Penner, the day after Game 5

Given a few hours to reflect on his series-clinching, overtime goal, and the Kings’ advancement to the Stanley Cup Finals, Dustin Penner joined a media conference call today to talk about the trip home, his emotions and his thoughts on looking ahead to facing either New Jersey or New York…

Question: Apparently there were a lot of fans waiting to greet you at the airport last night. What was that experience like?

PENNER: “There were definitely a lot of fans waiting when we came back. I heard rough estimates of around 4,000 people. It was like driving down a hallway lined with human flesh, or people I guess you could say, because you couldn’t see anything but people screaming and Kings jerseys. It’s something that not anyone will forget ever, I think, on the Kings side who was a part of it. It’s one of those things you only get to experience when you make it to the Finals.’’

Question: Have you ever had anything like that?

PENNER: “No, I can’t… There were fans waiting, when we got back (while playing in Anaheim). When we clinched, to go to the Finals, we were at home. So I’m not too sure, but I think that’s where we clinched, so there were obviously a lot of fans there, but I’ve never been in a position where you win on the road and come back to that. I don’t know if the control tower was just being nice, but they said it was the biggest amount of people waiting for a team at LAX after a victory. So that was a nice little feather to put in the hat, especially being in a city like L.A.’’

Question: Can you talk about your feelings last night and today? Are you almost drained?

PENNER: “The weather is pretty nice, so I’m coping pretty well. It’s starting to sink in slowly, after a bunch of text messages from people you haven’t heard from in a while. That’s one of the signs that you’ve done something unusual. It’s a pretty nice feeling to be going back to the Stanley Cup Finals. I’m excited for all my teammates and the organization and the guys who haven’t been there before, because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience and opportunity.’’

Question: Was there a time when you thought everything might be coming together, the idea that, “We can be the good team we thought we were going to be?’’

PENNER: “I think everybody came into the season thinking we could be the good team that, I guess, hypothetically we are now. I think we all, especially the older guys, saw the pieces of the puzzle there. We just weren’t putting it onto paper. Everything looked good, but we just couldn’t find a way to click together. Darryl was a big part of that. He came in and he had meetings with each guy individually. The way he carried himself as a coach and the way he demanded the best — every coach…Terry demanded the best out of every player — but Darryl was able to get that, for whatever reason. Everything kind of lined up. The stars lined up and it came together at the right time. We got hot toward the end of the year, snuck into the playoffs by most critics’ standards. We knew, once we were in, that it was anybody’s game.’’

Question: Do you watch the rest of the Devils-Rangers series more closely than you might have before?

PENNER: “I think I can spare two-and-a-half to three hours a day, watching who our next opponent is going to be. I think you focus in and pay attention more, in a position we’re in now. I think that’s probably obvious. I think it’s something that everybody realizes, that we have an opportunity here to do something special, monumental and historical, and I think everybody wants to be a part of that, so they’re going to put in every amount of intensity and passion and focus and concentration that they’ve got into this, because who knows when you will be back. There’s guys that have played their whole career, 20-year careers, that don’t get this shot.’’