From humble beginnings, great things can occur. That’s exactly what happened on the 28th of December when Kris Letang bagged himself six assists against the NY Islanders (and more).
If that wasn’t impressive enough, wait until you hear his story, as Letang has fought through much adversity to become a history-maker in the NHL and NHL betting sites.
Early Years
Born in Montreal in 1987, Kris Letang became a defensive player firstly for Collège Antoine–Girouard in the QMAAA leagues. He then played for Val-d’Or Foreurs. During his three seasons in the QMJHL, he scored 153 points in 170 games and was eventually selected in the QMJHL and CHL all-rookie team.
During @Letang_58‘s last two seasons of junior hockey with the Val-d’Or Foreurs of the QMJHL, he took private English lessons with a tutor three times a week.
Being bilingual takes work.
Read more from Letang before French Language Night: https://t.co/GAfusYq6R3 pic.twitter.com/jXcKsrdllP
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 14, 2020
Letang was drafted 62nd overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005 after his first season with the Val-d’Or Foreurs but didn’t become a regular for the first team until the 2007/08 season.
Player Profile
Kris Letang has been a one-man team his entire NHL career. Having started with the Penguins he is still a Penguins player at the age of 37. The defensive player has been through much adversity and triumph throughout his life and career, which makes his history-making feat a little bit sweeter and engaging.
Adversity makes people become who they are. Some grab it and run and some shy away. Letang has certainly grabbed it and ran. Letang is firstly and foremost a three-time Stanley Cup champion, now not many people can say that. Winning it once is difficult enough, never mind three times.
There’s more to this Canadian’s story than meets the eye.
Letang has come through some dark and difficult times. Firstly, he lost one of his best friends in 2008 during the Stanley Cup finals against the Detroit Red Wings. Things didn’t go smoothly from there, as he then went on to suffer not one but two strokes in the next ten years. Still, this beast of a human has continued to be a professional NHL player in the NHL, and thankfully so, as he would never had made history on the 28th of December 2023.
Throughout his NHL career he has made the all-star game on six occasions, and the second all-star team on a further two. Although personal achievements were few and far between until that fateful night (which will get to), he did win the Emile Bouchard, Kevin Lowe, and Paul Dumont trophy in 2007.
Throughout his NHL career, Letang has played 1005 games, scored 156 goals, and assisted 535 times for a total of 691 points. Not bad for a defensive player, albeit a very solid two-way one at that.
Event Recap (History Maker)
So we have established from the opening paragraph that Letang scored six points in one night against the New York Islanders on the 28th of December, which in itself is a very impressive feat that not many forwards will get to do in their NHL careers.
But what makes Letang’s so special is the fact he scored five of those in a single period of play, becoming the first defenseman to score five points in a single period in the NHL and tying the record as only the second player ever to score five assists in a single period of all time in the NHL.
What was even more impressive was the fact all these came at even strength and none on the powerplay. We could also argue it was slightly even more impressive considering the fact Pittsburgh’s highest-ever scorer, Sidney Crosby, didn’t score any of the goals on the receiving end of the puck, with two goals coming from Evangi Malkin and two from Jake Guntzel. The other goal was scored by Radim Zahorna.
The final and sixth assist came in the 3rd period when Letang set up Valtteri Puustinen for his first-ever NHL goal. To cap off a great night, the Pittsburgh Penguins won the game 7-0 and Letang and his teammates managed a shutout.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion fought through adversity and managed to overcome two strokes and countless injuries to make the ice that night. Kudos to Letang for making history. If anybody deserved it, he does.
