Letang opens up about off-ice role during Penguins' Stanley Cup run

As the main doors to the Penguins dressing room at PPG Paints Arena opened for media members Monday morning following the team's morning skate for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, Kris Letang ended up amid a flood of reporters and camera operators as he entered the inner sanctum.

Letang navigated his way through the crowd deftly and emerged unbothered, just as he sliced through poorly structured forechecks earlier this season when healthy. The one-man breakout through the media lasted only a few seconds, but it sufficed as a refreshing glimpse of the star defenseman on the move in traffic.

He took the next step in his shift back toward the public spotlight following Tuesday's optional Penguins practice at the when he spoke for the first time since undergoing season-ending neck surgery April 13. Out of the Penguins' lineup since late February because of a herniated disc, Letang lamented the cons that come with the upside of serving as a special player advisor for the Penguins during their Stanley Cup push.

“When I'm sitting in the box up there, the people next to me don't really like me,” Letang said. “I'm screaming. I don't work the best way by watching. But I'm really happy for those guys. They work really hard, and they're caring for each other.”

As Letang answered questions at a press conference in early April about his impending surgery, he remained confident about the Penguins' chances of repeating as champions. Though fans and media members believed his absence cast doubt on the likelihood of another Cup run, Letang expressed optimism. He explained why that faith represented more than lip service Tuesday.

“When you have a leader like Sid (Crosby), you have Geno (Malkin), the core group are just unbelievable players that care for each other,” Letang said. “When you have those types of guys on your team, you know you have a chance. … I was confident to say that in front of a lot of people.”

Another source of confidence re-entered Letang's life in recent weeks: exercise. The defenseman, notorious for his intense year-round training and health regimen, recently began off-ice workouts, he said. He's yet to get on the ice but is hopeful that step will come soon.

“I wore my skates a couple times,” he said. “I would say I have a couple more weeks before I have another appointment, and from there, I think I'll get cleared for everything I can.”

In the meantime, he'll continue to serve as a bridge between the coaching staff and the players. He also announces the Penguins' starting lineup before each game.

“We want him to be around,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He sits in on some of our coaches meetings — not all of them, but some of them. And we certainly value his input.

“He has great relationships with his teammates, so I think he has the ability to have one-on-one conversations or group conversations with defense pairs or the defensemen as a whole or the power play or whatever it may be. He has the ability to have informal conversations with these guys, and he can offer his insights or his perspective from seeing the game from a different vantage point than being on the ice.”

Letang questioned how much his voice as an adviser resonates with teammates, but he embraced the idea of using his view from the press box as a learning opportunity.

“It's easy now to go down and tell those guys, ‘Hey, this is open. It might not feel like it, but this is open,' ” he said. “I always try to think that when you're watching a game or you're getting a healthy scratch and you're up there, you're actually getting better. You're learning more.”

Bill West is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at wwest@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BWest_Trib.