Blue Jackets notebook: Rookie isn't playing like one

Dorsett scores first NHL goal, remains on ice at clutch time

Wednesday, October 22, 2008 7:24 AM
By Tom Reed

The Columbus Dispatch


Each day, Blue Jackets rookie Derek Dorsett can see the injured veterans getting healthy around him. He has been a pro only two seasons but understands how the system operates.

Ninth-round picks don't stay in the league long unless they do something every night to get noticed. It's why he agitates anything wearing an opposite-colored jersey and launches his 187-pound body at larger opponents.

"Every game is a Game 7 for a guy like me," Dorsett said.

The feisty winger certainly bought himself a few more days in Columbus with last night's effort in Nationwide Arena. He scored his first NHL goal, saw ample ice time against Vancouver's top line and fought for the third time this season in a 4-2 victory.

His second-period goal, a rebound shot past Roberto Luongo, proved to be the winner at 14:23. Dorsett celebrated by jumping chest-first into the glass behind the net.

It was quite a moment for a kid who spent eight years as a stick boy for the Kindersley Klippers, a junior hockey team in Alberta.

"Every kid on the outdoor rinks or down in his basement wants to be one of the players lucky enough to score his first NHL goal," Dorsett said.

Twenty minutes after the game, he stood in the locker room still wearing his skates and entire uniform answering questions about who he would call first and where the cherished first-goal puck would call home.

"I'm sure I'll send it to my mum and dad," he said.

Dorsett skated 19 shifts on a line with Manny Malhotra and Andrew Murray. They were matched up many times against the Sedin twins. With the Jackets clinging to a one-goal lead, Dorsett was still on the ice with less than two minutes remaining.

"Derek Dorsett is a big addition to this hockey team right now," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "He doesn't play like a young player."

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