As the offseason wears on, us and Matt Josephs of Blue Line Station (Twitter: 11Matt_Josephs8) will be running a tournament for the Best Ranger since the 2005 lockout. Yesterday we saw #7 Brian Boyle beat #10 Nik Zherdev. Today’s matchup is #2 Brandon Dubinsky vs. #15 Jody Shelley, and it is the final matchup of the first round.
Brandon Dubinsky (acquired – 2004 draft, 2nd round)
The Rangers actually traded down in the second round twice, and still nabbed Dubinsky with the 60th pick (details here). Dubi got his first cuppa in 2006-2007, playing six games, and made the club out right the following season. What followed was five straight seasons of aggressive, blue collar hockey that meshed well with the coaches and the fans. Dubi was a workhorse for the Rangers, consistently playing 20 minutes of hard nosed hockey.
Dubi played 393 games with the Rangers, putting up a line of 81-132-213 with a pair of 20-goal seasons. Dubi was eventually sent to Columbus in the Rick Nash deal.
Jody Shelley (acquired – 2010 trade with San Jose)
The Rangers acquired Shelley for a 6th round pick in the hopes that he could round out the fourth line for the 2010 playoff run. Shelley gelled nicely with Brandon Prust and Artem Anisimov, putting up 2-4-6 in 21 games while the Rangers fell short of qualifying for the playoffs. Many wanted Shelley to be re-signed, but the Rangers let him walk after he was offered a three-year deal by Philly. Shelley played just 89 games of that three year deal.
So who do you think is the better Ranger, Dubinsky or Shelley? Vote thumbs up for the higher seed (Dubinsky), or thumbs down for the lower seed (Shelley). Voting ends at midnight tonight.
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