Kris Letang objected, almost immediately.
During the early stages of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ training camp in September of 2021, Letang relived some memories of past glory and discussed his former teammate and long-time friend, Max Talbot, being an eighth-round draft pick in 2002 and how he arrived to the NHL through the “back door.”
When it was suggested that Letang, a third-round pick in 2005, was more of a “front door” player, the six-time All-Star defenseman shut that idea down without hesitation.
“No, not me,” Letang said. “I was like Max. A low-key kind of guy.”
On Sunday, Letang reached a crescendo when he appeared in his 1,000th career game as the Penguins defeated the the rival Philadelphia Flyers, 4-2, on Sunday at PPG Paints Arena.
He became the 10th player drafted by the Penguins to reach the milestone as well as only the fourth defenseman of that group (joining Doug Bodger, Alex Goligoski and Brooks Orpik).
It’s quite an accomplishment for a player who was a mid-round draft pick and even more remarkable considering the ample medical impediments he has encountered throughout his career: namely, two strokes as well as a handful of season-ending injuries such as a herniated disc in his neck (2016-17) and a concussion (2014-15).
Getting to this plateau didn’t happen by accident. And it didn’t happen without a misstep or two along the way.
Over the past week, a handful of Letang’s former teammates shared some stories about a player who, by most measures, is the greatest defenseman in franchise history.
First impressions
Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review
Penguins defenseman Kris Letang fires a shot during a workout at a prospect camp at Southepointe in Canonsburg on June 29, 2007.
The Penguins’ 2005 draft class was fruitful. Of the seven players they selected, three reached the NHL.
First-rounder Sidney Crosby altered the franchise in just about every way any player can. And Letang has proven to be a vital component to the greatest era in the history of the organization.
The other player the Penguins landed in that draft was seventh-rounder Joe Vitale, a hard-scrabble center who carved out a 234-game career, mostly with the Penguins.
“I used to always joke with Kris and Sid because back in 2005, all three of us were drafted together,” said Vitale, today a radio broadcaster with his hometown St. Louis Blues. “I used to always say to Kris, ‘Hey man, you’ve got to be nice to me, I was part of the greatest draft class in Penguins history.’”
Letang wasn’t exactly nice to Vitale in an early prospect camp the two attended at the team’s former practice facility in Canonsburg.
“The first camp we went to, I remember how incredibly dialed in he was at a very young age,” Vitale said. “I knew he was a special player. We were on a two-on-one (drill), the same thing was happening on the other side of the ice, like a mirrored drill. I’m coming up the middle of the ice with Kris Letang on a two-on-one and I’m kind of looking to the right to make sure I’m not going to run into the group coming up the other side. Meanwhile, he’s passing to me. Right as I look back, the pass goes right through me and we end up losing the play.
“Again, we’re young. I’m 20, he’s like 18. And he was just like, ‘You don’t want the puck?’ And I was like, ‘What?’ He was like, ‘I give you a puck and you don’t want it?’ He was really frustrated with me. He was mad that I didn’t catch that puck. It was a warm-up drill. It’s our first day, our first practice and I’m trying not to get killed or run into anyone. And he’s already mad at me. Looking back at that play, this is the competitiveness in him. This is a competitor. He never took a drill off. He never just floated through a drill. Every drill had purpose. Every drill, he was snapping it. If he wasn’t doing it right, he’d be frustrated. That competitive engine has always been there since I’ve known him.”
After appearing in seven games with the Pittsburgh Penguins before being returned to his junior team, the Val d’Or Foreurs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, in 2006-07, Letang opened the following campaign with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL.
It was obvious he would not last long there.
“Kris, Alex Goligoski and I lived together at a hotel in Wilkes-Barre for Kris’ 10-game stint in the AHL,” said former Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy, himself an undrafted free agent. “I felt like the three of us grew up together. Kris became a superstar and we knew it was going to happen from the moment I stepped on the ice with him at development camp in July at Southpointe. He was different than the rest of us. Just what he could do on the ice, no one else could.”
Those skills — and the matching confidence — were apparent to hardened veterans during Letang’s first full rookie campaign of 2007-08.
