Kris Letang to wear the “A” for Kraft Hockeyville USA game !
Kris Letang returns to today to play for the Penguins – having not played in an NHL game since Feb. 21 against the Carolina Hurricanes. What a journey the last seven months have been with Kris getting surgery, the road to recovery, and now returning with an A stitched to his sweater.
“I’m pretty excited. I can’t wait to see how it goes,” Letang said. “Mostly just getting back out there, playing with my teammates. It’s going to be fun.”
The Pens’ blueliner practiced on Saturday with the Pens’ No. 1 power-play unit and he hopes to return to his usual workload during the regular season.
“I want to be the same player I was before. I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t be able to do that,” he said. “Hopefully everything goes well and I go back to the old way, playing over 25 minutes and in all situations.”
Kris will be one of the Penguins’ alternate captains this season. A role head coach Mike Sullivan believes he is deserves and will be a great leader to the team, given how much Kris loves this team and his tenure so far.
“In my experience with Kris in the last two years he’s already grown into that role,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “He takes so much ownership for his own game and helping the team win. He cares so much about this organization and his teammates, and he’s very deserving of the letter on his sweater.”