Pugnacious. Constantly in the grill of the opposition. Incapable, it seems, of passing up a hit or sidestepping contact.
He is not the largest agitator in the NHL, but at 6 feet, 192 pounds, Dorsett has fashioned a career on a feisty willingness to punch above his weight class.
Pugnacious. Constantly in the grill of the opposition. Incapable, it seems, of passing up a hit or sidestepping contact.
He is not the largest agitator in the NHL, but at 6 feet, 192 pounds, Dorsett has fashioned a career on a feisty willingness to punch above his weight class.
The abrasive style that would help Dorsett beat the odds and land him in the NHL was established during his junior days, when the Kindersley, Saskatchewan, native began a three-season stint with Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League.
Following Dorsett's second season, when he scored 48 points and had 279 penalty minutes, the Columbus Blue Jackets selected him in the seventh round (No. 189) of the 2006 NHL Draft.
Dorsett scored 19 goals and 64 points in 61 games in 2006-07 to help Medicine Hat win the WHL championship with a victory against Vancouver, although Vancouver defeated Medicine Hat in the Memorial Cup final.
Dorsett's professional path began in the fall of 2007 with Syracuse of the American Hockey League, and his 10 goals, 18 points and 289 penalty minutes earned him a call-up to the Blue Jackets. He would spend five seasons in Columbus, with the highlight coming in 2011-12 when he scored 12 goals, 20 points and had a League-high 235 penalty minutes.
On April 3, 2013, the Blue Jackets traded Dorsett to the New York Rangers in a deal that sent Marian Gaborik to Columbus.
Dorsett made 11 playoff appearances for the Rangers that season. He then scored eight points in 51 games in his one full season in New York, and played 23 postseason games as the Rangers eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens before losing to the Los Angeles Kings in a five-game Stanley Cup Final.
On June 27, 2014, the Rangers traded Dorsett to the Vancouver Canucks. The change in venue reunited Dorsett with Willie Desjardins, his Medicine Hat junior coach, and seemed to re-energize him. In 2014-15 he scored 25 points, had 166 hits and amassed 175 penalty minutes.
On April 8, 2015, Dorsett signed four-year contract extension, and the following season led the NHL in penalty minutes with 177.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- Signed as a free agent by Salzburg (Austria), November 26, 2012.
- Traded to NY Rangers by Columbus with Derick Brassard, John Moore and Columbus' 6th round pick (later traded to Minnesota -- Minnesota selected Chase Lang) in 2014 NHL Draft for Marian Gaborik, Blake Parlett and Steven Delisle, April 3, 2013.
- Traded to Vancouver by NY Rangers for Anaheim's 3rd round pick (previously acquired, NY Rangers selected Keegan Iverson) in 2014 NHL Draft, June 27, 2014.
