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It didn’t take long for Johansen to break into a grin when he recalled how Dorsett would change momentum or settle a score.

Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP/Getty Images files

“In my first year, he and (Zac) Rinaldo in Philly were going for the most penalty minutes and we were out of the playoffs,” said Johansen. “He comes up to me with about five minutes left in the game and says: ‘I need 10 penalty minutes right here to get No. 1 in the league, so I want you to go in front of the net and start a scrum because I’m coming in hot,’ ” chuckled Johansen.

Dorsett would finish with 235 minutes, three more than Rinaldo. Mission accomplished.

“He was such a competitor,” summed up Johansen. “Fun to play with and not fun to play against.”

Hutton knew that when the Canucks weren’t playing well Dorsett would stand up and say something in the room. And the message was always direct and directed at everyone.

“He always had my back,” said Hutton. “There were a couple of times where I really got smoked and the next shift he’d be out there fighting their guy or running guys and telling them to back off.

“He meant the world to me. There was a lot of 1-on-1 time. We talked about everything from the game to life away from the rink. You don’t get that with every team.”

Henrik and Daniel Sedin have always preached getting better every day. They had to remind rookies to embrace that mantra. They never had to worry about Dorsett. It’s why the career-ending news hit the twins hard.

Photo by Malcolm Parry / PNG Files

“I found out a few days ago from him and your heart drops,” said Daniel. “You take a lot of things for granted that you’re going to play each and every night and then you hear the news. It’s tough. But family comes first and that’s the way he’s looking at it.