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Letang: Possibility of another stroke ‘always in the back of my mind’

New York Rangers v Pittsburgh Penguins - Game One

Kris Letang

Justin K. Aller

Kris Letang is just 27 years old. But at such a young age, he suffered a stroke last season and missed nearly three months of the 2013-14 regular season.

His wife, Catherine, found him on their bathroom floor. Letang was alert but unable to function, based on the reports from last February, when he met with the media for the first time since suffering the stroke.

Amazingly, that’s all the time he missed - 26 years of age at the time - before returning to the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup just before the Stanley Cup playoffs.

But despite his return, which included six points in 13 post-season games, as the Penguins made it to the second round, and going through the rigors of another training camp, the veteran defenseman is still concerned about the possibility of another stroke.

“Yes, I’m worried every day,” Letang told Yahoo Sports.

“The percentage of that happening was point zero one percent. So the percentage of that happening again for me is still there. It happened once. Why not twice? That’s always in the back of my mind.”

It’s still the pre-season, but Letang has been paired on the blue line with the offensively dynamic defenseman Christian Ehrhoff.

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the two have almost been inseparable on the ice, finding themselves together in a number of different situations, including power play - no surprise - and the penalty kill.
“We’re still learning what the other guy is going to do in certain situations, but that’s going to get better if we play together more,” Ehrhoff said told the Tribune-Review.

“So far, the chemistry has been pretty good.”

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