Dustin Penner

[Marc the Habs Fan]

How did this kid not get drafted with his size and hands? You'd think a scout somewhere would have encouraged his team to take a late round flyer on him.

He looks so dominating out there tonight, Bertuzzi-esque. Great find by the Ducks.

Click to read more...

 

[Kevin Forbes]

He's a great story.

 

[HuskyFlames]

I agree, he is looking good. Can he keep it up though? Only time will tell.

On another note, I think Penner's story shows that college scoring isn't the end all to a player's true offensive potential. His final year was:

2003-04 Maine NCAA 43 11 12 23 52

Just a little info for people who are always saying, "xxx player" isn't scoring at a PPG or higher so he has no offense argument. Penner is looking like a solid top 6 forward at this point.

 

[Jerky Leclerc]

Classic case of late bloomer. Chalk another one for the Anaheim scout.

 

[inferno98]

He's a great story.

Heard a lot about this story, what exactly is this? Is there an article?

I have heard like 3 different version of him being cut by a Tier 2 team to being cut by a Junior "C" team and to him being cut by a Varsity High School team.

 

[Ducksforcup]

Penner is amazing. He is huge, yet he has the softest of hands. No one can knock him off the puck.

He will be a mainstay on the Ducks for years and years to come.

 

[Static]

Penner is amazing. He is huge, yet he has the softest of hands. No one can knock him off the puck.

He will be a mainstay on the Ducks for years and years to come.

Maybe, if he uses his body. He's still the softest 6'4" guy Ive ever seen, but if he developes a bit of nastiness he could be a pretty good player.

 

[Randall Graves*]

Maybe, if he uses his body. He's still the softest 6'4" guy Ive ever seen, but if he developes a bit of nastiness he could be a pretty good player.

I interpret soft as not wanting to take hits, or hit anyone. thus far he's shown he has no problem taking hits.

 

[Static]

I interpret soft as not wanting to take hits, or hit anyone. thus far he's shown he has no problem taking hits.

He could hit people a LOT harder than he does, and he DOES shy away from contact in the sense of going into the boards hard. Tonight he was great at holding guys off, but did he actually hit anyone? The one play that I really liked tonight, more than any of his passes was when he got tired of an Avalanche player hanging on him, turned around and just threw him off. If he had that kind of attitude ALL game he would be a very, VERY tough guy to play against.

 

[mmbt]

Heard a lot about this story, what exactly is this? Is there an article?

I have heard like 3 different version of him being cut by a Tier 2 team to being cut by a Junior "C" team and to him being cut by a Varsity High School team.

I remember reading he had a really late growth spurt, and so it took him a few years to kind of learn how to use his tools. Played at a tiny junior college, MSU Bottineau, until he was spotted by a Maine assistant coach during a summer prospects camp in Saskatoon and signed to a scholarship.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

can't help but be impressed with his playoff performance so far

 

[inferno98]

I remember reading he had a really late growth spurt, and so it took him a few years to kind of learn how to use his tools. Played at a tiny junior college, MSU Bottineau, until he was spotted by a Maine assistant coach during a summer prospects camp in Saskatoon and signed to a scholarship.

Thanks

 

[USA!]

I remember reading he had a really late growth spurt, and so it took him a few years to kind of learn how to use his tools. Played at a tiny junior college, MSU Bottineau, until he was spotted by a Maine assistant coach during a summer prospects camp in Saskatoon and signed to a scholarship.

Yep hes was here at MSU Bottineau in North Dakota and was found by Maine at a camp. I was reading a local paper not too long ago, that had a great story about him and making it to the NHL I ll try find a link for you..

 

[Brooklyndevil]

Brian Rafalski and John Madden weren't drafted either....It happens. Penner is looking like a heck of a steal.

 

[jcpenny]

Maybe, if he uses his body. He's still the softest 6'4" guy Ive ever seen, but if he developes a bit of nastiness he could be a pretty good player.

You are way off base here. In every game ive seen him so far, he was physical and protected the puck pretty well.

