Story about Life and Hockey

Doubters always there for Jackets' Dorsett
Scrappy winger willed his way to hockey success

Saturday, March 7, 2009 3:09 AM
By Tom Reed
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
NEAL C. LAURON | DISPATCH

Derek Dorsett, 22, is one of four rookies to see regular time with the Blue Jackets this season.

The scrapes were multiplying and the welts on his back were turning an angry shade of red, but 12-year-old Derek Dorsett would not submit.
Another ball hockey game had gone wrong -- sticks dropped, punches thrown and Derek's mouth running as usual. He was giving up 10 to 15 pounds to his older brothers, Michael and Chad.

But he was not giving in an inch.

In an effort to silence Derek, they did what older siblings sometimes do: They rammed his back against the inside of the garage door, slamming him into the jagged screws and metal ridges.

"I kept (talking back) and they kept throwing me into the door," said Dorsett, now a winger for the Blue Jackets. "They probably threw me into the door 15 times. I was always the smallest kid, but I never backed down."

Blue Jackets fans get to see Dorsett channeling his inner 12-year-old almost every game. He is 5 feet 11, 185 pounds of attitude. He agitates, he disrupts, he fights opponents he has no business fighting.

Dorsett, 22, is one of four rookies to see regular time with the Jackets this season, and his rise to the NHL is the most unlikely. Goaltender Steve Mason and forwards Jake Voracek and Derick Brassard had the amateur pedigree. Dorsett, of Kindersley, Saskatchewan, was the 189th player selected in the 2006 draft, in the seventh round.

At age 14, he was cut in tryouts from eight Midget AAA teams. The reason became a weary refrain for the 5-4, 90-pound Dorsett: too small, not strong enough.

Seven years later, the energetic Dorsett is in the NHL, a veteran of 42 games, drawing a regular shift.

"All of their life, players like Derek have been told they won't make it and they have used that motivation to prove people wrong," Jackets development coach Tyler Wright said.

'Couldn't sit still'

Dorsett is a product of his environment, a town of 4,400 residents in western Saskatchewan fighting to become a city, but lacking the population to earn the title. Kindersley and neighboring Brock are known for oil and hockey.

Small in stature, they boast three current NHL players, Dorsett, Steve MacIntyre (Edmonton) and former Jacket Curtis Glencross (Calgary).

Donna Dorsett is probably the only mother in Kindersley wishing her son had spent more time in front of a television.

"I was the first person he lipped off," said Donna, who ran a restaurant with her husband. "He would come to me and say, 'Mom, I'm bored.' He couldn't sit still. He never played video games; he still doesn't."

Dorsett rode dirt bikes, got in schoolyard scraps and played hockey.

He dreamed of being a goaltender until the day the Brothers Dorsett got hold of a tennis ball machine and cranked it to Al MacInnis speed.

"They pelted me with tennis balls," Dorsett said. "At the time, it was tough having older brothers, but looking back, it was the best thing for me."

The low point was being cut from Midget teams. He had broken a bone in his right hand from numerous brawls in tryouts and thought about giving up, but his father, a former coach, encouraged him to keep plugging.

Dorsett grew slowly, and his skill began catching up to his desire. When he was 17, Dorsett led the Swift Current Legionnaires (Midget AAA) in goals and penalty minutes. Over the next few years, he combined with Blue Jackets defenseman Kris Russell to help make the Medicine Hat Tigers a junior-league power.

The season after the Jackets drafted Dorsett, the Tigers reached the Memorial Cup final. He scored eight goals in 17 playoff games.

"He has the heart of a lion," Jackets defenseman Mike Commodore said. "But you know what? He's also a good player and he's only going to get better."

'It's the only way'

Dorsett spent last season with minor-league Syracuse, which served as a finishing school for agitators. Under the tutelage of teammates Jon Mirasty and Zenon Konopka, Dorsett thrived in the chaos.

He scored 10 goals and racked up 289 penalty minutes in 64 games, sometimes fighting tough guys nearly a foot taller.

"Konopka was always trying to get me to test my limits," Dorsett said. "Mirasty taught me how to fight bigger players."

He credits Wright, a fellow native of Saskatchewan, for prodding him to develop his skating and skills. Dorsett has 12 fights this season, including a memorable Oct. 30 drubbing of Colorado's Darcy Tucker, but he plays well enough to earn consistent ice time.

Lately, Dorsett and left winger Andrew Murray have teamed up to form an effective energy line.

For a grinder who lives by the motto, "Every game is a Game 7 for guys like me," Dorsett knows his back is always against a garage door of some kind.

"I'm going to have to prove myself," he said. "It's the only way I'll stay here."