A serious streak within the NHL got here to an finish on Sunday, however it was not Matt Rempe’s troublemaker streak. His workforce, the New York Rangers, took a loss for the primary time since Jan. 26, because the Columbus Blue Jackets denied their probability to interrupt a franchise document with an eleventh straight victory. However the 6-foot-7, 21-year-old ahead as soon as once more dropped the gloves. It was CBJ’s Mathieu Olivier who clearly wished to check the child’s mettle on his first shift, they usually every fired proper fists at one another’s faces till the massive Ranger went down.
It has been an eventful week for Rempe, and the groundwork for it was laid, actually, earlier than he even made his debut. A late bloomer who had hassle breaking into the WHL as a teen, he was drafted within the sixth spherical in 2020. He was a identified amount to hardcores largely as a result of he was so freaking big, and in preseason motion again in 2023, he made a reputation for himself by getting bodily in opposition to the Islanders.
“He is nonetheless only a actually younger child, however he is an unlimited man,” mentioned Rangers coach Peter Laviolette on the time. “And he is solely going to get stronger and higher.”
Rempe bought his call-up earlier this month, changing into the primary participant to skate his inaugural NHL sport outdoor. Going through the Islanders, once more, right away traditional, Rempe brawled to a stalemate with Matt Martin on a post-goal faceoff. This was 89 seconds into the sport.
For his second look on Tuesday, Rempe managed to maintain his head down. However in opposition to one other native rival in New Jersey on Thursday, he could not comprise himself. After logging simply 13 seconds of ice time, Rempe picked up 17 minutes of penalties, getting ejected for this excessive, rushing forearm to Nathan Bastian.
The phrase was out: The league’s foremost goons wished a chunk of the brand new man. And it was Nicolas Deslauriers who stepped up simply three minutes into the Rangers’ assembly with Philly on Saturday. Deslauriers, regardless of being overmatched on the story of the tape, went at Rempe furiously, bought a bonus when the jersey stretched over the child’s head, and was capable of pressure him to the bottom.
Clearly, this was a premediated scrap on each side—no flared tempers, no shock assaults, simply two adults whomping one another by mutual consent. Deslauriers pulled again the curtain within the postgame: “I noticed him type of lurking within the warm-ups,” he mentioned. “I’m a man that doesn’t take no for a solution typically, so simply went [to him] politely and mentioned, ‘Are we going to do that?’ And, there it’s.” (Sidenote: Can a 6-foot-7 man do something whereas quietly upright with out it being categorised as “lurking?”)
Olivier had the same quote in The Columbus Dispatch after his introduction to Rempe on Sunday: “To be sincere, I simply informed him, ‘Nice tilt yesterday and I hope you’re doing all proper, as a result of that was a troublesome one. He mentioned, ‘Yeah, I’m good,’ so first shift he got here and requested me. There’s a variety of respect there for doing that. Kudos to him. He’s doing a great job getting seen, in order that takes, uh, for lack of a greater phrase, that takes some [guts].” (I assume the Dispatch is censoring the phrase “balls.”)
Except for experiencing a range pack of knuckles to the chin, Rempe has discovered a few methods to extra tangibly contribute to his workforce’s efforts. Regardless of the Columbus loss, he picked up an help on a drive to the online, and in opposition to the Flyers, he scored the 2-1 game-winner within the third by smothering the goalie’s sight line and taking a deflection off his leg. That objective earned him a postgame interview on nationwide TV, the place Rempe’s demeanor was something however what you’d count on from a man who’s jumped to fifth on the workforce in penalty minutes in only a week of motion. Fairly than somebody who fights out of anger, or carries a chip on his shoulder, he seems like a child who simply at all times needs to dash towards wherever essentially the most pleasure is occurring.
Rempe’s present tempo is inconceivable. Even placing apart the well being dangers of preventing (and what 21-year-old does not put these apart to observe their baser instincts?), a Cup contender just like the Rangers wants extra in a ahead slot than a man who’s continually getting trapped by the doorways of the penalty field. First impressions are highly effective, although. Rempe may keep away from preventing the remainder of the yr, however this opening run will nonetheless be memorable sufficient that he’ll stay “the big child that fights lots.” That id, and that willingness to scuffle, will proceed to draw one-on-one challengers. Going ahead along with his profession, how does Rempe keep true to his model of play, shield himself, and guarantee he is doing what’s finest for the workforce, abruptly? Nicely, the Rangers’ subsequent sport is a rematch in opposition to the Jackets and Olivier. We’ll see if we get the slugging Rempe, the goalscoring Rempe, neither, or each.