Fleury co-wrote Playing with Fire, a best-selling autobiography released in October 2009, in which he revealed that he had been sexually abused by former coach Graham James.

Wally was a hockey player whose dreams of a professional career ended when he broke his leg playing baseball in the summer of 1963; the injury helped fuel a drinking problem.

He attended Mass from age 6 to 12, serving as an altar boy until the church's priest died of a heart attack, depriving Fleury of one of his early positive influences.

[12] Always lacking money and stable home life, Fleury received support from the hockey community, in particular the Peltz family in Russell, who ensured that he and his brothers were fed and bought them new clothes when required.

[13] In January 1982, Fleury's dreams of playing in the NHL nearly ended at the age of 13 when, during a game, he suffered a deep cut under his arm that severed his brachial artery.

[16] Fleury's 160 points tied him for the league lead with Joe Sakic, and the two players shared the Bob Clarke Trophy as the WHL's top scorers.

He found that the best way to protect himself was to intimidate his opponents by playing a feisty, physical game,[22] which he said led to many retaliatory penalties and several arguments with his coaches.

Fleury scored the first goal of the game and, as part of his celebration, used his stick to mimic firing a machine gun at the Soviet bench, a move that was criticized by Canadian officials.

[33] Upon completing his junior season in 1988, Fleury signed his first professional contract, worth C$415,000, and joined the Flames' International Hockey League (IHL) affiliate, the Salt Lake Golden Eagles.

[40] Fleury scored only two goals in the 1991 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but after his overtime winner in game six against the Oilers he famously slid the entire length of the ice in jubilation before crashing into the boards as his teammates attempted to catch up to him.

[34][41][42][43][44] CBC Hockey Night in Canada play-by-play announcer Chris Cuthbert called Fleury's goal in a dramatic fashion: Messier gives it away!

[50] Although he felt like somebody was "stabbing a knife in [his] gut every five minutes", Fleury had played every game for the Flames when he revealed in December 1995 that he had been diagnosed with Crohn's disease and doctors had finally found the correct medication to control it.

[60] The Flames, who had been struggling financially and were unable to sign Fleury to a new contract, chose to trade him less than two weeks after he broke the record rather than risk losing him to free agency.

[70] He touched off a wave of anger on signing with the Rangers when he claimed he was unappreciated in Calgary, comments he later stated were directed at the Flames' owners and not the team's fans, who he said always supported him.

Prior to the 2001–02 season Fleury said that he continued to struggle with substance abuse and had difficulty adapting to life in Manhattan after growing up in a Canadian prairie town of 1,500.

[86] While out with teammates in January 2003, he was involved in a drunken brawl with bouncers at a strip club in Columbus, Ohio, that left him bloodied; he has no memory of the night and described it as among the lowest points of his life.

In January 2005, Fleury announced that he had joined his cousin Todd Holt and former NHL players Gino Odjick, Sasha Lakovic and Dody Wood in playing for the Horse Lake Thunder of the North Peace Hockey League for the Allan Cup, Canada's national senior amateur championship.

"[96] Fleury was convinced by a friend to move to the United Kingdom to play with the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) for the 2005–06 season.

[110] He said he wanted to prove to himself that he could still play at the NHL level, though his skeptics pointed to his child support payments and the failure of his concrete business, as well as the planned release of his autobiography, and argued Fleury's comeback was financially motivated.

[123] Fleury wanted to justify Gretzky's support and, knowing that he would be removed from consideration if he failed, refrained from drinking or taking drugs during the 2001–02 NHL season, later describing himself as a "dry drunk".

[129] Playing with Fire became the top seller on Amazon.ca within a week of its release, and Fleury stated that he had been contacted by several sexual abuse victims who were motivated by his book to seek help.

[130] He told CBC in October 2009 he was contemplating a criminal complaint against James,[131] and was volunteering with an organization dedicated to helping male sexual abuse victims.

He is also an advocate for youth victims of sexual abuse and a supporter of improving access to trauma treatments, addictions programs and mental health services.

[139][140] In his autobiography, he blamed the sexual abuse for turning him into a "raging, alcoholic lunatic",[141] and claimed to have placed a loaded gun in his mouth and contemplated suicide in 2004.

Fleury said in a November 2004 interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation he was still battling the drug and alcohol addictions that had ended his NHL career a year and a half earlier.

"[140] He has criticized liberal and conservative politicians who supported mask and vaccine mandates, including Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"[140] In a separate interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham in January 2022, he repeated his belief that Trudeau was being controlled by unnamed foreign entities and hoped the Canada convoy protest would lead to a "revolution.

"[161] In 2021, Brandon University issued a statement criticizing Fleury for saying on Twitter that COVID-19 vaccine passports would be used by pedophiles to track children, calling the comment "a stain on his legacy."

[168] In 1994, Fleury joined a group that involved his former junior coach, Graham James, fellow NHL player Joe Sakic, and professional wrestler Bret Hart as a minority owner of the expansion Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League.

The 2008 launch of clothing line "FAKE" (Fleury's Artistic Kustom Enterprises) led him to approach the Calgary Vipers of the Golden Baseball League in the hope of convincing them to use his brand of practice jerseys.