You don’t play the game the way Derek Dorsett does without developing a few enemies along the way.
Last season alone Dorsett had 12 fighting majors (preseason included) according to HockeyFights.com. Two of those fights came against the Vancouver Canucks.
During a pre-season game last September, he dropped the mitts with Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa.
Then during a regular season meeting between the Rangers and Canucks in November, Dorsett and Vancouver tough-guy Tom Sestito dropped the gloves.
In June, the Canucks acquired the hard-nosed forward reuniting him with his fight partners.
“It’s a funny world that way,” Dorsett told Canucks TV, “You’re enemies one day and you’re best friends the next season. Everyone’s professional and everyone knows what their jobs are. Everyone respects each other.”
Dorsett also has a previous relationship with new head coach Willie Desjardins having played for the Canucks bench boss while with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League.
The 27-year-old was part of Desjardins’ team, which lost the 2007 Memorial Cup final to the Vancouver Giants in Vancouver.
“Its funny, the hockey world is a small world,” he said. “To be back with Willie is great. I think he deserves a chance here in the NHL. I know when he was in Medicine Hat he was a real good coach and I think he’s going to do a great job in Vancouver.
“I’m looking forward to working with him again.”
Dorsett had eight points in 51 regular season games with the Rangers last season while racking up 128 penalty minutes. Ironically, he could find himself fighting for playing minutes with Sesito this season on Vancouver’s fourth line.