“’Tanger’ came in and earned his ice with his play,” said forward Jarkko Ruutu, who joined the Penguins as a free agent in the 2007 offseason. “He wasn’t shy, let’s put it that way. He was very confident and rightfully so.
“He played a very confident game with the puck. At times, he was over-confident with the puck. But over time, he learned his lessons. But it’s a positive thing that when you come to the league, you’re not scared to play and to make plays with the puck. Mistakes happen a young age. It’s important that you’re still willing to make those mistakes and try to make the play. Over time, it will translate into a positive way.”
Welcome aboard
Reuters
Penguins forward Matt Cooke (left) celebrates his a goal against the Vancouver Canucks with defensemen Kris Letang (center) and Zbynek Michalek during the second period of a game at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Oct. 6, 2011.
Even early into his career, Letang served as something of a one-man welcoming committee to newcomers.
“When I got traded here, I had nothing,” said former defenseman Hal Gill, whom the Penguins dealt for at the 2008 trade deadline. “No car, no anything. So I was hanging out with a lot of the younger guys. Right when you meet him, you knew he had some serious swagger. He was confident in his own skin and he played that way. That’s what makes him good. He’s confident in what he does.
“He drove me back to the hotel after practice and I was talking to him and trying to figure (him) out. We were partners. We were talking and I was like, ‘So, you’re like the prince of Pittsburgh?’ He was like, ‘Nah, the king.’”
And something of a real estate agent as well.
“When I first got to Pittsburgh, he was one of the only guys that lived up north of the city,” said former Penguins forward Brandon Sutter, an offseason acquisition in 2012. “As far as trying to find a place there, he said, ‘Oh, you’ve got to live up north.’ I ended up getting a place right near where he lived.”
A sense of community among his teammates has been important to Letang.
“My second year in Pittsburgh, after we won the (Stanley) Cup, Kris had purchased a new house in Wexford, but it wasn’t going to be ready until three months into the (2009-10) season,” former Penguins forward Matt Cooke said. “He lived with me and my family for three months. … He’s a very hands-off babysitter, at least when he was 23 and 24. Which is 100% OK. My kids still talk about that. My daughter is 21 and she still remembers Kris being around and being part of our family for three or four months back in 2010.”
Letang’s leadership goes beyond a ride from the office or finding a suitable domicile.
Following his first stint with the Penguins, Lovejoy returned to Pittsburgh at the 2015 trade deadline in a highly scrutinized deal that sent defenseman Simon Despres, a former first-round pick, to the Anaheim Ducks.
Lovejoy was not oblivious to the comparisons which rarely complimented him.
“When I came back, he and I became close,” Lovejoy said. “He knew that I was struggling with the fact that I had been traded for Simon Despres. He was conscious of that and knew that weighed on me.
“As soon as we won the Stanley Cup (in 2016), he came and found me, gave me a big hug and said, ‘You were awesome. We couldn’t have done this without you.’”
‘Tangerisms’
Tribune-Review
Penguins defenseman Kris Letang speaks to referee Dean Morton during a game against the Florida Panthers at PPG Arena on Oct. 14, 2017.
Like plenty of Quebecois, Letang’s English isn’t perfect. He will occasionally pluralize the wrong noun. His various verbal faux pas seem to stand out, however.
Legend has it, a chronicle of these miscues exists in some highly secured quadrant of the Penguins facilities.
“The thing that I loved, we had a running list of ‘Tangerisms’,” said former Penguins forward Bill Guerin, today the general manager of the Minnesota Wild. “It was cliches or sayings or something like that that he butchered or things that he couldn’t pronounce. I think it was three pages by the time I left. I think (former Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis, another Quebec native) was the one that really kept track of them. But they were kind of pinned up in the training room. It was just hilarious.”
The volumes allegedly maintained are said to be ample.
“If you can get your hands on the ‘Tangerism’ list that is probably still kept in the trainer’s room, you’d probably get your next 400 stories,” Lovejoy said.
One tale that can be told is the apparent mispronunciation of Letang’s surname.
