WASHINGTON — After the team’s optional practice Saturday, the NHL’s Public Enemy No. 1 sat in his seat in the back corner of the room and told the story of getting killed 68 times by Chris Kreider on Halo. It drew laughter from the audience. Game 3 the night before.
Lempe police were probably appalled when they saw the scene. A wary constable wants to keep this 6-foot-8¹/₂ menace in his cuffs. They think he’s too big. They think he’s too strong. They don’t think the Rangers should be allowed to have a player like this who doesn’t take the position just because it’s always been done that way.
It’s unfortunate that Trevor van Riemsdyk was injured midway through the first period from a blow from Lempe called interference, but in reality it was probably a legal blow and not a heinous one at all. It’s common for a player to get hit half a second after releasing the puck, but it’s not every day for a player of his size and skating with that much power to get that hit.
In fact, that hit was The Rempe, who helped the Rangers take a 3-0 lead in the first round series and look to sweep the Caps and advance to the second round. . The Presidents Trophy winner maintained attention throughout the 180-minute toffee pull, which is expected to have limited time and space.
When No. 73 was called for undisciplined penalties and was unreliable on the ice, it seemed like it might be too risky for head coach Peter Laviolette to put Rempe in the lineup for the playoffs. Do you remember?
The Rangers have won the past 12 games with Rempe in the lineup. Since Rempe debuted in an outdoor game on Feb. 18, the Rangers are 17-2-1 overall. The value is there, it’s obvious, and the Rangers are riding his wave.
“If you’ve watched him since he got here until now, even when he practices with us, he’s completely different,” Laviolette said. “We have to make sure he’s on the ice as well because he has a lot to offer.
“He’s been a really effective player for us. He’s been elevating his game. He’s done it through his physicality and he’s done it by fighting when he needs to. There’s a lot of conversation with Matt. He’s a great young man and a great young player at this early stage of his career.
“We’re always talking to him, being with him, communicating with him. I think he can continue to grow.”
Rempe said he watches all of his hits. The 21-year-old stressed the importance of staying compact and keeping your elbows tight. He beat a check against Van Riemsdyk, praising him for it, saying, “It was clean, it went through the body,” and regretting the injury, saying, “Of course I don’t want to see anyone get hurt. It’s terrible.”
“I want to be very physical. That’s a staple of my game,” he said. “I can skate well and get in there on the forecheck and make checks. That’s what I have to do.”
Lempe fought three times in his first four NHL games and five times in his first seven games after being asked to a dance by some of the league’s most notorious haymakers. There was Matt Martin, Nicolas Deslauriers, Ryan Reeves. The Rangers’ new students were undergoing a rite of passage.
But that need has left Rempe to some extent, and he knows it too. He has only fought once in his last 13 fights, a designated fight against Curtis McDiarmid on April 3rd when he was part of a line brawl.
Young people no longer respond to all invitations. Late in Game 1, he turned away from Dylan McIras when the latter challenged Lempe. He infuriated the (always calm) Tom Wilson when he refused to drop his number 43 gloves after Van Riemsdyk was sent to his room for a blow.
Oh!
“I think it’s a learning process,” Rempe said. “Are you okay now? What does the series look like? Is it necessary?” That’s the type of thing I do.
“Sometimes it’s hard to say no when it makes sense, but I’m learning. You have to pick your spots. Our job as a team is to win. I have to always do what’s right for the team.”
Rempe is aware of the noise he has caused throughout the continent. He is great at good things and he is great at bad things. He is a content rempe living life.
He’s always going to be playing with the Broad Street Breeze or the Big Bad Bruins, but he’s such a force that somehow he landed on Broadway.
In New York, they don’t feel the slightest need to apologize for this.
