

"I think I'm more of a fan now after meeting him than I was before, just because he was really pleasant andhumble, a really nice person," saidHillers.

'He's not edible'

Blair Joseph, an assistant coach for the Screaming Eagles when Fleury was in netfor Cape Breton, said he was "blessed" to work with Fleury for four years.

"I think if you ask any of his teammates, you would have trouble getting anything negative about the guy," he said.

He said Fleury really helped make the Screaming Eagles well-known, as the 16th(and last)pick in Round 1 of the 2000 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft.Fifteen teams missed out by not picking Fleury, Joseph said.

"I'm just thinking, I have 14 grandchildren, wouldn't they like to get at all that chocolate," said Joseph. "It's very special. It would be great if we could get something like that at Centre 200."

Because the sculpture is out on display, Hillers said it will inevitablyget a bit dusty.

"From a health-food standard, I'd say he's not edible," said Hillers."But technically he could be."