Wayne Van Dorp

The Buffalo Sabres signed Wayne Van Dorp as a free agent before the 1986-87 season. He had played the past two seasons in the Netherlands with GIJS Groningen. Buffalo assigned him to Rochester after his signing where he racked up 192 penalty minutes in only 47 games.

Buffalo included Van Dorp in a trade with Edmonton in March 1987. Over a week later he appeared in his first National Hockey League game against New Jersey. A few weeks later he appeared in his first NHL playoff game for the Stanley Cup-bound Edmonton Oilers. In just a few months at hockey's elite level, Van Dorp had a coveted Stanley Cup ring on his finger.

He didn't get another ring with the Oilers since the team traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of the Paul Coffey trade. Van Dorp scored his first NHL goal against Reggie Lemelin of the Boston Bruins on December 29, 1987.

Before the 1988-89 season, Pittsburgh traded him to Buffalo. In his second stint with the club he fared no better than he had in 1986-87. Before the season ended Buffalo struck a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. Van Dorp got into eight games before the season ended and 16 more in the playoffs.

He finally got a chance to crack an NHL lineup in Chicago. He spent the full season with the Hawks in 1989-90. Van Dorp got a chance to be a major league enforcer, racking up 303 penalty minutes. Even with seven goals to his credit, he was made available in the October 1990 waiver draft and the Quebec Nordiques claimed him.

A shoulder injury in the 1990 training camp limited his effectiveness. On November 21, 1990, against Hartford he re-injured the shoulder and was lost for the remainder of the campaign. He returned for another 24 games with the Nordiques. The remainder of his playing career was spent in Europe and in North American minor league teams.