Injury Report: Letang has heart surgery

[Zirakzigil]

Own thread deserving. Probably explains why hes looked so off. Hope he makes a full recovery for his lifestyles sake.

 

[Zirakzigil]

I think it's time my guy

This should have been done years ago.

Have a good recovery Tanger.

That's a sign from God that it's time to retire

Frankly it's amazing that Letang has been able to play as long as he has considering his litany of medical issues. No matter what you think of him on the ice, there is no denying he's got a ton of grit.

Reminiscent of all the injuries and cancer and an irregular heart beat is finally what forced Mario out for good.

At some point you have to listen to your body.

Dude is a psychopath

Wow…that’s crazy…he shouldn’t continue to tempt fate at his age…LTIRetire…

The small hole in the heart was the cause of Letang's strokes. I'm curious as to why they decided to do a procedure now when the issue has been known about for years. Hopefully he didn't have another episode or incident. Or maybe medicine has advanced over the last few years to make this procedure viable.

Buddy just f***in' retire, man. Jesus.

He previously had surgery to repair that hole, so it must have reappeared or it’s a new hole…he’s genetically predisposed to this…it’s scary

He did…second surgery at least

Looking back at the articles from his last stroke, they knew it was the issue. You have to figure something happened where they couldn’t wait a few days to let him finish the season out with one game left.

 

[BusinessGoose]

So, I mean, it may be time to just go live his life, now

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Just to be clear - Letang did not have a prior procedure to repair the hole in his heart. This is the first time that's been done. @Andy99 is mistaken.

Letang was diagnosed with the defect in 2014 following his first stroke. He was advised he could continue playing.

Tests also showed Letang has a small hole in the wall of his heart, a condition all people have before they are born. But the hole eventually shuts for the vast majority of babies shortly after birth.

Fortunately for Letang, he won't require surgery and the doctors feel he'll be able to make a complete recovery and eventually resume playing. But for now, Letang is taking his recovery on a daily basis.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/kris-letang-speaks-for-1st-time-after-stroke-1.2554317

The hole was the cause again in 2022.

Letang missed more than two months in 2014 after his first stroke, which was caused by a small hole in the wall of his heart. The condition also led to the second stroke, which Letang suffered Nov. 28 after dealing with a series of debilitating headaches.

This time, the symptoms have resolved themselves much more quickly, according to team physician Dr. Dharmesh Vyas, who described this stroke as "smaller" than the one Letang endured in 2014.

Letang returns to practice 10 days after stroke

Penguins defenseman Kris Letang returned to practice just 10 days after suffering the second stroke of his career.

www.espn.com

 

[Pens1566]

Yeah, my recollection is that he never had any corrective procedure before. Why he would have it now is certainly going to bring up some interesting discussions though.

 

[cookthebooks]

get well soon and i expect he will get 22 minutes on thursday

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Yeah, my recollection is that he never had any corrective procedure before. Why he would have it now is certainly going to bring up some interesting discussions though.

Exactly. Was he having symptoms again? Did he suffer a small third stroke? Did something change where this was impacting him throughout the season? Was this a last resort to avoid having to go on blood thinners?

Lots of pertinent questions once you get beyond the most important: How is he doing?

 

[Andy99]

I just want to point out that Matt Vensel also seems to think this is a second surgery…here’s how he started his article:

Kris Letang will miss the Penguins’ final game of the season and be recovering for several weeks after he needed to have another surgery performed on his heart.

He didn’t go into details about the prior surgery but I’m not the only one who remembers something in the past about surgery lol

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2025/04/16/kris-letang-heart-surgery/stories/202504160040

 

[Ryder71]

get well soon and i expect he will get 22 minutes on thursday

He should never play again, enough!

 

[DesertedPenguin]

I just want to point out that Matt Vensel also seems to think this is a second surgery…here’s how he started his article:

Kris Letang will miss the Penguins’ final game of the season and be recovering for several weeks after he needed to have another surgery performed on his heart.

He didn’t go into details about the prior surgery but I’m not the only one who remembers something in the past about surgery lol

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2025/04/16/kris-letang-heart-surgery/stories/202504160040

I think that was sloppy writing, not Vensel remembering something.

The hole is a genetic defect that's actually relatively common. We all have it, but it closes up for most of us after birth. Even for those who it doesn't close up, strokes aren't always common.

