Letang sees Masterton Trophy win for perseverance as 'family award'

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Kris Letang said that he always dreamt of being on stage at the NHL Awards, giving a speech and accepting some kind of trophy.

"This is not the one," he said Monday night in his acceptance speech after winning the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy as the "player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey."

Letang was previously a finalist in 2014-15 following his first stroke. He's the first Penguins player to win the Masterton since Mario Lemieux in 1993, who took home the award after missing 24 games due to Hodgkin's lymphoma. He's the third player in Penguins franchise history to win the award, with the first being Lowell McDonald in 1973 after overcoming ligament and cartilage damage to his knee.

"Everybody that gets nominated for an award like this went through something difficult," Letang said before the awards show on the red carpet. "Everybody deserves it. There's tons of players that have never won this award and they've been through a lot. Whoever wins, that's great. But everybody deserves it."

All three finalists for the award had incredible stories of battling through adversity this year.

Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock had a long road back to the NHL after developing myocarditis as a result of contracting COVID-19 during the 2019-20 season. After playing in just one NHL game over the next two seasons, the 35-year-old Stalock returned to the NHL with Chicago this season and played 27 games. He dealt with concussions and battled through oculomotor dysfunction, a vision problem that affects the central nervous system. Coyotes forward Clayton Keller, 22, suffered a fractured femur in March 2022 and underwent six months of rehab in order to be ready for the 2022-23 season, and went on to play all 82 games, scoring 37 goals and 49 assists.

Letang suffered the second stroke of his career in November and was back in the Penguins' lineup less than two weeks later. Over the next few weeks he suffered broken foot that caused him to be sidelined for nearly a month. It was during that time that Letang lost his father, Claude Fouquet.

Despite the hardships, Letang played in 62 games and recorded the 10th-highest average ice time per game (24:51) in the league this season -- his 17th NHL season.

Letang described his season as "up and down."

"Emotionally, it was really hard," he said. "At some times, the mind wasn't there. You don't want to come to the rink and show those emotions because your teammates are there, they have a job to do. I think what (teammates) did for me in Montreal, to come down and be part of the funeral and being there for me and my family, triggered something in me. That's the point where my wife said 'You actually should go back to the rink, change your mind and try to forget about what happened in the last few months and try to get back on track. The guys will be there for you.' That's where it all started."

Letang said that he and the team are now "aware of everything on the health side" after his stroke, and said that there are certain things he can do to help him in the future. What he went through emotionally, with the loss of his father, he said was "something you can't really put aside" and now it's about learning to navigate life. For that, he said he has the help of everybody that surrounds him. 

One of those people outside of his family made the trip out to Nashville to play a role in his big night.

Each of the three finalists had a representative on stage before the winner was announced to speak about what each player went through that year. Stalock and Keller each had their stories told by their team's physician. Letang's story was told by P.O Joseph, who lives with him in Pittsburgh during the season:

Joseph quipped afterward that it's easier to block an NHL shot than to get on stage and speak in front of a large crowd like that, but he didn't hesitate to jump at the opportunity when he was asked by senior vice president of communications Jennifer Bullano Ridgley to do so.

"It wasn't really an option, I wanted to give back to him," Joseph said. "He gave so much to me this year. He means the world to me and I've looked up to him since I was a kid. It's not easy to go out there and speak to people, but for him I will do anything."

In dealing with everything Letang did away from the game this year, Joseph thinks that he set an example for all players.

"I think he just showed that there's always going to be tough times," Joseph said. "To be surrounded by good people, by your teammates, but your family is always important. Stuff like that happens in life and it's all always about how you come back from things like that. After he's come back, we're just happy to see him back in the locker room, because he's a big piece for us for sure."

Letang got a kick out of some of the lines in Joseph's speech on stage, but you could tell that he was also genuinely touched to have Joseph be the one to step up and fill that role for him.

"He did pretty good," Letang said with a chuckle. "Obviously he said The Entourage thing, he had never watched it. I had to get him up to date, he's too young. But it was pretty cool to have somebody that was close to me and close to my kids and family. P.O has been fun to have at home. He's a young kid, and he brings a different energy everybody in the family loves to hang around him. So it was fun to see him up there."

