Former Viper Dorais Impresses Team With His Commitment:

This is in todays Alberni Valley Times Newspaper:

Bulldogs captain impresses team with his commitment

Shayne Morrow, Alberni Valley Times

Published: Wednesday, September 22, 2010

You could say new Alberni Valley Bulldogs captain Trent Dorais has improved his status with the club in a major way.

The Vernon native came to the club last season with a reputation as a grinding, if not high-scoring forward, and he lived up to his billing, leading his teammates in penalties with 108 minutes.

But the Bulldogs coaching staff were impressed with his work ethic and his commitment to the club, which included spending the summer in the Alberni Valley. Oh yeah, being a member of the gold medal-winning Team Canada at the World Ballhockey Championships didn't hurt, either.

Dorais began his minor hockey career at the North Shore Winter Club, then moved to Vernon for his second year of Bantam, where he teamed up with new Bulldog teammate Sawyer Mick.

"We lit it up," Dorais said. "I was the set-up guy and he put it in the net."

While Mick headed for Major Midget in Kelowna, Dorais played AAA Midget in Vernon, then joined the hometown Vernon Vipers of the B.C. Hockey League at 16. Playing at home was a mixed blessing, he said.

"When I got to play, it was nice. I played 29 games the first year. There was a lot of pressure," he said.

After playing only 10 games out of the first 30 with the Vipers, the next season Dorais requested a transfer to the Junior B Sicamous Eagles.

"I finished the season with Sicamous, then went back to the Vipers for the last of the season, but I didn't get to play during the playoff run," Dorais said.

That means when the future captain came to the Bulldogs training camp last season, at 18, he already had parts of two BCHL seasons under his belt, and he knew what it was going to take to win a spot on the team.

Dorais said what he discovered in Port Alberni was a different fan culture and climate.

"It's always good, here, whether you're winning or losing - as long as you're working hard," he said. "It's just a great environment to play in."

Dorais hopes to acquire the coveted NCAA hockey scholarship, and to that end, he's upgrading his education at North Island College. As for his greatest hockey memory, Dorais said the ballhockey championship was great, but it's in a different compartment. The best is yet to come, he believes.