The Pittsburgh Penguins knew they wanted to show their love and appreciation for not just a teammate, but a brother.
It’s been a rough couple of months for Pittsburgh Penguins veteran defenseman Kris Letang; he suffered the second stroke of his life in late November, suffers a lower-body injury, and is now away from the team following the death of his father.
A run like that isn’t easy for anyone and the rest of the Penguins recognized that.
Despite his injury, Letang has been back home in Montreal to be with his family and that has kept him away from the lineup for three games.
Letang left the team before the Winter Classic in Boston and the rest of the team went out west for a pair of games.
Following their win over the Arizona Coyotes, the rest of the Penguins team went straight to Montreal to be with Letang.
According to many of the players and coaches, it felt like the right thing to do not just as a team, but as a family.
“He’s such a big part of this team, big part of this organization, there’s bigger things than hockey,” Bryan Rust said. “Family is number one, and we all consider him family.”
The Penguins have worn ‘CF’ helmet decals for the past two games to honor Letang’s father, Claude Fouquet, but they went the extra mile by showing up in Montreal for the funeral.
According to head coach Mike Sullivan, it wasn’t an easy process, but gave props to the teams’ ownership.
“We talked about a number of different scenerios and logistical challenges,” Sullivan said. “We’re grateful the Fenway Sports Group was 100% supportive of anything the players wanted to do.”
There were challenges in the way considering the team was coming from Arizona overnight across the boarder to Canada for a day before quickly returning to Pittsburgh for a scheduled game.
Letang is more than just a teammate to many of the Penguins who have come and gone; like Rust said, many look at him as family.
P.O. Joseph feels that connection to a different level as Letang opened his doors and allowed Joseph to live with him while gaining comfort as an NHL regular.
“He’s an older brother and mentor for a lot of young guys,” Joseph said. “He’s been in this organization for a long time. I think it was the least we could do to give back for everything he did for us.”
Letang and his whole family were touched by the Penguins’ presence and he made sure to relay that to the group.
“He said thank you, and you could hear how sincere he was and how appreciative he was to have us there,” Rust said.
The appreciation goes both ways between Letang and the Penguins; the team showed that they are at times far more than a hockey team.
“He texted us and said it means a lot to his entire family,” Marcus Pettersson said. “I think it meant a lot for us, too. To show that we support him and we care for him.”
As the Penguins prepare to take on the Vancouver Canucks, they will still be without Letang.
Sullivan stated that Letang is still in Montreal with family and it is still unclear when he will return to the team.
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