Elk Point’s Mark Letestu of the Columbus Blue Jackets made a trip through Alberta last week, stopping in Edmonton to play the Oilers in a 7-0 loss, but following it up with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.
At Tuesday’s morning skate, Cam Atkinson, who was Letestu’s roommate for road games when the Jackets picked up the Elk Point native in 2012, told The Journal that Letestu is an all-around leader, on and off the ice.
“I got to know him pretty well (as roommates), and every time the coach has kind of been hard on me he's kind of settled me down, and just said 'don't worry about it, just work hard and you'll be fine.' He's kind of been the guy that I look up to, to calm me down in those kind of situations,” said Atkinson. “He’s a very cool, calm and collected guy.”
When Atkinson was asked if any of Letestu’s small town sentimentalities had found their way into the Blue Jackets dressing room, forward Blake Comeau, who was standing next to Atkinson, jumped in with a direct response.
“Oh God yeah,” Comeau said with a laugh. “He was talking to me the other day about how he could never live in New York City because it's too busy. People are in too big of a hurry, he said.”
Atkinson agreed with Comeau, saying Letestu isn’t the type to soak in the limelight.
“He likes to stay under the radar,” said Atkinson. “He's a very family-oriented guy. His family always comes first, which it should obviously . . . It's hard to find those types of guys, and it's good that he's on our side.”
Letestu and his wife, Brett, recently had their second child, seven-month old Dylan, who joins his older brother Caleb, two. The family recently purchased a home in Columbus, and Letestu said they are enjoying their lives in Ohio.
“Columbus has been really good to us, we've very comfortable there as far as the way life is there . . . and two kids is awesome. It makes coming home from the rink exciting every day, just to see what they've learned or what they're doing new. It makes life really special, to share it with family now,” he said, adding that in the offseason he did as much as he could to spend every minute with his sons.
“That's typically what it's like, in the gym and then as much time as I can spend at home. Times like this when you're 10 days on the road, they want their dad around. In the summer I try and spend as much time being a dad as I can, and kind of getting away form the rink and hockey and enjoying the other things in life.”
Letestu now has one goal and six assists through 23 games played, and all six of his helpers have been first assists. The five-foot-ten, 199-pound centre has been paired with a number of different lines throughout the first quarter of the NHL season, but he says it’s all part of being a Blue Jacket.
“It's par for the course, for me. Ever since I've been here I've kind of bounced around from centre to wing, first to fourth line. It's kind of where ever I fit that particular night, so I'm accustomed to it, the line juggling,” he said. “I'm comfortable at centre, but we have a lot of centremen here, a ton of centres, so any chance to get move to the wing to help the team win, if you jump at it, it helps you stay in the lineup every night.”
Letestu has also had the honour of representing the Blue Jackets – the NHL’s only captain-less team – as an alternate captain for a handful of games this season, something he said he takes very seriously.
“Putting that kind of trust in me and what I bring to the team, you can't say enough about what that kind of compliment is to a player,” he said. “I take that very seriously and I'm very proud to wear it for this hockey club when I do.”
