Letang's 1,000 games a story of resilience, work ethic, drive

Kris Letang remembers his first-ever shift in the NHL. 

He remembers it vividly -- even though he'd probably prefer to forget it.

It was Oct. 5, 2006, a 4-0 season-opening win over the Flyers in front of 16,957 fans at the Mellon Arena. A 19-year-old Letang played 15:01 in the win with no points, no shots on goal, and a plus-1. It was the first of his 17 shifts that game that went a little haywire.

"It was not a pretty one," Letang recalled to me earlier this week after a Penguins practice at the Lemieux Complex. "I lost my stick in a battle. Because the rule changed at that time, they were calling a lot of holding, hooking, stuff like that. As soon as I got into a battle, my stick was caught. So I said, 'I don't want to take a penalty my first shift,' so I dropped my stick. When I went to get it, the puck got rimmed, hit my stick, it went one way, the puck went the other way. I didn't know what to do, I kind of froze. I end up taking my stick and sprinting to the bench and just take the change. My heart was racing. I think I got the guys laughing on the bench, so it was a plus."

It's safe to say that Letang bounced back pretty well from that first shift. After 17 years, 999 games, 154 goals, 686 points and three Stanley Cups, Letang is set to join Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin as the only players in Penguins franchise history to play 1,000 games with the team when the puck drops for Sunday's 6:08 p.m. game against the Flyers. Letang, at 35 years old, will become the 381st player in NHL history to hit the milestone, as well as the 40th active player and the 68th to play in his first 1,000 games with the same team.

No player gets to 1,000 games without going through any adversity, but Letang has surely been through more than most on his road to the milestone. His story over the past 999 games is one of resilience, and a level of dedication and work ethic that impresses and inspires his teammates.

"I never thought that I would get there," Letang said of the milestone. "You just dream of playing in the NHL as a kid. As your career goes on, there's different things that go through your mind. Obviously, the injuries I had were unfortunate, so at one point I was doubting that it would happen one day. But as you get closer, you see the two guys that you played with your entire career, they get there and they had their fair share of injuries too. I'm pretty excited, it's something I never thought I would do in my life."

Letang's had injuries throughout the years just like anyone else, but the health problems he's dealt with have been lengthy and scary.

"He's kind of taken a long road to a thousand," Crosby said of Letang this week. "He's been through a lot. Obviously, he's had to battle through a number of injuries. His game itself is a pretty tough game, the way that he plays. So a thousand is probably more than that, given the way he plays. It's a milestone for anybody but for sure, the way he plays the game, that's a lot of hockey."

Letang was just 26 years old in 2014, He was as healthy and fit as anyone on the team, and was preparing to leave for a road trip with the Penguins when he woke up on the floor and was found by his wife Catherine. Days later, doctors diagnosed the stroke, a result of a small hole in the wall of his heart. The tiny hole is congenital, present in most individuals when they are born. The hole typically closes on its own in most individuals. Letang's did not.

Letang released a statement at the time of the stroke that he was "optimistic that I can overcome this and get back on the ice." He missed over two and a half months as he recovered, but was eventually able to return to the game.

This past November, Letang suffered a second stroke. It was a smaller one than the stroke he had eight years ago, and he was able to notice the symptoms (an increase in the severity and frequency of migraines) himself and report them to head athletic trainer Chris Stewart, who then immediately had Letang booked for an MRI that discovered the stroke.

Ron Hextall said that week that the day after the stroke, Letang was already asking how soon he could be back on the ice. Mike Sullivan said that his own biggest challenge was keeping Letang off the ice in the days that followed. Letang was back at practice 10 days after the stroke, and made his return to the lineup two days later in a 3-1 win over the Sabres.

The fact that Letang was even trying to get back on the ice as soon as he was, and that the stroke only kept him out of the lineup for 12 days, came as no surprise to his teammates.

"He doesn't want to miss anything," Chad Ruhwedel said. "Games, practices, anything like that. Being sidelined for him is not an option unless it's non-negotiable. He handled it very well."

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Kris Letang

Letang only played in eight games before he was sidelined again. He blocked a shot somewhere in the leg or foot area on Dec. 28. He didn't leave the game, and played a season-high 34 shifts before being diagnosed with the injury the next day. 

