Kris Letang's congratulated on his overtime goal Thursday at PPG Paints Arena.
Kris Letang joined some impressive lists at the start of Friday's game against the Red Wings, becoming the 40th defenseman in NHL history to play in 1,200 games and only the third active defenseman to do so, joining just Brent Burns and Drew Doughty. He became the 28th player and seventh defenseman in league history to play 1,200 games with a single team.
Letang entered the night with 791 career points, the 10th-most through 1,200 games for a defenseman in league history and the most among the active defensemen through 1,200 games. He joined more elite history with his overtime winner in the Penguins' 4-3 win:
SportsNet Pittsburgh
Time of the game? Just 58 seconds into overtime, fittingly
Letang's overtime goal was the 13th of his career, tying Scott Neidermayer for the second most by a defenseman in NHL history behind only Brent Burns' 16. The goal was also Letang's 20th point of the year, becoming the 15th defenseman in league history with 18 or more 20-plus point seasons.
"It's always fun when you have a milestone game and you do something you can remember," Letang said. "Like, my 1,000th game, I was pretty silent. You have all the nerves, the family, the ceremony. So it was fun to cap it off."
There were absolutely times in Letang's career that it seemed like he wouldn't reach a milestone like 1,000 games, let alone 1,200. His two strokes alone cast serious doubt, not to mention the various injuries he's dealt with on top of that throughout his long career. Letang credited his family for the support he needed to hit these milestones, but also credited his hockey family, too.
"Having an organization like the Penguins is just special," he said. "All the care they put into me and everything they've done to make sure I could rehab the different injuries or health problems over the years, think that's the key, and your teammates, obviously, to keep your mental up. It's important."
Letang might not have ever had a period of time where he's the top defenseman in the league. He's not the most talented defenseman to ever play for this franchise -- that's still Paul Coffey. But it's his longevity, and the way he's slowly still joining these all-time lists and moving up some pretty impressive all-time rankings that make him a future Hall of Fame defenseman, the greatest defenseman to play for the Penguins in terms of a full career, and someone who is almost certainly worthy of having his number hang from the rafters one day.
THE ASYLUM
Letang rises up to milestone
Justin Berl / Getty
Kris Letang's congratulated on his overtime goal Thursday at PPG Paints Arena.
Kris Letang joined some impressive lists at the start of Friday's game against the Red Wings, becoming the 40th defenseman in NHL history to play in 1,200 games and only the third active defenseman to do so, joining just Brent Burns and Drew Doughty. He became the 28th player and seventh defenseman in league history to play 1,200 games with a single team.
Letang entered the night with 791 career points, the 10th-most through 1,200 games for a defenseman in league history and the most among the active defensemen through 1,200 games. He joined more elite history with his overtime winner in the Penguins' 4-3 win:
SportsNet Pittsburgh
Time of the game? Just 58 seconds into overtime, fittingly
Letang's overtime goal was the 13th of his career, tying Scott Neidermayer for the second most by a defenseman in NHL history behind only Brent Burns' 16. The goal was also Letang's 20th point of the year, becoming the 15th defenseman in league history with 18 or more 20-plus point seasons.
"It's always fun when you have a milestone game and you do something you can remember," Letang said. "Like, my 1,000th game, I was pretty silent. You have all the nerves, the family, the ceremony. So it was fun to cap it off."
There were absolutely times in Letang's career that it seemed like he wouldn't reach a milestone like 1,000 games, let alone 1,200. His two strokes alone cast serious doubt, not to mention the various injuries he's dealt with on top of that throughout his long career. Letang credited his family for the support he needed to hit these milestones, but also credited his hockey family, too.
"Having an organization like the Penguins is just special," he said. "All the care they put into me and everything they've done to make sure I could rehab the different injuries or health problems over the years, think that's the key, and your teammates, obviously, to keep your mental up. It's important."
Letang might not have ever had a period of time where he's the top defenseman in the league. He's not the most talented defenseman to ever play for this franchise -- that's still Paul Coffey. But it's his longevity, and the way he's slowly still joining these all-time lists and moving up some pretty impressive all-time rankings that make him a future Hall of Fame defenseman, the greatest defenseman to play for the Penguins in terms of a full career, and someone who is almost certainly worthy of having his number hang from the rafters one day.
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