River Hockey AND Street Hockey?! Derek Dorsett Learned the Game OUTDOORS 🏒 | Scotts Lawn Care
[Music] welcome to Homegrown presented by Scots I’m Dylan Ty with me is longtime Blue Jacket Derek Dorset and Derek I want to ask you first and foremost how did it all begin for you how did you get into the game of hockey well I think being from Canada I think everyone at some point gets hockey presented to them and you know coming from a a hockey family my dad was a a longtime hockey player and and hockey coach in the in the senior ranks of of Canada which is a pretty serious Senior League but out out west there so I think uh just uh being around a small town uh in western Canada that uh you know there’s two or three outdoor ranks and then uh two two ice sheets in a town out to 4,500 people so there was a a lot of opportunity to be on the ice and um it’s just a great sport I think that’s something that is it’s relatively unique to Canada and that so many people start playing outside on outdoor rinks in North America or excuse me in the United States there’s not as many rinks like that what are your earliest memories of playing outside in that sense but also street hockey yard hockey that sort of thing well yeah I mean small town you know a lot of uh Agriculture and ranching and uh you know town of 4,500 people a lot of my friends lived on farms so uh some of my earliest memor memories are you know skating on the the Saskatchewan River uh you know once the river freezes over uh friends you know they get the tractor out plow plow some snow off the ice and then we’d chop a hole in it and flood it with the water from from the rivers so it was uh it was a lot of fun but uh you know got a lot of cousins and siblings that played hockey and uh so it was always a good competition and you know playing street hockey and and whatnot was was a regular Occurrence at our household that’s unbelievable River hockey River hockey hockey that is sweet so would you consider yourself I mean growing up in that environment would you consider yourself an Outdoorsman yeah yeah you know especially when I was younger and and you know obviously when Sports start happening you you’re kind of running from one baseball field to hockey rank or what whatever it may be depending on the season but you know grew up hunting grew up uh fishing um going to the lake um so yeah we we did a lot of stuff outdoors and uh I think it’s a great way to especially you know family of of three boys um we had a lot of pent up energy and that was that was how my mom got us out she just said get out the door and we lived across the street from the school so we had the playgrounds there and um you know friends had farms and so we were out you know uh on their Farms chasing cows branding cows and uh it was it was a great way to grow up would you say that’s continued into your adult life now that you still love the outdoors yes you know obviously when uh the the season turns like it is right now me and my my kids were outside either shooting Hoops or uh throwing a little cross ball around practicing baseball um you know seems that I think this weekend I got uh 12 sporting events from soccer to baseball to Lacrosse so um we’re outside all the time and it’s uh it’s great great great area to be outside uh Columbus is a beautiful area when once everything starts blooming and and get it’s nice and plush it is Columbus is awesome during the summer I mean look at the weather right now it’s it’s picturesque today do you like to do any hosting at your house barbecuing that sort of thing so we’re actually in the middle of redoing our backyard we moved into the house uh just two years ago so we’re actually in the middle of redoing the the the backyard so we haven’t been hosting a t a ton just cuz it’s a it’s a mud pit right now but once we get the the sod in and the grass all growing and but we we still have a few people over out front we have a nice front patio um that uh that we we host the small groups so we aren’t having huge huge get togethers but kids uh kids bring friends home after school and they’re running around um we have an empty lot beside our house so it’s uh it’s uh it’s a it’s a great time to be outside that’s for sure you’re back in Columbus you’ve made Columbus home like so many other Blue Jackets alumni what do you think it says about the city that so many players have either stuck around here or come back after going other places like I said Columbus is a beautiful city like I me and my wife got married here in Columbus in in Dublin and uh you know I think we had 150 guests come in and a lot from Canada and you know from different parts of the world and they’re just amazed how beautiful Columbus is and and obviously it was in the the dead of Summer and um you know it’s a big city but it’s got a small town feel and you know people are very nice and curious Midwest people and um it’s just a great City you can get anywhere in the city in 20 25 minutes it doesn’t matter where you are you ask someone how far is it to this place 20 minutes you know so it’s it’s it’s it’s got everything you need and it’s like I said it’s a it’s a great place to raise a family great schools great Athletics um so it’s a it was a it was an no-brainer for us I mean you probably know better than anybody coaching with the Blue Jackets now you’re around the players all the time what does it mean to the players now and really for the organization going forward that there is so much support support from the community here in Columbus and that players alumni love to be here yeah I think you know I I think we’re well into the double digits on alumni uh living in Columbus and there isn’t too many alumni that were born and raised in Columbus so it says a lot about the city and and the relationships that people have made outside the game it’s you know when when we’re playing hockey we’re with the players and the team and the organization a lot during the season but you know I’ve got some of my best friends that um you know that are Columbus raised kids and and and now are raising families at the same time as we are and that I met when I was playing here that you know we go on trips with them or they’re some of my closest friends like I said so um you know it’s for the players now I think they realize how great a a spot it is it’s uh the location of the Arena the facilities are topnotch uh the cost of living is is fair throughout the league um you know the the houses in the neighborhoods the school divisions like I said one big important thing for for me and my family was the Athletics and and you know we live in up Arlington which is a which is a great athletic uh you know we’ve got lacrosse you got football you got basketball you got every option you can and that was very important for for me and my family because we believe that Sports can you know help shape your kids and and and show them how to be good teammates good people um and it’s not about as much winning and you know although the up Arlington does win quite a bit in the in the sports they have so um but it was it was about being involved in sport and you know being outside and and doing things that uh that we really value in our family all right Doris this was fun thanks for taking the time yeah thanks for having me
As a Canadian kid, long-time Blue Jacket Derek Dorsett was born into hockey.
He shares his backyard memories and stories of river hockey in this episode of Home Grown presented by Scotts Lawn Care.
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