“I don’t know how many times you’ve been told it’s not “Le-tang,” said Gill, today a broadcaster with the Nashville Predators. “It’s ‘Leh-tang.’ He would get mad because we wouldn’t say ‘Leh-tang’ in the right French way. He would get mad and tell us, ‘No. It’s not ‘Le-tang.’ It’s ‘Leh-tang.’ And we couldn’t tell the difference. He was obviously saying it with a little different (accent). There’s always chirping going on with him. He’d give it and take it.”
Dress for success
Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review
Penguins defenseman Kris Letang walks past fans on the red carpet at Consol Energy Center on Oct. 13, 2015.
Few players have the style of Letang. From the seemingly perfectly coifed hair to the tailored suits to the high-octane automobiles, Letang is very conscious of how he appears in public.
“The term ‘Look good, feel good, play good,’ I think he epitomizes that,” Vitale said. “As everyone knows, not only on his team but the league, he dresses to impress. Whether it be a morning skate, a game, even going to an optional workout at a gym on the road, he always seemed to always look like a model. That term certainly applied to him.”
Just his nickname seems to be a term.
“The hair, the cars,” Gill said. “It’s an aura. It’s a thing. It’s him. It’s ‘Tanger.’”
That seeming perfect veneer did sustain some collateral damage during a trip to St. Louis in January of 2012, however.
“We had the whole team over to my parents’ house,” Vitale said. “We had them all over at my house the night before we played the Blues. My parents made a big Italian spread. We had my sisters and sisters-in-law basically serve up everybody. It was done great. My mom and dad did a wonderful job. (Letang) had this brand-new white dress shirt. It was some sort or Versace or something. It was some very high-end shirt that he got in Montreal a couple of weeks prior. Tailor-made and all this stuff. We’re serving the whole team.
“I think it was my sister-in-law walking around for extra meatballs, she was asking the players if they would like another meatball or two. Kris said yes. As she was putting a meatball down on his plate, it fell off, it hit the plate and red sauce just splattered all over this brand-new white shirt. The Matt Cookes and (forward) Tyler Kennedys are just losing their mind at the table. Everyone is laughing hysterically because they know of course he dresses very well and it’s a very expensive shirt. It was humbling for my sister-in-law. She has no idea how nice these shirts are. She felt horrible.
“He could have obviously lost it a little bit. But I just remember him smiling and of course, playing it off very cool and kind of laughing it off. We got a Tide stick and we went to work to try to get those stains out.”
Letang’s teammates certainly enjoyed the mishap more than him.
“He’s pretty into fashion and the way he looks,” Penguins defenseman Deryk Engelland said. “So it was pretty funny that it happened to him and not someone that didn’t care as much.”
Playing hard
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Boston Bruins forward David Krejci hits the Penguins defenseman Kris Letang in the second period during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final in Boston’s TD Garden on June 5, 2013.
Letang is no shrinking violet. In fact, he had a fight as recently as last season when he tussled with Lightning forward Brayden Point in March of 2022.
But at 35, he certainly picks his spots a bit more than he did earlier in his career and offers a more composed game than he did during his 20s.
“At that point, he didn’t have the longest fuse,” said former defenseman Paul Martin, who joined the Penguins as a free agent in 2010. “It was usually pretty short. A lot has changed. He’s matured a lot.”
“He wants to win. For him, it’s developing into who he is now. His hockey IQ, which I think doesn’t change, but just his ability to make smarter decisions and consistent plays. I think he was, when he first came into the league, a little more run and gun. He still has the ability to do that, but I think he’s more now settled into being that defensive player with the offensive (game) too. When you think of offensive defensemen that can play really good defense as well, I think he probably gets under-credited that way. He’s really rounded out his game.”
Letang picked up a thing or two about the pugilistic side of the sport by going a few rounds — playfully — with Engelland, one of the tougher players in franchise history.
“We had a lot of fighting matches out in practices, just messing around,” Engelland said. “Those were always fun, me and him. I remember at Southpointe having him shirtless on the ice because he was trying to fight with me. I just ended up ‘jersying’ him and he pulled right out. Got a good standing (ovation) from fans.”
