LA Kings GM Dean Lombardi on Penner and Pancakegate

Last night Dustin Penner offered an ‘open letter’ on MayorsManor to explain his side of what went down with his recent back injury and the surrounding media attention related to his eating of some ‘delicious pancakes.’

That story has gone somewhat viral since, with references and links on the Edmonton Journal, Puck Daddy’s Yahoo Sports blog, Canada’s National Post  newspaper, Spector’s Hockey, Grantland, BusinessInsider.com and many more.

So, what does Kings GM Dean Lombardi think about all this? Here’s what he had to say when asked just that by Mark Spector on his Edmonton-based radio show earlier today…

“When you’re in this position and trying to manage your team to (become) a winner, I guess maybe it’s not only the young kids that you have to put out some fires – [Lombardi was smiling and holding back laughter] there’s a perfect example of all the things that can happen as you try to keep your team focused and get to where you want to go. You never know where it’s coming from. But, he’s made a lot of progress here and – actually – he’s played pretty darn well here recently.”

Funny off the ice, playing better on it.  That’s all well and good. Now, Penner is now looking to score some goals. Will he break through tonight? There’s at least a good chance, as in the past he’s told us that he gets up for playing the Stars – the team he made his NHL debut against back in 2005.

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