Vancouver Canucks forward Derek Dorsett has already locked up his 5th 150+ penalty minute season and is on pace to lead the league after finishing third last year (he also led the league in PIM in 2011-12). That would also make a Canuck the champ in that inglorious category for the 2nd time in three years, as Tom Sestito took the crown back in 2013-14 with 213 PIM.
However, fighters in the NHL have fallen from vulnerable to critically endangered, and with the role all but gone in today’s league, it time for the Canucks to follow suit and cut all ties with bottom-six wingers with little value other than their innate ability to hit others in the face.
Derek Dorsett: The Last Canucks Figther
Vancouver has a long history of knuckle-dusters, including most notably Dave “Tiger” Williams, the NHL’s all-time penalty minute king who managed a jaw-dropping 1324 PIM in just 388 games with the club (as well as some fantastic goal celebrations, no it’s not the one you’re thinking of), and franchise leader Gino Odjick, perhaps the most feared man to ever wear a Canucks jersey, who spent 2127 minutes in the box over 444 games in Vancouver.
Since the 2005 NHL lockout, the Canucks have had a number of colorful characters filling the tough-guy role, starting with Jeff Cowan (who was the recipient of a very unusual form of adulation), Shane O’Brien (the rarer defenseman enforcer), Darcy Hordichuk (undersized, but would take on all comers), and Rick Rypien (who is still adored in Vancouver since his passing).
However, as the team rose in the standings to become a contender, their need for an enforcer gradually diminished, and the “superpests” found a more prominent place in the lineup instead. Included on that list would be the likes of Ryan Kesler, Raffi Torres, Alex Burrows, and Maxim Lapierre (a list which could be much longer, depending on which fan base you asked).
The difference of course was that Kesler, Torres, Burrows and Lapierre could actually put the puck in the net, while still racking up fairly high penalty minute totals and just generally driving other teams batty. Though near universally considered dirty players who crossed the line more than once, they still brought more to the table than the typical enforcer in terms of offense, and even special teams ability.
Following the loss in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final and unceremonious exit from the 2011-12 playoffs, the team began to carry a fighter again, first Sestito, followed shortly after by Dorsett and Brandon Prust, to continue the long, storied tradition of Canucks fighters. However, Dorsett looks poised to be the last.
There is no debate that many observers around the NHL have soured on fighting, and it’s not hard to see why. Living in what could humorously be described as a “non-traditional hockey market,” a number of people with literally no idea about hockey have asked me about the game, and the first question is always: “Why do they let the players fight?”
I tell them of course that fighting has played a large role in the game for many years. I tell them fighting serves a purpose, by allowing players to “police the game.” I tell them that fighters protect their teams’ best players. I tell them that fighting is an intimidation tactic and a way to swing the momentum of a game. I tell them it’s entertaining for the fans and a way to carve out a career for a player who maybe lacks a number of the other skills needed to be a professional hockey player at the top level.
I also tell them that fighting has no place in the modern game. Not anymore. And not just because of the potentially injurious nature of fighting, but also because the league has become so fast, so skilled, that leaving a roster spot open for a player who spends more time in the penalty box than on the ice is akin to shooting one’s self in the foot.
So how much longer can the Canucks keep a fighter on the roster?
To be fair, it seems as though management may have finally wised up in this regard. Prust, he of 40 career goals and more than 1000 PIM, was waived back in February, ostensibly to make room for younger players, as General Manager Jim Benning stated, but also because Prust had been, for lack of a better word, abhorrent for the Canucks through his first 35 games with the club, netting just one goal and posting some of the worst possession numbers on the team (and also likely because Benning was unsurprisingly unable to find a willing trade partner).
2-of-2: “This decision was based on the need to provide more opportunity for our younger players. We appreciate Brandon’s contributions.”
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) February 2, 2016
However, the move by Benning to cut ties with Prust may not be entirely indicative of the Canucks boss’ philosophy on fighting.
Heading into the summer of 2015, Benning made one of his most dismaying moves for Canucks fans since he took the job, inking Dorsett to a four-year contract worth $2.65 million per season after a year in which he netted 25 points and 175 PIM in 79 games.
So far this season, Dorsett has rewarded his boss with four goals, 12 points, and a 46.27 CF% through 67 games. His points per 60 is 0.83, which is around 500th in the NHL, while he’s also averaging $258,000 (real dollars, not cap hit) per point.
You can’t see it in the gif, but Derek Dorsett is providing leadership as he loses his man. pic.twitter.com/tcI2DyMrXl
— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) March 26, 2016
The intention here isn’t to dump on Dorsett, who by all accounts is a great guy off the ice and a leader in the room, something the Canucks sorely need, but it’s clear that what he brings to the team on the ice isn’t helping the team move forward.
Regardless of Dorsett’s performance, or anyone else who might fill it, the role has become superfluous anyways. With the NHL’s transition from a role-based league to one where all four lines are expected to bring speed, offense, and two-way ability, there simply isn’t room for a player of Dorsett’s ilk in the NHL anymore.
So for Canucks fans who love a good old fashioned scrap, enjoy Dorsett while you can, as he will be the last Canucks fighter.
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