Growing up in Winkler, Manitoba, Penner played for his high school hockey team, the Garden Valley Collegiate Zodiacs, alongside future Washington Capitals teammate Eric Fehr. After high school, he was cut by many minor hockey teams, including his local junior club three times.\n', '

With little hope of ever playing hockey professionally, Penner agreed to play with Minot State University-Bottineau, now known as Dakota College at Bottineau, but immediately broke his femur, ending his first year with the club. The next year, in the 2001–02 season, he became a very important player for Bottineau, 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 his injury.\n', '

Penner then went to an evaluation camp at Saskatoon. He played well there, scoring an average of three points per game. He was scouted by Grant Standbrook, the assistant coach for the University of Maine\'s Black Bears ice hockey team, and was offered a scholarship, which he accepted. Although he did not initially join the team, in the 2003–04 season, he helped lead the Black Bears and to the NCAA Championship game, scoring the game-winning goal in the semi-finals against Boston College. Maine then lost the championship title game to the University of Denver 1–0.\n', '

Return to Dustin Penner Autograph Profile