I am convinced of this with absolute certainty: The Penguins wouldn't have won the Stanley Cup last season without Kris Letang. I also believe this without a doubt: The Penguins won't win the Cup this season without a healthy Letang.
Mike Sullivan delivered good news in Winnipeg on Wednesday night when he said Letang doesn't have a concussion or a problem associated with his stroke in 2014. Until then, we were left to speculate about the worst because the Penguins had been so vague about Letang's injury. He hasn't played since Feb. 21 at Carolina when he played 28:49 and finished the 3-1 win. He hasn't practiced since Feb. 24 and isn't on the team's Western swing through Canada.
Sullivan said Letang's injury is "upper-body" and "hockey-related." Unfortunately, he couldn't or wouldn't put a timetable on Letang's return. Is that at least a little distressing or what? I know, it's March 12. The playoffs don't begin for another month. Letang has plenty of time to get healthy. I'm just wondering if this is going to turn out to be one of those years for him. He missed five games in October, seven games in December, six games in January and eight games now. If this were just a one-season thing, it might be different. But Letang missed 11 games last season, 13 games in 2014-15 and the Penguins' five-game playoff elimination by the New York Rangers because of a concussion, 45 games in 2013-14, 13 games in 2012-13 and 31 games in 2010-11.
Do the math.
In the past six seasons, including this one, Letang has missed 139 of 443 regular-season games because of injury or illness. That's 31.4 percent _ nearly one of every three games.
And we think Sidney Crosby's career has been short-changed by injuries.
"Ah, geez, it's tough," Marc-Andre Fleury was saying the other day. He is as close to Letang as anyone and knows how much it pains Letang to be out of the lineup. The two are the only French Canadians on the Penguins' roster.
"You want to see your teammates have fun and be out on the ice with you," Fleury said. "He's missing it. He's out of it right now ...
"He loves the game. Every time he plays, he's going 100 miles per hour. Going into the corners. Giving checks. Taking checks. Always trying to make plays. He's such an intense player. He loves the challenge."
All of the Penguins coaches _ from Sullivan to Rick Tocchet to Jacques Martin to Sergei Gonchar _ have talked to Letang about picking his spots better. It's one thing to hold on to the puck and risk getting blown up in a playoff game to make a play. It's something much more unnecessary when the team is ahead, 5-1. Letang, who will hit 30 April 24, has promised to do better, but he knows only one way to play. That has left him vulnerable to injuries, but it's also made him a Norris Trophy-caliber defenseman.
What's remarkable about Letang is, other than that five-game series against the Rangers in 2015, he has managed to stay durable during the playoffs when the games are most intense. "I always marveled how he could come back from injury and be at full bore," former Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said last week. Letang has played in 100 of 107 postseason games going back to the Penguins' Cup season of 2009. He missed one game last season during the long journey to the Cup because of a suspension for his hit on Washington Capitals forward Marcus Johansson in Game 3 of that series. It's still hard to believe the Penguins won Game 4, 3-2 in overtime on Patric Hornqvist's goal, without Letang and injured Olli Maatta and getting more than 17 minutes from Derrick Pouliot.
Letang averaged nearly 29 minutes of ice time in the 2016 playoffs, easily the most on the Penguins. Only St. Louis' Alex Pietrangelo was close to him in minutes among NHL defensemen who played in at least seven games. Letang made the most of his on-ice time. Remember how his goal gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead when they were facing elimination in Game 6 against Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference final, prompting the Pirates crowd to start chanting "Let's Go Pens!" at PNC Park? His assist on Conor Sheary's overtime goal in Game 2 against San Jose in the Cup final? His winning goal in the Game 6 clincher against the Sharks?
Fleury remembers all of it.
"Other than his battle level, which is there every night, he skates so well. Joins the rush. Plays good defense. He can catch up with guys. Gets the puck out of our zone, by himself sometimes with his skating."
Veteran defenseman Mark Streit, acquired in a trade March 1, has yet to play with Letang but is eager for the opportunity.
"He's just a tremendous player, an unbelievable defenseman in this league for a long time. I played so many times against him. I always was so impressed with his game. His skating ability, how he moves the puck. He's got a lot of poise and a lot of skill. He's got a physical edge to his game. He's got a lot of tools in his repertoire. That's why he's that great."
The Penguins need Letang to be great if they're going to become the first repeat Cup winner in nearly 20 years. Actually, they just need him to be healthy. The greatness will follow automatically.
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