Penguins set to celebrate 1,000 games for defenseman Kris Letang
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Kris Letang wasn't supposed to be here, at least that's what he said to reporters earlier this week as the Penguins' all-star defenseman pondered what it means to play 1,000 games in the National Hockey League.
"There were a lot of days when I didn't think I would get here," he said. "I never really thought this day would come. That's the whole thing. This is going to be an incredibly special day for me personally because of everything I've been through. A lot of days, I didn't think it was going to happen."
Tonight, when the Penguins take on the Philadelphia Flyers at PPG Paints Arena, they'll honor Letang with a pre-game ceremony.
Letang now joins his teammates Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin as the only players to have played in 1,000 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Despite being a polarizing figure among fans and pundits, his teammates understand his value.
"I think he sets the bar really high; he sets the standard high as far as how he approaches things," Sidney Crosby said. "The way he trains, his commitment to getting better at his age, still being the last guy out on the ice every day. I think he's a great example."
"He has lots of injuries, but he's always back, and always back strong," Malkin added.
Drafted in the same class as Sidney Crosby in 2005, Letang was the Penguins' third-round pick, 62nd overall, and grew into one of the best defensemen in team history.
For the bulk of Kris Letang's career, he's served on the Penguins' top defensive pairing, quarterbacked or been a big part of the top power-play unit, and consistently logs 20 or more minutes per game.
"If your coach has confidence to put you on the ice that much during a game, that means that's the recipe that he wants to use to win," the humble Letang said.
Not only does he have all that to his name - he also has a Stanley Cup-winning goal on his resume.
In 2016, with the Penguins about to clinch their fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history, Letang received a pass from Sidney Crosby - after Letang had made sure the team kept possession in San Jose's zone - and beat goaltender Martin Jones on the short side.
It gave the Penguins a lead they would never relent and the 2016 Stanley Cup championship.
It hasn't been all championships and smiles for the Montreal native.
The struggles have been plenty, both personally and professionally.
As the young Penguins made their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in 2008, eventually losing to Detroit, Letang learned his childhood best friend Luc Bourdon, who was with the Vancouver Canucks at the time, had been killed in a motorcycle accident.
Earlier this season, Letang was away from the team for a while after the passing of his father.
Professionally, Letang has been put through the wringer, as well.
In 2014, Penguins fans were shocked when they learned the news that Kris Letang has suffered a stroke. Doctors had determined Letang had a hole in his heart from a birth defect and missed six weeks as he underwent more testing.
This season, he suffered a second stroke but was gone for only about 10 days.
2017 may have been the toughest news.
As the team prepared to defend its Stanley Cup championship and become the first team in the NHL's salary cap era to win back-to-back titles, Letang had to undergo neck surgery that kept him from playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The team would go on to win its second Stanley Cup in as many years.
"As you get closer, you see the two guys that you've played your entire career with, they get there, they had their fair share of injuries, too, so I'm pretty excited," Letang said.
Now, 999 regular season games later, Kris Letang joins the two men he considers his best friends as part of a club that forever put them in the halls of immortality in Pittsburgh - 1,000 games played, all in black and gold.
In a season that has been a struggle for the team that occupies the arena on Fifth Avenue, knowing that three titans in the franchise's history continue to play at a high level together, is a comfort that is much needed.