Dustin Penner of the Anaheim Ducks is notable among NHL players for having a particular sense of humor and ability to laugh at himself. Whether it's owning up to an injury suffered while eating pancakes, or a lockout-induced internship at Conan, or his usually caustic Twitter feed, Penner seems like the decent, amiable sort for the most part. 

Everyone has a breaking point, however, and Penner hit his today. Sunday night, he was the victim of a pretty nasty hit thrown by greatest-NHL-name-for-this-situation-ever Ryan Garbutt of the Dallas Stars. Take a look as Garbutt goes out of his way to launch himself toward Penner's head.

 
Penner was briefly knocked out on the play, and Garbutt has been called for an in-person hearing at NHL HQ in New York City, which means the league can levy a suspension of five games or more. He's walking under his own power and appears better at this point, but still a scary moment at Honda Center on Sunday night.

Certain folks on Twitter, however, didn't exactly find it so serious. They decided, in their infinite wisdom, to take on an athlete with access and the knowledge of how to correctly use social media (at least from my point of view) and they were met with the Twitter equivalent of a stick to the mouth by Penner.

Oh man, just greatness. Especially the fact that he'd be willing to respond to someone with the Twitter name "PennerSucksHard." Penner is one of the game's better characters. Thankfully, he ended things on an up note… sort of.

About Steve Lepore

Steve Lepore is a writer for Bloguin and a correspondent for SiriusXM NHL Network Radio.