Penner’s first day with the Kings

Dustin Penner was on the ice for an hour-long practice this morning, plus some fairly extensive pre-practice work with new linemates Anze Kopitar and Wayne Simmonds. There was a lot of on-ice conversation and a good amount of smiling and laughing and, off the ice, more than a few comments from team personnel along the lines of, “Wow, he’s big.” Afterward, Penner shared his thoughts on his first day of practice, and the amount of communication he had with Kopitar, Simmonds and the coaching staff on his first full day with the Kings…

PENNER: “Yeah, there was a lot of conversation. It was exciting for me to get here and be a part of a playoff drive. Everybody has welcomed me with open arms. It’s been a great first day of practice. I’m just trying to figure out the systems. A lot of the talking you saw out there was just, `What do you want from me?’ and stuff like that.”

Question: And what are the things they want from you?

PENNER: “Just to come in here and fit in and add some offensive punch and play with Kopi, and today we were on a line with Simmonds. We can work the puck down low. With him and Simmonds, it should be an easy game, where we all share the puck and just play the position, where we are on the ice at that time. If Simmer is the drive guy, or Kopi or I, the way we can throw it around, it’s going to be an easy game. I mean, just having the big bodies like that, we cam control the puck and just boil it down to the most common denominator, with puck protection and cycling, and our game can extend from there.”

Question: You haven’t been to the playoffs since 2007, so it must be a change here…

PENNER: “It’s a big difference. You can tell. It’s nothing against Edmonton. It’s just that when you get to the rink, in the meetings, there’s still some joking around but when the puck drops, it’s down to business when the drills start, and how intense each drill is and how quickly you go from drill to drill. It’s a high-intensity practice.”

Question: Do you feel like you will be ready for tomorrow night’s game?

PENNER: “Sometimes that’s better, to get it out of the way and break the ice quickly, instead of waiting. It’s fairly (easier), compared to some other guys who have to fly in one day and play that night. So I’ve had some time to learn the system, which is nice. I think it’s the perfect amount of time to get ready for tomorrow.”