By Jack Wilson
It's still hard to believe how much Jarret Stoll fit into one day with the Cup, and it sounds like if we had visited Winkler, Manitoba with Dustin Penner back in 2007, when he won it with the Ducks, it would have been very similar.
But this is not Dustin's first rodeo. He has made it very clear that this time it's all about taking it slow, and just enjoying the day. In 2007 he apparently pushed himself so hard to get everything done on a hot day, that he got heat stroke. Penner's mom, who is a registered nurse, was telling us that at one point she had to hook Dustin up to an IV, hanging from a ceiling fan in the house.
This day starts with Penner's mom, Linda serving up home made crepes for breakfast. Before you make your pancake jokes, know that Linda already beat you to it. It's clear where Penner gets his sense of humor. Breakfast is served for three: Dustin, his grandma and the cup handler, and then it's off to the Winkler golf course.
Penner spent a majority of his day at the course, playing a full 18 holes with his dad, uncles and childhood friends, taking a few photos and sharing a drink from the Cup with his buddies. He held a public autograph signing in the afternoon and a dinner for his extended family that night, so everybody had a chance to see the cup, but the day really was everything Penner set it up to be.
It was a day that seemed like it would have been special for him, with or without the Cup.