Taking home the Masterton was a big honor, but the more special part of the night for Letang was being able to share the evening with his family -- wife Catherine, 10-year-old son Alex and four-year-old daughter Victoria. After all, it was their support that got him through so much of the adversity this year. 

"Mostly, I think that it's an award that I see more as a team, as a family award," Letang said. "My wife, being supportive of me, she always supported me to go back to do what I love to do. That takes a lot of courage to do that."

Letang appreciated what winning the award showed his children as they watched from the audience.

"They're going to know that their father never gave up in anything," he said. "This is a family trophy."

Victoria is still a little too young to fully appreciate and participate in events like this. But Alex naturally was the star of the show, as he tends to be when he accompanies his dad on these kinds of outings. When the Letang family walked the red carpet before the awards, Alex was signing autographs alongside his dad. He was even wearing a custom suit that Catherine said was from Glorius Custom, and was a replica of a suit Letang has himself. 

Once inside, the fun continued for Alex. Letang called it "the highlight of the night," and said that Alex was chasing other awards finalists around all night trying to meet them, even almost asking Connor McDavid for his autograph in the bathroom.

"That's what it's all about to be honest," Letang said with a big smile. "The All-Star Game or awards, that isn't it. He watches every single game, he sees all those stars on TV, and he wants to meet them. I have the chance to be able to make it happen for him, so that's the highlight of our night."

Letang spoke with reporters shortly after he left backstage after receiving the award, so Alex wasn't with him. He was still in the audience. A member of the Penguins' PR staff went to get Alex, and Alex ran into the interview room and bounded up to the podium to join his dad, something he loves to do whenever he gets the opportunity. He effortlessly switched back and forth between English and French when fielding questions as his dad looked on, obviously proud. 

When asked for his reaction to his dad winning the award, he expressed the same sentiment his dad did in his acceptance speech. It's not the trophy they want, but it's an honor nonetheless.

"I'm really proud and also happy for him," Alex beamed, before adding, "It's a trophy that is not like my dad's style."

Alex and his dad whispered back and forth in French before Letang offered a translation for what he meant.

"What he means is the trophy means you had a tough time," Letang said. "So I should not be enjoying a trophy like this, but he says that he's happy we won."

"We won" being the key words there. It was a family effort to battle through the adversity and get Letang back to playing, and winning the award made for a night the whole family could enjoy. 

MORE FROM THE AWARDS

• McDavid won the Ted Lindsay Award as the league's best player, as voted on by the players. Zero surprise there.

• The Kings' Anze Kopitar won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the league's most gentlemanly player. 

 • The Mark Messier Leadership Award -- for which there is one voter, Mark Messier -- went to Tampa's Steven Stamkos. Hard to argue this one when the whole criteria for the award is just being a captain that Messier wants to recognize. 

• The Calder Memorial Trophy went to Seattle's Matty Beniers as the league's top rookie. Joseph finished 13th in the voting with one fifth-place vote.

• Boston's Patrice Bergeron won the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the league's top defensive forward. It was his sixth time winning the award. Sidney Crosby finished 12th in Selke voting with one second-place vote, four fourth-place votes and four fifth-place votes.

• Boston's Linus Ullmark won the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender.

• Calgary's Mikael Backlund won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership qualities on and off the ice and humanitarian contributions in the community. The award comes with a $25,000 donation for the charity of his choice. Backlund's community work primarily deals with different ALS charities. 

• San Jose's Erik Karlsson won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the league's top defenseman.

• Connor Bedard won the E.J. McGuire Award of Excellence as the draft prospect who best exemplifies commitment to excellence through strength of character, competitiveness and athleticism.

• Boston's Jim Montgomery won the Jack Adams Award as the coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success.

• McDavid won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the player most valuable to his team, the third time he's won the award. Crosby finished tied for 18th place with one fourth-place vote and one fifth-place vote.

• There were a good amount of country music stars and other minor celebrities walking the red carpet alongside the finalists. I recognized none of them until I saw this kid, George. He's just some fan from Detroit who the Red Wings put on the videoboard and the crowd goes wild for, and they juxtapose it with fans booing visiting fans on the videoboard. This has happened at several games (including when the Penguins were in town) this season and the videos always go viral. Cool that the NHL brought him out to walk the red carpet. A real star: