The legend of the Rempire State Building kept growing in the Game 3 contest between the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals played on Friday, April 27.
After sending a plethora of opponents into oblivion during the home stretch of the season, Rangers rookie Matt Rempe chose defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk as his latest victim of the playoffs blasting and injuring him on Friday with a (borderline) clean hit.
The young behemoth opened up about the hit on Saturday, April 27, when he addressed the media following the Rangers practice ahead of Game 4 of their first-round series against the Capitals, scheduled for puck drop on Sunday.
Asked if he embraces the role of a “villain,” Rempe sounded pleased with carrying that label now and going forward.
“I got no issue with it,” Rempe told reporters on April 27, via Mollie Walker of the New York Post. “In New York, they love it when I’m playing hard. If we go on the road and they don’t like it, I mean, you’re playing hard, you’re playing physical. It’s good.
“I have no issue with that.”
Rempe, however, made clear that the hit was just another play and that he had no malicious intentions.
“Quick play. I just went through the body.” Rempe said. “Obviously, you never want anyone to get hurt. That’s terrible. I’m sorry to hear about that, but I think it was a clean hit.
“I was just trying to play hard.”
Matt Rempe Is Just A Kid Minding His Business
We have heard from Rempe a few times since he made his debut on February 18 against the New York Islanders, but he had one of the kindest interviews on Saturday following the Rangers’ 3-1 win over Washington a day earlier putting New York up 3-0 entering Game 4.
The game’s result, let alone the possibility of New York sweeping the Capitals the next time they meet, was not the main story. That’d be Rempe’s humongous hit on van Riemsdyk, one Washington’s players were mad about.
Reporters asked Rempe about the constant attention he’s getting from the media and other teams’ players who think he plays a little bit of a “dirty” game full of borderline legal hits and actions.
“I try to stay off social media,” Rempe said. “I was playing ‘Halo’ with [Chris Kreider] and [the rest of Rangers] last night.
“First time I ever played that. I got killed 68 times. It was a bad performance. Very, very bad performance.”
Matt Rempe Still Learning, Paying Attention to Details
On a more serious note, Rempe let reporters know that he’s still a young man and a rookie learning to navigate his way through the NHL waters after the steady stream of criticism he’s received at times because of his physical approach to hockey.
“You’re [skating] and it’s like, ‘Oh, I have this guy lined up perfect’−bang!−good hit,” Rempe described. “The big thing for me is I’ve got to keep everything compact. That’s what I’m always looking for: No elbows.
“I’m so big that once I’m committed to a hit, I’ve got to make sure that everything’s tucked. And if guys are jumping out of the way, I’ve got to make sure, ‘Hey, I can’t stick anything out as a reactionary thing.’ I’ve got to just miss the hit.”
Rempe played only 17 regular-season games and he’s now appeared in three postseason contests for a total of 20 matches played throughout his rookie campaign in New York. That, however, doesn’t mean he’s not found a way to become the biggest story in town.
The rookie, who measures a towering 6-foot-8, is believed to have injured four different players at last to an extent (all of them left the games in which Rempe hit them), including New Jersey Devils‘ Nathan Bastian and Jonas Siegenthaler, Toronto Maple Leafs‘ Ilya Lyubushkin, and Washington’s van Riemsdyk on Friday.
The NHL handed Rempe a four-game suspension on March 12 for elbowing Siegenthaler, who suffered a concussion and missed time while trying to clear the protocol.
The league announced on Saturday, April 27, that Rempe would not be called up for a hearing by the Department of Player Safety after his hit on van Riemsdyk.
Matt Rempe Is Trying to Stay Out of Trouble
After sending van Riemsdyk flying into the boards and getting called for an interference penalty (two minutes inside the penalty box), Rempe declined to fight Capitals captain Tom Wilson.
Rempe declined to comment on whether or not he would enter a fight with Wilson if the veteran asked him for it again, simply telling reporters, “I have no comment on that one.”
More interesting, however, were Rempe’s comments about how he’s still learning and trying not to fall for traps like the one Wilson offered him if that helps his team win games.
“I think it’s a learning process for me with that because I’m trying to now pick my spots,” Rempe said via Colin Stephenson of Newsday. “Time of the game, momentum…
“Are we up? What’s the series like? Is that needed there? It’s hard to say no sometimes, if that makes sense. That’s part of the job as well… Our job as a team is to win. And I’ve got to make sure that I do right by the team, always.”
The Rangers (3-0) can clinch a place in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Game 4 on Sunday, April 28, if they beat the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena.
Like Heavy.com’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy.com
The post Rangers ‘Villain’ Matt Rempe Embraces Role, Gets Killed 68 Times appeared first on Heavy.com.