Letang and his family were with the team in Boston for the Winter Classic days later when he received the news that, his father, Claude Fouquet, had passed away at age 77 in Montreal. Letang and his family returned home to Montreal while the rest of the Penguins went on to go out west for a two-game road trip. Upon the conclusion of the road trip, the Penguins' leadership group made the decision to fly from Arizona to Montreal, landing at 4 a.m., to be there for Fouquet's funeral in support of Letang.

The Penguins allowed Letang to spend as much time as he needed to grieve at home in Montreal, and he returned to the team on Jan. 17, still not fully-healed from his lower-body injury. After a few practices with the team, he made his return to the lineup on Jan. 24 in a 7-6 overtime win over the Panthers, a game in which he was the hero with two goals and two assists, including the overtime-winner. It was only the fifth four-point game of Letang's career and his first since Jan. 27, 2015.

"It just gives you a big boost," Crosby recalled this week of that performance by Letang in his return. "He's not coming back from an easy situation. It's never easy emotionally what he had to go through. Just seeing him back is a big boost, but seeing him back like that and playing the way he did, just with that energy and passion that he played with, I think that's something that's contagious for everybody."

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Kris Letang shoots the puck in his return on Jan. 24.

"It's hard enough playing in this league without all of that stuff going on," Casey DeSmith told me of Letang's battles through adversity this season. "For him to play at the level that he plays at, and you look at that game that he came back and played high-20s in minutes? That's amazing. That's just the way he is. He doesn't shy away from getting out there and working on his craft."

Letang's teammates have felt for him and all that he's gone through throughout this season. But the way he's handled himself, both physically and in terms of his demeanor, has served as an inspiration to those teammates.

"To see how he's handled himself, how he's so composed, it just tells you what kind of person he is," Bryan Rust said.

"Going though a tragedy like he did, I can't even imagine," said Rickard Rakell. "It's just great to have him back and he's playing really well for us."

"Everything that's happened to him is something that you never wish for someone to live in their full lifetime," said P.O Joseph. "He did it in one season. It shows how good of a person he is and how good of an athlete he is to come back from these things."

"You feel bad for him," Jason Zucker added. "He's such a huge part of this team and this organization. He's such a good guy, it's one of those things where you never want to see anyone go through things like he has this year. But he's handled it really, really well. You have to give him respect for the way he's played with so much going on around him."

"It's commendable and you can learn from it," Danton Heinen said. "He's definitely been through a lot and he's persevered through it. He puts his head down and works."

Letang's fitness level and dedication to his off-ice workouts is one of his hallmarks. If you open up Instagram on any given day over the summer, you're sure to see videos of Letang doing something that would be impressive for anyone, let alone someone who is 35 and in his 17th NHL season:

Letang's work ethic to be this at his ridiculous fitness level for so long serves as an inspiration to Letang's younger teammates.

"You look at him, you see him, he's a frickin' machine," Mark Friedman said. "That guy never stops. You see the videos of his summer workouts, they look pretty gruesome. Obviously you need to do something to play 30 minutes a night in the NHL at that age, right? His age, 35, it's just a number for him. I bet you he feels like he's 25. He's in the best shape of anyone I know."

Rust called Letang a "fitness freak."

"As he gets older, I think he just gets more and more in shape because he probably figures he needs to work at it more," Rust added. "It's something that amazes everyone."

That work ethic carries over in-season, too. When the formal portion of practice ends, Letang often stays out on the ice for extra work long after his teammates have gone to the locker room.

"He's an unbelievable player with a huge drive," said Rakell "He always wants to be at his best and help the team win. There's a reason why he's been in the league for so long and been so successful, won Stanley Cups. I'm just trying to take his lead, he's leading by example. Just how he prepares himself for games and practices, he's one of the oldest guys on the team but he's still staying out there the longest, trying to work on his shot or passing or whatever it is to improve. That's the biggest thing with our leaders, they're never satisfied. They're always chasing that next thing. That's pretty admirable to look up to for someone like me."

"That's what you need to see around a locker room," Brian Dumoulin said of the time Letang puts in. "That creates an environment and a culture that you want to be a part of. When you see him doing that, maybe you're not doing the same exact thing but you can put in the same amount of work, trying to spend the same amount of time as those guys are on the rink. Tanger, Sid, Geno, those guys have built a culture here. It's winning and expecting to win."

