Joe DiPenta was born in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, February 25th 1979. His family moved to the East Coast of Canada when he was one year’s old, and this is where he spent his childhood years. At the age of seven, his family settled in the town of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada where he started playing in competitive hockey. While Joe had been skating since the age of two and playing hockey since the age of four, he began to find his passion for the game on the Cole Harbour ice rink. Joe’s team, the Cole Harbour Red Wings, experienced great success winning the Provincials three out the five seasons and winning the Atlantics in 1992. Joe represented Atlantic Canada at the World Under- 17 Championships and played on Team Nova Scotia at the Canada Games before moving away from home at the age of sixteen to pursue a prep school education at Lawrence Academy in Groton Massachusetts. The following year he left Lawrence Academy and joined a Canadian junior A team in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada with the hopes of attracting an American university hockey scholarship. After losing in the finals to their arch rivals, Kanata Valley Lasers, (featuring Kent Huskins - a Duck’s teammate), that hope was answered when the Boston University Terriers granted him a full scholarship. After a successful freshman year at Boston University, Joe was picked in the National Hockey League (NHL) Draft by the Florida Panthers, their second choice, 61st overall. In 2000, he had the privilege to play for the Halifax Mooseheads, his home town team. Joe played in the Memorial Cup that year, featuring the top four junior teams from across Canada and he participated in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League All-Star game. Joe and the Panthers could not reach a contract agreement which in turn allowed him to be signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Flyers in the summer of 2000. Joe played one and a half seasons with the Flyers’ affiliate team the Phantoms. While in Philadelphia, he met his future wife, Jessica, after an interview with Bill Clement .
In the spring of 2002, Joe was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers organization where he reported to their minor league team, the Chicago Wolves. While with the Wolves, Joe played an important role in their Cinderella Calder Cup winning season. He finally got the call from the big leagues at the end of the 2003 season. The non-playoff-bound Atlanta Thrashers had three games left to go when Joe played his first t NHL game in Buffalo, NY. In only his second NHL game two days later, another pivotal moment happened in his career… he scored! He beat Garth Snow, of the New York Islanders, with a wrist-shot to the top corner of the net at the end of the first period. A young budding hockey star named Danny Heatley assisted on his goal. Joe finished the game with a goal, an assist, and a plus three rating. Training camp could not have come quicker for the excited DiPenta who thought he had finally got his break. Unfortunately, training camp came and went and he again found himself disappointed and back in the minor leagues.
Joe signed with the Vancouver Canucks for the 2004-2005 season. This change of scenery was the catalyst that jumpstarted his career! With the NHL work stoppage, he played out the year in Winnipeg for the Manitoba Moose, (the Canucks affiliate team). Joe’s head coach in Winnipeg was long-time Winnipeg Jet ,Randy Carlyle. The Moose did well that season, winning two playoff rounds, until losing to Joe’s former Chicago Wolves team in the Calder Cup semi-finals. While on his fifth professional season, Joe’s playoff experience had already exceeded any of his teammates in the number of games played.
Joe’s hard work ultimately paid off came in the summer of 2005 when Brian Burke’s new management team took over the Anaheim Ducks, under new owners Susan and Henry Samueli. After hiring Randy Carlyle as their head coach, Joe’s agent received a phone call from the Ducks with an offer. California was a welcome change from the minus 35 degrees Celsius winter days of Winnipeg. Finally Joe got to try-out for an NHL coach that believed in him.
Joe made the Anaheim Ducks team that year. Over the course of three hockey seasons with the Ducks, he amassed 167 NHL games. The biggest moment of Joe’s career was on June 6, 2007. It was on this evening when he became a Stanley Cup Champion on home ice at the Honda Center. This six-two victory was won against the Ottawa Senators. The Anaheim Ducks became the first west coast team in NHL history to win Lord Stanley’s Cup. Joe became one of a small group of players and coaches to have their name on both the Calder Cup and the Stanley Cup. That list includes hall of famers, Patrick Roy and Larry Robinson. The next big moment for Joe came when he and teammate, Teemu Selanne, set a team record for fastest back to back goals… eight seconds apart! The date was April 6th, 2008, against the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center. In January 2008, Joe and his Ducks teammates had the honor of meeting President Bush at the White House, in Washington D.C. This meeting was to recognize their achievement of winning the Stanley Cup.
Joe is the oldest child of Judy and Barry DiPenta. He has two younger sisters, Jennifer and Jillian. Jennifer is a family physician in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Jillian is presently attending Dalhousie Medical School also in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Joe and his wife Jessica live in Newport Beach, California where they are active in their new community. They, along with friends Dianna Munro and Rick Johnson, have started their own foundation Orange County Shoot For The Cure, to raise money for the pediatric cancer patients at The Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), and for cancer research through the American Cancer Society (ACS). Joe also has a vested interest with the Anaheim Boys and Girls Club. Joe built this website to stay connected with his Orange County neighbors and to raise awareness for his new foundation, Orange County shoot For The Cure.” |