Above all else, Letang’s combativeness is nothing less than genuine.
“He plays a fierce game,” said Gill, whose 962 career penalty minutes in 1,108 games make him something of an authority on the subject. “He plays hard. He goes out there and battles. So I can respect the arrogance when it’s backed up by a guy who competes.”
The natural
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Penguins defenseman Kris Letang looks at hte scoreboard during a game against the Montreal Canadiens at Consol Energy Center on, Jan. 22, 2014.
Even as a so-called “back door” arrival, Letang’s God-given abilities are a large part of why he is still competing at a high level at this stage of his career.
“You could tell he was almost a genetic freak,” Sutter said. “He was just a hockey player. The perfect size. He’s strong. Just a natural freak with that. But he worked hard. He played so many minutes, never got tired. Never saw him look tired on the ice. It was amazing because he played so many minutes. He had such a capacity to play heavy minutes. Some players, toward the end of a game, they look slow, they look tired. He always just looked so explosive.”
Sutter got a first-hand look at those attributes as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes before he joined the Penguins.
“We went into a corner after a puck,” Sutter said. “I was forechecking him and he kind of head-faked away from me. I got twisted up or whatever and I sprained my MCL. That was my first knee injury ever. I kind of had him and he faked one way.”
Those gifts have been supplemented with an obsessive regimen away from the rink.
“Kris is probably the most gifted physical athlete I’ve ever seen,” Lovejoy said. “He is special. His genetic gifts are different than everyone else. But he is also probably the most diligent and dedicated worker off the ice that I’ve ever seen as well. Combining those two things into one package is just so unfair for the rest of us.”
Lasting
Tribune-Review
Penguins defenseman Kris Letang waves at fans along the route of the team’s Stanley Cup cictory parade in Downtown on June 15, 2016.
Letang’s longevity has been well-earned. In fact, he reached the 1,000-game milestone despite his body failing him at times through no failure of his own.
“It’s no accident when guys play 1,000 games, especially with the health issues that he’s had,” said Ruutu, today a development coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets. “It means that, first of all, (Letang is) a very good player. Very few guys can play that long in this league and with his minutes. A top (defenseman) there. It takes a lot of effort just on and off the ice (with) eating, sleeping habits, training habits.”
For most players, the bulk of that training is done in the offseason. For Letang, it seems to be a year-round endeavor.
“I’ve seen him work out during the season,” Engelland said. “Some of his workouts during the season might be as hard as some guys do in the summer. … It’s pretty crazy what he would do to stay in shape and try to get better every single year.”
Letang suffered his second stroke this past November and it was relatively minor, at least in comparison to his first stroke, which felled him in January of 2014. The condition, which has been caused by a small hole in his heart that has been present since birth, sidelined him for 26 games in 2013-14.
“It was really hard,” Vitale said of the day he and fellow teammates were told of Letang’s ordeal in 2014. “I remember coming to the rink. We had a quick meeting. We didn’t see Kris. We didn’t really know what was going on. Then the head trainer and I think (former coach) Dan Bylsma came in and talked to us about what happened. You’re kind of in shock and you want to make sure he’s OK. We thought too, OK, this is it. He’s never going to play again.
“Then to see him make the return like he did, it was amazing to see that.”
Roughly nine years later, Letang has walked through the front door to join a group of players who have lasted 1,000 games in the NHL.
“It’s actually incredible,” said Guerin, who enjoyed 1,263 career games as a player. “Everyone makes a big thing about his fitness. And yeah, that has helped him become an elite player. But Kris has got heart, he’s got soul, he’s got character. He cares so much. He would get these massive migraines and (athletic trainer) Chris Stewart would send him home for the day. Kris would get these migraines where he couldn’t even see. Then he shows up for the game. You’re like, how does this kid do it?
“We’ve all played through stuff. Then with his health issues with his strokes and his neck and all this stuff, all the things that he’s played through, the fact that he’s playing 1,000 games, the dedication level to the game is incredible.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Seth by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
