Dustin Penner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Position Left Wing
Shoots Left
Nickname(s) The Large Human[1]
Height
Weight		 6 ft 4.5 in (1.94 m)
245 lb (111 kg/17 st 7 lb)
NHL Team
F. teams		 Edmonton Oilers
Anaheim Ducks
Nationality Flag of Canada Canada
Born September 28, 1982 (1982-09-28) (age 25),
Winkler MB
NHL Draft Undrafted
Pro career 2006 – present

Dustin Penner (born September 28, 1982 in Winkler, Manitoba) is a professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League. Penner was never drafted; he was discovered and signed as a free agent by the then Mighty Ducks of Anaheim after he played for the University of Maine in the NCAA. Penner won the Stanley Cup in his rookie season with the Anaheim Ducks in 2006-07. During the 2007-08 NHL season, he lived with Oilers teammate Matt Greene.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Minors

Dustin Penner began his career by playing on his highschool team, the Winkler Zodiacs, and had little hope of ever making it to the NHL or playing hockey professionally. [1] After being cut by all local AAA and junior teams he tried out for, his cousin Darryl called him and offered him an opportunity to play at Minot State University-Bottineau, a junior college.

He agreed to play there, but his first year turned out to be a terrible one, as he broke his femur and did not return to play. The next year, in the 2001-02 season, he became a very important player for the club, scoring 20 goals with 13 assists in 23 games, also earning the Most Determined Player Award for his improvement and stellar play after recovering from a broken femur.

Penner then went to an evaluation camp at Saskatoon. He played well there, scoring an average of three points per game. There he was spotted by Grant Stanbrook, the assistant coach for the University of Maine. Grant offered Penner a scholarship, which he accepted. He did not play for the team that year, but joined them in all of their practices.

In the 2003-04 season Penner played for the University of Maine Black Bears and helped lead the team to the NCAA Championship game, where he scored the game-winning goal in the semifinals against Boston College. Maine then lost the championship title game to the University of Denver, 1-0.

After the loss, Penner was approached by David McNab, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim’s assistant general manager. He told Penner that he had a good chance to advance to the NHL. A month later, on May 12th, 2004, the Mighty Ducks signed him to a contract as a free agent.

He was assigned to play for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, at the time the Anaheim Mighty Ducks' American Hockey League affiliate. He had a good year with Cincinnati, but when he was moved to play for the Portland Pirates, (the Ducks current AHL affiliate) he played much better; scoring 39 goals and 45 assists in 57 games, for a total of 84 points. [2] The Mighty Ducks took notice and called him up from the minors to play in the NHL on November 23, 2005.

[edit] Professional

Dustin Penner played 19 games for the Mighty Ducks in the 2005-06 NHL Season, the first season of his career. He scored four goals, three assists and seven points in total. But, he was sent down to play for the Ducks' current minor affiliate, the Portland Pirates, on and off during the regular season.

He was sent back and forth from the minors to the NHL [3], until finally being recalled to join Anaheim in their Stanley Cup efforts. Penner scored three goals, six assists, and nine points in the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs until Anaheim was eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Conference Finals.

In the 2006-07 NHL Season Penner had a breakout year, improving significantly. He remained on the roster of the newly-named Anaheim Ducks for the entire season, scoring 29 goals, 16 assists, and 45 points. He scored the second most goals on the team, only trailing superstar Teemu Selänne who scored 48. The playoffs started out well for Penner when he scored the game-winning goal in game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Minnesota Wild in the 2007 NHL Playoffs. Penner also scored the game-winning goal in game 4 of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals in a 3-2 victory against the Ottawa Senators to give Anaheim a 3-1 series lead. On June 6, 2007, Penner and the Ducks defeated the Senators 6-2 to win the Stanley Cup. Penner became the first former Maine Black Bear to win the Stanley Cup as a player.

After winning the Stanley Cup with the Ducks, Penner became a restricted free agent. With the Ducks dealing with salary cap issues, Penner remained unsigned. The Edmonton Oilers jumped on the opportunity and signed Penner to an offer sheet for a five-year, $21.25 million contract. The contract was criticized a great deal by the media, stating that $4.25 million per year was an overpayment for Penner. After seven days, the Ducks were unwilling to match the offer, and Penner became an Oiler.[2]

Dustin Penner is known for his ability to hold on to the puck for long periods of time and muscle his way around and behind the net with his big size. He is also recognized as a power forward, skilled at deflecting the puck. [4]

[edit] Awards & Achievements

[edit] Transactions

[edit] Career Statistics

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2001-02 MSU-Bottineau NJCAA 38 22 14 36 -- -- -- -- -- --
2003-04 Maine NCAA 43 11 12 23 52 -- -- -- -- --
2004-05 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks AHL 77 10 18 28 82 9 2 3 5 13
2005-06 Portland Pirates AHL 57 39 45 84 68 5 4 3 7 0
2005-06 Anaheim Mighty Ducks NHL 19 4 3 7 14 13 3 6 9 12
2006-07 Anaheim Ducks NHL 82 29 16 45 58 21 3 5 8 2
2007-08 Edmonton Oilers NHL 82 23 24 47 45 -- -- -- -- --
AHL Totals 134 49 63 112 150 14 6 6 12 13
NHL Totals 183 56 43 99 117 34 6 11 17 14

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Stolhand, Doug (2007-08-02). Now Playing in Edmonton: Dustin Penner. HockeyBuzz.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
  2. ^ Harris, Beth. "Ducks let Penner move on", Associated Press, 2007-08-03. 

[edit] References

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