Dorsett's game against former Rangers club memorable even before face-off

Things just keep getting better for Derek Dorsett in his first season with the Vancouver Canucks.
Dorsett’s 2014-15 NHL campaign improved even before he faced his former New York Rangers team Saturday at Rogers Arena. A day earlier, he became a father for the first time as his wife gave birth to a baby boy, Dylan.
“(She) got pregnant when we were playing in New York, and it just so happens that (she) gave birth when New York is in town,” he said after the Canucks morning skate in advance of the game against the Rangers.
The Canucks acquired Dorsett, a 27-year-old Kindersley, Sask., native, in a June trade which sent a 2014 third-round draft choice to the Rangers. He was scheduled to help Vancouver assistant coach Doug Lidster with some pre-scouting Friday, but plans quickly changed.
“I got to the rink in the morning (for practice) and I was just getting undressed, and my wife called and said it was time to get to the hospital,” Dorsett recalled. “So I ran back home and we (welcomed) our baby in the afternoon. At about 3:30, we brought him into the world. I went back to hospital (later) and my wife was feeding him around midnight and I got her into bed and I then I went back home, got home around 1 (a.m.) and got a good night’s sleep.”
Along with other off-season acquisitions, Dorsett has helped Canucks fans sleep better as he and the team have enjoyed a strong start to the season following the disastrous one-season tenure of former coach John Tortorella, when they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Heading into Saturday’s contest, Dorsett had already exceeded the eight points that he mustered in 51 games with the Rangers last season.
The fourth-liner is on pace for a career high 28 points – and almost halfway there.
“It’s worked out for both sides,” he said. “I didn’t get as much playing time over there. We talked it out and I ended up moving. It’s part of the business that we’re in. I’m happy to be a Canuck now, and I really enjoyed my time as a Ranger.”
Dorsett was dealt to New York in 2012-13 from his first NHL club, the Columbus Blue Jackets, who drafted him in the seventh round (189th overall) after he excelled under current Canucks coach Willie Desjardins with the Medicine Hat Tigers.
“I had him in junior for three years,” said Dorsett. “So being familiar with the coach, obviously, has helped.”
The uber-pest helped the Tigers win a WHL championship and reach the Memorial Cup final, where they lost to the host Vancouver Giants in 2007. He was denied a Stanley Cup championship last season with the Rangers as they lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in the finals. Although he is gone from the Rangers, he still cherishes the finals berth.
“It was a great accomplishment and, obviously, we fell up a little short, but it was a lot of fun,” he said.
According to Canucks captain Henrik Sedin, the winger, and other Vancouver newcomers, are also helping to create a more enjoyable atmosphere in Vancouver just by enabling Desjardins to roll four lines consistently. Although Desjardins juggled his forward trios Saturday for the first time this season, he has stuck to his plan of giving each line a fair share of ice time, and that makes a difference, said Sedin.
“(The atmosphere) was good last year, too,” he said. “We were in a good spot around this time as well, but I think everyone feels important to the team. You have to have the so called third or fourth-liners. They get a chance, each and every night, to make a difference and that’s really good, I think, for a team to have.
“It means, when you come in, you have a good feeling. If you didn’t get a chance to contribute or make a difference, I think it’s tough. But if you come in every day for a practice or a game and you feel that you have a chance to do something good for the team, it’s going to make you work harder.”
That situation also eases the burden on Vancouver’s star players, because everyone feeds of the success of the so called lesser lights.
“Dors and Bo (Horvat) and Jannik (Hansen) and (Shawn) Matthias, they’ve all been great,” said Sedin. “That’s what we need as a team to be successful.”