Letang averages just under 25 minutes a game this season. His average time on ice at five-on-five is 19:23 this season, the highest rate of five-on-five ice time of his entire career. It narrowly edges out his previous career-high average of 19:17 per game, set last season. He's making the most of those minutes, too. His rate of 1.83 takeaways per 60 minutes of ice time in all situations is the second-highest of his career behind only his rate of 2.24 in 2018-19. He's averaging 6.25 hits per 60 minutes, the highest rate of his entire career by over one full hit. His rate of blocked shots is 4.09 per 60 minutes, second to only his rate of 4.87 in 2008-09.

"He logs a lot of minutes, he keeps his body intact and in-shape," Ruhwedel said. "He's able to play those minutes at a high level, too. It's not just that he's out there skating around. Every shift is hard. He's competing, he's physical. That's a tribute to his work ethic."

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Kris Letang

I asked a number of Letang's teammates just how they'd describe him as a person, and the word that kept popping up was "character." 

"He's a character," said Ruhwedel. "He's a funny guy, a hard-worker. He's just a guy who is fun to be around."

"He's a true character," Friedman said. "He's driven for excellence, he's never satisfied. He always feels like he can do better, do more. That's just the guy who Tanger is. He's always striving to be the best that he can be, and it definitely rubs off on guys in the room. He's been a super teammate since the second I walked into these doors, he's just an awesome dude. He's the first person to give you a call or text if something goes down, he's always there for you."

"He's such a high-character guy," said Rust. "To be able to go through those things and still come to the rink and play as he's played and do the things that he does is very impressive."

"You couldn't be happier for a guy like that," said Jake Guentzel. "(His 1,000th game) is going to be a special moment for all of us and the city of Pittsburgh, just with what he's meant to the city. He's an unbelievable guy off the ice, he takes care of his teammates and he'd do anything for anyone."

Someone who Letang has gone a little above-and-beyond for this year is his fellow French Canadian blueliner in Joseph With this being Joseph's first full year in the NHL, Letang opened his home to Joseph to live with him during the season.

"He's just an older brother," Joseph told me of Letang. "He's someone who is always there for me and we can laugh whenever one of us is feeling not-so-good. I'm lucky to call him my friend. Just being close with him this year, it makes me appreciate my time here so much more. I'm definitely honored to be playing with him, seeing him everyday. He's just classy, everything he does is with a purpose. He's been doing this for a long time and he's been doing it well. He's someone you can learn a lot from on and off the ice, he's just such a classy man in general. Such a good teammate, such a good person. He's always going to bring his A1 effort. That's just Kris Letang, right there."

Another player who Letang has perhaps had the greatest impact on is Dumoulin. Dumoulin broke into the NHL full-time during the 2015-16 season and has been partners on a defense pairing alongside Letang for much of his career.

"He's meant a lot," Dumoulin said. "Just through friendship, in the locker room, being around him, it's always fun hearing what he has to say and having conversations with him. He's a very smart man. He's been part of this team for a very long time, and I have a lot of good memories and a lot of fun being with him."

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Kris Letang

The Penguins will honor Letang in a pregame ceremony on Sunday that will feature highlights from Letang's career and congratulatory messages from current and past teammates. It's sure to be an emotional moment for Letang and his family.

"I don't know. Whatever is going to happen on Sunday, that's going to be it," Letang said when asked what he anticipates the feeling being like. "I try to see what Sid and Geno went through, and everybody kind of feels different. I still don't know. Like I said, I've never thought I would get there, I'm going to be pretty happy."

What isn't yet known is what his teammates may have planned just before that. The players honored Crosby and Malkin in a fun way before their 1,000th games. Before Crosby's milestone game, players surprised him by copying his warmup routine in which he stops and reties both of his skates midway through warmups. Before Malkin's 1,000th game earlier this season, his teammates copied his distinct and elaborate stretching routine at the start of warmups.

Letang has no idea what his teammates have in store for Sunday, and it sounds like he doesn't want to think too much about it. He's more worried about the win.

"I'm kind of scared," Letang said with a chuckle. "I have one of the craziest warmups, they hate me for it. So I have no idea. I hope they don't do anything, actually. We just go on and try to win this game. That's it."

A few of Letang's teammates hinted at having something in store for him during warmups, but were keeping the specifics tight-lipped. Those who know him best should be able to plan something pretty good.

"We'll find a way," Crosby said when asked how they could possibly top what the players did for his own 1,000th game and Malkin's. "We've got 17 years, you know. We'll find a way. We should be all right."

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Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby with the Stanley Cup in 2016