of the New York Rangers Matt Rempe, 21, became arguably the NHL’s hottest talking point. The sixth-round pick from Calgary profiles as a lower-chain power forward and made it known in his first few games.
In the fight against New Jersey, Rempe had time to play 13 seconds before the jet command that came from a hard tackle in the head area. Against Philadelphia, Rempe decided to challenge one of the toughest fighters in the series to a fight, To Nicolas Deslaurie.
Just a day later, Rempe fought Columbus by Mathieu Olivier with and the going was already getting ugly. Olivier gave the young man several hard blows to the head.
The North American audience received the young Canadian with great enthusiasm. Rempe’s departure was lauded both in the media and in the stands.
– Quite a media frenzy started immediately. The boy was already the subject of a story after the first fight, and he himself has decided to continue it. He has clearly noticed that the door has opened and this is the way to enter the NHL, Urheilu’s expert Ismo Lehkonen says.
– Rempe has let go and has already been to the warm-ups talking about whether to fight later. There is such a spirit here now that fame must be gathered. He challenged some pretty tough guys.
Challenging veteran fighters is rarely healthy for young players.
– At that age, you rarely know the skills of that sport. I’m afraid that at some point he might get really hurt. At the same time, the media has talked about how heavyweight belts and other things are handed out in the rink. I fear for the boy, Lehkonen continues.
Behind all the excitement, views have also been presented, according to which Rempe acts as a circus elephant entertaining the people for a while, and the Rangers and the NHL are not very interested in his health. According to Lehkonen, players are on their own in the brutal NHL business.
– That’s how the NHL works, it’s a lot of work. He wouldn’t have to fight every game, but the player has the next NHL contract pounding in the back of his head. The Rangers office is just wondering if we could get him as a heavyweight who can also play. The player is of course ready to do anything for his NHL dream. That’s just how it goes.
Who surprised?
Nashville needs to be put on the back burner. The playoff train seemed to disappear into the landscape after a 2-9 loss to Dallas on home ice a couple of weeks ago. It also caused the coaching and the club management to react, because with the loss, the leisure trip planned for the team to Las Vegas was cancelled.
Nashville was supposed to fly to Vegas before an away game against the reigning champion and go see the Irish band U2. The gig was a dream, but the team reacted well.
Since the cancellation of the tour, Nashville has played six games and won each of them by a goal difference of 26–11.
– That was a pretty strict stance, GM From Barry Trotz send the boys home instead of on a concert trip. He gave the message that this game does not drag. It’s starting to look like Nashville is going through another season of pooping. Now they got a big boost for the spring and are fully involved in the playoff race again, Lehkonen praises.
Few expect Nashville to make the playoffs, but thanks to their hard work, they have already increased the gap to the playoff line to five points.
– The line driven by Trotz can be seen and that’s why the game was called off after the Dallas loss. The top is tough and the group in the background pulls the duna puck quite well compared to their own level. Nashville is a disciplined and good team that always does its homework well.
Is the bet enough for the playoffs?
– I can’t believe it at all. The gameplay is brutal and the guys are big and heavy. At some point, the limiter starts screaming.
Who cheated?
New Jersey’s all-time head coach Lindy Ruffin judgment failed. When the media asked the pilots about the reasons for the problems in the power play, the coach attacked the media. According to Ruff, the media has, among other things, created extra pressure on the players by asking about the topic. The claim is ridiculous and completely untrue.
– The beginning of the season gave the wrong impression, when they went a little slow to victory. While still Dougie Hamilton fell out of the lineman’s position due to overpowering, the job became significantly more difficult. Maybe Ruff tried to shift the problems a little, Lehkonen laughs.
The atmosphere in New Jersey has started to seem anxious anyway. The Devils were pushed to the top of the Eastern Conference, but they are currently five points away from the last playoff spot. And the team and the coach don’t seem to be pulling the same rope when it comes to the game.
– Ruff has not been able to pull out the identity card of playing defense, which is the most important thing for him. It’s closed-door hockey. Because of this, it feels like he’s rocking a stool and badly.
In the goal of the week, we highlight Pittsburgh Valtteri Puustisen the impressive preliminary work done by the team for a 3-3 draw on Wednesday in Vancouver. Puustinen played excellently in the second chain in the so-called must-win match anyway Yevgeny Malkin alongside. Puustisinen’s rise to a credit player after three years in the AHL is a great story about the importance of determined work.
– The local channel showed 6-7 samples of how smart Puustinen plays. We are already talking about big things when he is brought up in the media like that. He can play his own game and even oxidize Malkin a bit. Puustinen played really well in an important match, Lehkonen praises.
What next?
On the ice in Winnipeg, the product works like a human mind, but the discussion about the collapse of audience numbers does not subside. From the beginning of the week, the NHL commissioner also took a stand on the subject Gary Bettman, which calmed the speculation around the topic. According to Bettman, the NHL is not worried about the state of the club that gathers the second smallest audience in the league, and has no intention of moving the team to another place.
On the other hand, the owner Mark Chipman stated that 9,500 sold season tickets is not a level that would be sustainable in the long run. According to the owner, the reading must be able to be raised back to the previous years’ 13,000.
For Winnipeg, which lives on hockey, the whole conversation seems absurd, but it’s true all the same: hockey doesn’t sell on the prairie.
– This is a really mysterious thing, to which I at least don’t have an answer. There is certainly a lot of brainstorming about what to do with this. Winnipeg is a tough puck town with one of the best teams in the league. Still a Canadian type, where there is both artistry and toughness. You’d think it would interest and sell. A confusing thing.
The wildest stories have already started speculating about moving Winnipeg to Quebec, where there is a fairly new NHL-level arena. The completely hockey-crazy puck community is surely eagerly waiting for its own team to enter the NHL.
– In a perfect world, Quebec would have a team. As a sports romantic, I at least hope and expect it to happen again someday.