 

[Sammy*]

I interpret soft as not wanting to take hits, or hit anyone. thus far he's shown he has no problem taking hits.

He must have grown real late, or being unbelievably uncordinated when he was of draft age & a little later.
Otherwise, it makes it makes no sense with his present size & pretty good skill set.

 

[God Bless Canada]

To expand on what was said earlier about Penner's story. He was actually cut twice by his hometown Junior A team in Winkler, Manitoba. Played a couple years in Junior B. For those not aware, junior A is a step below Canadian major junior (WHL, OHL and QMJHL), and the MJHL is not exactly recognized as one of the dominant junior A leagues in Canada.

Bottineau's basically an obscure college in North Dakota. No offence to the school, either. Actually, a friend of mine went there for a couple of years. Don't even know if it's classified as Division III.

Penner has the potential to be an all-time, dictionary example of a hockey late bloomer. Young players are supposed to get better every year, but not to the extent that he has improved. He has all the skills to be a star, and the size to match. The sky is the limit.

 

[mmbt]

He must have grown real late, or being unbelievably uncordinated when he was of draft age & a little later.
Otherwise, it makes it makes no sense with his present size & pretty good skill set.

Apparently, he was about 5'6" in HS, so he didn't make the team. Then he grew 8 inches in about 18 months, and he didn't adjust until he had graduated. He couldn't even get a Div III scholarship at that point, so he was a walk-on at MSU Bottineau.

Found one article:
http://www.canoe.ca/Slam040513/col_friesen-sun.html

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Brian Rafalski and John Madden weren't drafted either....It happens. Penner is looking like a heck of a steal.

Neither were Preissing or Gorges, 1/3 of the defense for San Jose.

 

[paxtang]

He could hit people a LOT harder than he does, and he DOES shy away from contact in the sense of going into the boards hard. Tonight he was great at holding guys off, but did he actually hit anyone? The one play that I really liked tonight, more than any of his passes was when he got tired of an Avalanche player hanging on him, turned around and just threw him off. If he had that kind of attitude ALL game he would be a very, VERY tough guy to play against.

Kinda reminds me of Leclair.

 

[Kick Save]

Brian Rafalski and John Madden weren't drafted either....It happens. Penner is looking like a heck of a steal.

Kudos to the Devils' scout(s) who found Rafalski and Madden. Great scouting job. Ducks' scouts aren't too shabby, either, when it comes to players who weren't drafted. In addition to Penner, they found Andy MacDonald and Chris Kunitz. I also have a feeling that the very-recently-signed David McKee, the goalie from Cornell, will prove to be a great another example of signing an undrafted, college kid who makes an impact at the NHL level.

 

[Rookie Chargers]

How did this kid not get drafted with his size and hands? You'd think a scout somewhere would have encouraged his team to take a late round flyer on him.

He looks so dominating out there tonight, Bertuzzi-esque. Great find by the Ducks.

If we roll back 3 years he was a big zero. His improvement has gone two fold per year. Concerning his hitting, I remember reading that he is afraid to body check players because of his size. I could be wrong but I think that is what I read. I also remember asking at the time, How strong is this guy?.

 

[Sammy*]

Neither were Preissing or Gorges, 1/3 of the defense for San Jose.

Or Bergeron or Roloson on the Oilers.

 

[Krieger99]

How did this kid not get drafted with his size and hands? You'd think a scout somewhere would have encouraged his team to take a late round flyer on him.

He looks so dominating out there tonight, Bertuzzi-esque. Great find by the Ducks.

Penner works hard at both ends of the ice. Bertuzzi floats around the neutral zone and whines to the refs.

 

[Static]

You are way off base here. In every game ive seen him so far, he was physical and protected the puck pretty well.

Thats not what I am saying. Hitting people and holding them off are two very different things. He's very good at holding people off but not so much in the hitting, at least not as much as a player his size should be. Like I said before, once he gets a nasty edge to his game he's going to be real good.