Letang enjoying quality time with family

As Kris Letang was videoconferencing with members of the media from his home on Tuesday afternoon, a familiar little face kept popping up behind him.

It was his 7-year-old son Alex, who finished the homework that Kris had given him as a distraction much earlier than expected.

"He's done already, so I didn't have time to do my Q&A (without distractions)," Letang said.

It's been difficult for Letang, now 32 years old, to see yet another season affected by something beyond his control at this point in his career. But he is trying to make the most out of the current situation, enjoying the quality time he gets to spend with his family: Alex, daughter Victoria (21 months) and wife Catherine.

"It's tough, but at the end of the day, people's health is so much more important," he said. "It actually puts everything in perspective. I kind of blocked the will of playing hockey right now and just try to worry about what people are actually going through and what the real difficulties are. I try to enjoy things that I normally don't, like spending time with my family, and just hope everybody is safe."

On weekdays, Kris and Catherine get up with the kids and eat breakfast together. From there, either Kris or Catherine will help Alex with his home-schooling program while the other spouse will take care of Victoria.

"I like the home school because I learn more things now and practice my English," Kris said with a smile.

Though Letang also gets the chance to do that during his regular conversations with Sidney Crosby, the teammate he's been talking to the most during the pause.

"I think it's actually every two days, almost," Letang laughed.

When Alex is done with his schoolwork, he and his sister have a playroom where they like to read books. If the weather permits, they'll try to get outside.

"We have tons of activities," Letang said. "We ride the bike, try to stay fit. The kids sometimes jump into workouts. Victoria will try to imitate her mom. Alex was already trying to train. So, we try to stay active, depending on the weather, if it's nice or not. That's the way we do it."

During Video: Letang speaks to media during NHL pause, he said, "I just want to be playing hockey with my dad even if I'm a kid or an adult. I really love hockey that much." He's certainly getting that opportunity right now.

"He drags me to play mini hockey," Kris said. "It hasn't been the nicest outside so we haven't played hockey outside a lot. But inside, I think my back is taking a beating right now because I'm always bent over (laughs)."

When it comes to staying in shape for the season, Letang said he is treating this pause like it's his offseason.

"That's the way I like to see it, is that it's my summer break right now," he said. "I'm trying to make sure when I come back I'm fully rested. That's kind of my approach right now. I mix it with trying to keep my cardio up with some biking and running. Once we start it's going to be really condensed so I'm thinking about taking my break right now."

Though this is obviously different than a regular offseason, considering no one is able to get on the ice right now.

"Usually in the summer I stop (skating) for a week or so and then I hit the ice once or twice a week early in the offseason, so I never really stop completely," Letang said. "This is a complete stop. It's going to be tough, but we'll battle through it and we'll all be in the same boat."

In terms of what the format will be when the NHL resumes play, Letang said isn't sure what the right answer is. But one thing is for sure - he can't wait to be back whenever the time comes.

"It's so tough to tell what the best scenario is," he said. "The best answer is it depends how long we are going to stay at home. The further it drags, obviously, it's tough for teams that were playing well or had some momentum or were in the playoffs to keep going, because you had such a long break. At the same time, I think hockey will be missed by a lot of people, so I think it's going to be important that everybody gets going."