Dubinsky’s Crashes Brawl And Hates Gatorade: April 14th, 2012
Remember when Artem Anisimov, Michael Del Zotto, and Ruslan Fedotenko were Rangers?
Those were the days. The transition from the “dark ages” of the 90’s, to the coming of age as a Eastern Conference power. Perhaps, that is one of the favorite periods as a Rangers fan. The blue collar, lunch pale mentality. You work for everything, and earn the rewards though that effort.
Combine that a stern coach in John Tortorella, and you have a Rangers team that worked every night.
Aside from Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky was one that embodied that work ethic. His willingness to get in the middle of everything and protect his teammates is what made him a favorite.
In Game Two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Rangers played host to the Ottawa Senators in Round One.
Some tensions were carried over from the first game with Matt Carkner. In the first period, he takes down Brian Boyle, throwing punch after punch. He takes the big man off his skates, bringing him down to the ice. Carkner proceeds to keep punching, while Boyle is down.
Meanwhile, the referee is right there witnessing the melee. He does nothing but calls a penalty, raising his arm, as he continues watching.
Well, in comes Dubinsky, taking matters into his own hands. He probably thought, “If you’re gonna just stand there and do nothing, I’ll take matters into my own hands.”
He jumps on Carkner and bedlem at the Garden breaks out in a bench-clearning brawl. Dubinsky got a game misconduct for acting on instinct, when no one did anything to stop Carkner.
As Dubi heads off to the locker room, he takes out his frustration on the poor Gatorade cooler, something every Rangers fan who witnessed that felt.
