Ducks’ Stanley Cup win overwhelming for Penner

It has been eight days since the Anaheim Ducks sewed up the franchise’s first Stanley Cup championship.

But it hasn’t quite sunk in yet, according to Ducks and former University of Maine winger Dustin Penner.

“It’ll sink in gradually over days, months, weeks, years,” said the Winkler, Manitoba, native. “I’m starting to understand it better and better each day.”

Will the Stanley Cup make an appearance in the state of Maine?

“It was an honor to play at Maine and I’d love to bring the Cup up there. But I don’t think it’s going to be possible. [If I did that] I might get lynched in Winkler,” said Penner.

Penner is the first former Maine player to get his name on the Cup as a player. John Tortorella won the Stanley Cup as the coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004.

The 24-year-old Penner scored one of the series’ most pivotal goals by tapping a Teemu Selanne pass into a vacant net in the third period of Game 4 in Ottawa to give the Ducks a 3-2 win and a 3-1 stranglehold in the series.

“That was a really special game for me,” said Penner. “It was like scoring the game-winner against Boston College to get us into the [NCAA] final. This time we got the result we wanted. It’ll be a goal I’ll always remember.”

Maine lost in the 2004 championship game to Denver 1-0 after Penner gave Maine a 2-1 semifinal win over BC.

Penner said the response has been unbelievable.

“It has been such a boost to the community. You walk down the Boardwalk and you see people wearing Ducks hats instead of Angels hats,” said Penner, who has been inundated with phone calls, emails and text messages from all over the country.

“It’s been nice but overwhelming,” said Penner.

He said the moment the buzzer went off in the title-clinching 6-2 win, there was a “sense of accomplishment and relief as well. It was such a relief to win. All that hard work paid off. It was hard to describe the feeling because my brain was on overload. There were so many different things happening around me.”

Penner and the Ducks had a parade and actor-turned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger addressed the gathering.

“He had a great speech. He was pretty funny,” said Penner. “I met him and then later that night, I watched ‘Terminator 2′ on HBO. It was pretty funny.”

Penner said the Ducks simply played their style of aggressive, hard-nosed hockey throughout the playoffs and that paid dividends.

“We played our game throughout the playoffs and it paid off. There were no secrets or tricks. We got into [the opponents’] faces up and down the ice and we had the horses to do it,” said Penner.

He was pleased that Selanne, who began his NHL career in 1992, finally got the opportunity to hoist the Cup.

“It was unbelievable. I was so happy for him,” said Penner.

Penner said there were several celebrities on hand throughout the playoffs such as actor Cuba Gooding Jr., rapper-actor Snoop Dawg, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer (CSI, CSI-N.Y., CSI-Miami, Without a Trace, Cold Case).

Penner had three goals and five assists in 21 playoff games, including a goal and two assists in the Ottawa series. He had 29 goals, tying him for 43rd in the NHL, during the regular season along with 16 assists in 82 games.

The 6-foot-4, 243-pound Penner, who played primarily on a line with Ducks leading playoff scorer Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry (tied for No. 2), said he will spend the summer in Winnipeg where he lives with another former Black Bear, Jeff Mushaluk.

“I’ll start working out in July,” said Penner, who feels the Ducks can make a strong run for a second Cup in a row next season.

“We’ve got all the pieces. I’d like to see Teemu come back as well,” said Penner.