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NHL STANLEY CUP FINAL: PREDATORS VS PENGUINSMay 30, 2017Kris LetangPittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Practice Day Q. How proud are you of this group of guys, what they've been able to accomplish thus far? KRIS LETANG: Really proud. I think a month and a half ago I was sitting here, and I was really convinced the team could go all the way and win it again. When you have a leader like Sid, you have Geno, the core group are just unbelievable players. They care for each other. When you have that type of guys on your team, you know you have a chance. Q. What do you try to do to maybe help your teammates out? KRIS LETANG: Well, we have a tight defensemen group. I try to look out for options that they can use out there. I try to bring my input on what I feel on different other players, what their tendencies are. I try to help out. I'm not the big voice out there, so... Q. How is your recovery coming along? Do you feel vindicated saying this group could get to where they are when some people were rolling their eyes at you? KRIS LETANG: Well, first of all, the recovery is doing really well. I've been starting to work out, doing a lot of things off the ice. Everything is good. As for the people that were rolling their eyes, I don't know. I mean, you've all seen Sidney Crosby's demeanor, what he wants to accomplish. When you have a guy that you can look up to, I was confident to say that in front of a lot of people. That's what's happening right now. Q. How have you adjusted to the experience of watching from the stands, not being able to play in these games, be a fan for this playoff run? KRIS LETANG: I mean, I think when I'm sitting in the box up there, the people next to me don't really like me. I'm screaming (laughter). I don't work the best way by watching. But I'm really happy for those guys. They worked really hard. Like I said, they're caring for each other. To see them at this level, at this stage, it's fun to watch. I'm happy to watch that. Q. What do you see in Sidney Crosby's demeanor these days? KRIS LETANG: Just the little details he brings to every game. On and off the ice, he's just an example to follow. We won, and we had a couple chats. He really wanted to get in shape right away to get to the World Cup, win the World Cup, come back and say, We can win this again. We have a lot of young guys, a lot of energy. That's everything. Like the details, what he wants to accomplish, it's pretty incredible. Q. How hard was it to be out, to watch so many of the defensemen go down with injuries, that you couldn't be part of it? Also talk about what it was like to watch Marc-Andre and kind of connect the old teams of '08 and '09 to this group? KRIS LETANG: I mean, it's really hard. Marc-Andre is a really good friend of mine. Last year was not fun for him to watch. This year he brought so much to our team. He brought us to a certain point. It's tough to see. But it's also a luxury at the same time to have two great goaltenders. We know that they support each other. They're good for each other. So it's a luxury. Q. I think you said you've begun off-ice workouts. What is your schedule now? When do you plan on getting back on the ice? How long until you are yourself? KRIS LETANG: Hopefully pretty soon. I wear my skate a couple times (laughter). I would say I have a couple more weeks before I have another appointment. From there, I think I'll get clear for everything. Q. Did you wear them on the ice? KRIS LETANG: Close (laughter). Q. When you're forced to watch, does it change or maybe even improve the way you break down the game? KRIS LETANG: Yeah, I mean, it's a lot slower when you're on top. You kind of realize things that you don't really see at the ice level. I think as a player, I'm going to learn a lot, too, watching in different situation. It's easy now to go down and tell those guys, Hey, this is open. You might not feel like it, but this is open. It's a different aspect. I always try to think when you're watching a game or you're getting an (indiscernible), you're actually getting better, you're learning more. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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