This is not something that develops later in life or reoccurs. If it's surgically repaired, that's it. Case closed.

 

[pistolpete11]

Very strange to play 4 seasons or whatever and then decide you need to have the surgery right now with 1 game left in the season. Seems to me like this should have been done a long time ago, could have waited a few more days, or something happened...

Not that the game means anything, but the last 2 months haven't meant anything. Why not then?

 

[lokomotiv15]

I'm definitely ignorant when it comes to this type of surgery/disorder and maybe this surgery was something he decided to hold off on and thought this would be a good year to do it with a massive off-season?

I'm really hoping it was a proactive not re-active surgery; He is signed to play until he turns 41 years old and if this was reactive to another stroke or worsening condition, I don't know how someone could buckle up to play 3 more years in the NHL the way that Letang does and not have it weight heavy on your mind.

Hope for a quick and complete recovery. Letang + family have always been great people.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Very strange to play 4 seasons or whatever and then decide you need to have the surgery right now with 1 game left in the season. Seems to me like this should have been done a long time ago, could have waited a few more days, or something happened...

Not that the game means anything, but the last 2 months haven't meant anything. Why not then?

Have to assume he was having more severe symptoms as the season progressed. Plus, hockey players are usually their own worst enemies when it comes to their health i.e. Pascal Dupuis

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Sullivan says Letang basically just said, "The hell with it. My body hurts as it is, so let's do it now."

 

[Jared Grayden]

Hoping for a quick and full recovery. Need Letang back for the rest of his contract to lead the tank and rebuild.

 

[Kristopher Letang]

He’s insane.

 

[Zirakzigil]

He’s insane.

You shouldnt be so negative toward yourself

 

[SEALBound]

So is he out for Thursday?

Or can we expect the "shirts off our back" program to include Kris giving some overly excited manchild his hospital gown?

 

[HandshakeLine]

Letang is stupid. Go retire. This endangering your life because you’re too dumb to do anything else is selfish and shouldn’t be treated like he’s some warrior bullshit.

As a soon-to-be-father this shit is infuriating.

And might I add it’s always Letang pulling this shit because he’s a f***ing moron, but I hate how the team tacitly encourages this. Go on LTIR for the rest of the contract and live to enjoy time with your kids, you f***ing moron.

 

[cookthebooks]

And might I add it’s always Letang pulling this shit because he’s a f***ing moron, but I hate how the team tacitly encourages this. Go on LTIR for the rest of the contract and live to enjoy time with your kids, you f***ing moron.

curious what you see as tacitly encouraging this? other options seem at least in the old days to be pretty illegal.

 

[HandshakeLine]

curious what you see as tacitly encouraging this? other options seem at least in the old days to be pretty illegal.

The way they heap praise on him and the way the media constantly fellates this kind of thinking. Guarantee there is some sort of hyper positive social media post about it in the next few weeks.

It was exactly the same with Dupuis and Voukun.

 

[Zirakzigil]

Really dont get the narrative. Dupuis went against medical advice and tried to keep playing, that came out publicly. From every medical release Letangs issue is not unheard of and treatable. Hes got his retirement contract and his cups. If there was risk there I highly doubt he would keep playing.

Fans freaked out with Sids concussions and it was all for naught. Fans freaked out about Matthews injury this year. And people wonder why players/teams/leagues dont want this information coming out.

 

[cookthebooks]

The way they heap praise on him and the way the media constantly fellates this kind of thinking. Guarantee there is some sort of hyper positive social media post about it in the next few weeks.

It was exactly the same with Dupuis and Voukun.

also the same way with crosby at a time many were calling for him to retire. once medically cleared i think its pretty hard to imagine a team not cheerleading its players. 'look at this medically cleared piece of shit who thinks he can stroll back into the lineup despite having a rotten ticker'

 

[Peat]

Dang. Hope there's no complications and everything's good for him going forward.

 

[HandshakeLine]

also the same way with crosby at a time many were calling for him to retire. once medically cleared i think its pretty hard to imagine a team not cheerleading its players. 'look at this medically cleared piece of shit who thinks he can stroll back into the lineup despite having a rotten ticker'

And while I understand the cynical economics and the ego fluffing behind it, I think it’s gross as hell.