Brandon Dubinsky Brandon Dubinsky ( born April 29 , 1986 ) is an American professional ice hockey player currently playing for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . Playing career . Dubinsky began playing youth hockey in Anchorage , and graduated from Service High School in 2004 . He played his junior career with Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League ( WHL ) for four years , and was a two time Western Conference second team All - Star before being drafted in the second round of the 2004 NHL Draft by the New York Rangers . New York Rangers . Dubinsky played for the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League ( AHL ) for most of the 2006 - 2007 season . He first played for the New York Rangers on March 8 , 2007 against the New York Islanders . Dubinsky scored his first NHL goal against Marc - André Fleury on November 8 , 2007 in a 4 - 2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins . Dubinsky was the 3rd star of the game . Much of the season was spent centering the Rangers ' first forward line with Jaromír Jágr and Sean Avery . He was one of sixteen rookies selected to participate in the 2008 YoungStars competition at the 56th NHL All - Star Game in Atlanta . He scored two goals and one assist and was named YoungStars Most Valuable Player . Dubinsky scored his first career playoff goal in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the New Jersey Devils on April 13 , 2008 . His successful rookie season was marked on April 4 , 2008 when Dubinsky was awarded the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award for the 2007 - 08 season and " Rookie of the Year " for the Rangers as voted by his teammates . On May 12 , 2008 , Dubinsky scored a hat trick in his first World Championships , in Halifax , Nova Scotia , against Norway . Team USA went on to win the game 9 - 1 . On November 24 , 2008 , Dubinsky scored a Gordie Howe hat trick against the Phoenix Coyotes . He squared off against the Coyotes ' tough guy Daniel Carcillo protecting the Rangers ' netminder Henrik Lundqvist at 2 : 58 into the first , taking a 5 minute major for fighting . He then scored a wraparound goal 1 minute 15 seconds into the second period ( which ended up being the game winner ) . Dubinsky then finished the ' Gordie ' with an assist to Dan Girardi , who scored a power play goal from the blue line at 7 : 37 into the third period . The Rangers won the game 4 - 1 and Dubinsky along with Lundqvist and Zherdev were named the three stars . Ranger coach Tom Renney called the feat a " Gordie Orr hat trick " claiming that Dubinsky " didn ' t do that well in the fight " . Dubinsky finished his second full season with one point more than his previous season . Despite a strong start with a game winning goal in the Rangers ' first game and a streak of 11 points in his first 11 games in 2008 - 09 , he also suffered a 20 - game goal - scoring drought . On April 15 , 2009 , Dubinsky scored the game winning goal with 8 : 17 remaining in the third period of the Rangers ' first game of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs , Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Washington Capitals . After holding out at the beginning of the 2009 – 10 season and missing over a week of training camp , Dubinsky signed a two - year contract worth $ 3 . 7 million as a restricted free agent . Dubinsky tallied 3 goals and 10 points on the season before suffering a broken hand in a game against the Calgary Flames on November 7 , 2009 , which relegated him to Injured Reserve for more than a month . Dubinsky returned to the Rangers ' lineup on December 14 against the Atlanta Thrashers . He scored his first goal in over two months four games later against the Carolina Hurricanes , the game winner in a 3 - 1 Rangers victory . Despite missing over a month due to injury , Dubinsky finished the season with career highs in goals and points . After the 2010 - 11 season , Dubinsky avoided arbitration with the Rangers and signed a four - year contract worth $ 16 . 8 million . In 2012 , Dubinsky , along with Artem Anisimov and Tim Erixon were traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Rick Nash . Personal life . Dubinsky was born in Anchorage , Alaska . He has a father , Bill , and mother Heidi , two brothers , Bobby and Bryant , who reside in Anchorage , Alaska . Dubinsky recently became engaged to girlfriend Brenna Mcguire , a model and former basketball player for the University of Virginia Cavaliers while on vacation in Mexico during the NHL All - Star Game .