Letang Showing Leadership By Opening Up His Home

After Kris Letang signed his six-year extension back in the summer, Mike Sullivan praised the franchise defenseman for not only what he brings on the ice, like his elite play and world-class conditioning … but for his leadership off the ice as well.

"He's evolved into a really important leader for us," Sullivan said. "I think Tanger has really evolved into a guy that takes a lot of pride in helping the younger players - in particular, our younger defensemen - and being a positive influence on these guys. There's so much more to winning than just a player going on the ice, and I think that's the culture that's been built here. These guys, their personalities and their influence, I think just permeates our dressing room."
And a perfect example of that has come this fall, with Letang taking a page out of Mario Lemieux's book and inviting 23-year-old blueliner P.O Joseph to stay with him during Penguins training camp.
"I've been in that situation before," Letang said. "I feel like being at home, being able to be comfortable… I can talk to him a lot more than at the rink because there, we have meetings and stuff like that. I can also teach him a little bit about mental preparation when you're outside the rink."
The mental aspect is so incredibly important for younger players who are trying to take the next step in their careers. The pressure of trying to prove that they can play games in Pittsburgh can be overwhelming, especially when they're in such a bubble, so Letang has been happy to play a part in trying to alleviate some of that stress.
"I feel like you're stuck at the hotel," Letang said. "You can't really get your head out of training camp or out of preseason games and stuff like that. You're constantly thinking about it. At home, he can do whatever he wants, go wherever he wants."
It's not the first time Letang has opened his home to Joseph, inviting him over for dinner whenever he's been up in Pittsburgh from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. These gestures from a veteran would have meant so much to a rookie, regardless of who it was. But it's even more special for Joseph considering their similar backgrounds.
Not only are they both from Montreal; they actually played in the same midget organization back home, called Collège Antoine-Girouard. And when Joseph was 14, he looked under the seat of his locker stall to discover Letang's name tag there.
"I didn't know him back then, but I was like 'oh, Kris Letang sat there. That's fun.' Now I live with him, 10 years later," Joseph said. "Obviously, it was really, really nice of him to offer. I was really excited. For me, it was Kris Letang, you know? I could never tell him that (laughs), but it's how I felt from a really long time.
"Growing up, having a French defenseman being one of the best in the league to look up to was fun. But now that I'm able to see the everyday Kris Letang, it's more than I could have ever hoped. But I was really happy, and I was honored to be able to go there and stay over there."
Joseph, who describes his fashion sense as "French, and in progress," joked that the first thing he did upon arriving at the house was to check out the closet, as the guys (mostly) agree that Letang is the best-dressed player on the team. Overall, Letang has been extremely hospitable to Joseph, who's been staying in the basement. P.O said Kris usually never lets him clean up, handling all of that himself - but he doesn't mind if Joseph takes out the garbage every now and then.
"He's a great kid," Letang said. "He's one of those guys that gets it. He's a young guy, he wants to learn things. He doesn't just come in and do his own thing. He actually tries to learn, and he asks questions. He wants to be a good teammate also, so he's been really easy to deal with. Cooking a little bit, so it's good."
The guys have taken trips to Whole Foods when they leave the rink in the afternoon, where it can be a bit of a process to decide on a meal, but they eventually figure it out.
"He's been really bad for knowing what he wants to eat. Like, just pick something," Joseph laughed. "I'm not difficult with food. So we just go in there and we're like, 'what are we getting for dinner? I don't know, what do you want?' Then it's back and forth. We just go in and get a bunch of stuff that we want. He made his mom's recipe for salmon, which was really good. I was not expecting this."
Other times, they'll just take it easy whenever they arrive back at the house. They watch a lot of TV and will put on hockey, football … or the French-Canadian version of ABC's 'The Bachelor,' which is called 'Occupation Double' in Quebec. Since it's not broadcast here in the States, they'll post up on the Letang kids' bean bags and stream it on their devices.
"It's funny because sometimes it gets late, but then I just get a text from Kris that's like, plug in your iPad, we're watching it," Joseph laughed. "They travel the world, basically. It's in Martinique, France. It's just a nice place, and there's drama. I mean, who doesn't like a good drama story, you know? We're just laughing and sharing a little bit of our background from growing up. It's been great."