A mid-winter day in Montreal can be cold enough to make you numb. But on this particular day in late January, Kris Letang felt only pain. About a month after the unexpected death of his father and around two months after his second stroke, Letang had spent enough time inside his house — only he didn’t know it.
“The kids were in school, it was just us,” Letang said, referring to his wife, Catherine. “She could tell I was still in pain.”
Sensing her husband needed encouragement to press the reset button, Catherine did what her husband would do: She brought the truth.
“She said, ‘I think you should go back to training, go back to the team, go back to your routine that you do every single day so you can get back into it,’” Kris Letang said, recalling one of the most important conversations of his hockey life.
“It actually really helped me.”
Hockey helped, particularly all that comes with playing it for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Practices. Staying on the ice to fine-tune his technique and work with teammates who sought to pick up some tips. Film study. Off-ice workouts. Morning skates and team meetings before games and media scrums after.
Being present for each small but normal moment instead of spending long days and sleepless nights contemplating the…
