The New York Rangers are having a fantastic season so far, and Matt Rempe has undoubtedly been the biggest fan favorite.
Although there are plenty of star players on the squad, no one has made fans happier than the 6’8” gigant rookie.
Rempe debuted for the Rangers against the New York Islanders at MetLife Stadium and fought veteran enforcer Matt Martin almost straight away.
The heavyweight tilt got fans talking, and since then, Rempe has just kept on impressing everyone. Rempe has fought some of the toughest guys in the league and delivered some massive hits as well.
Every time he’s not in the lineup, chants of ”We Want Rempe” can be heard across Madison Square Garden.
Just earlier this week, head coach Peter Laviolette was asked about the chants and the fans’ reaction to him not getting the playing time they feel he deserves.
“I might hear them once or twice,” Laviolette said with a smile.
“I think he is effective. His last game was excellent. I know it’s limited ice with his role and responsibility, but they were a positive line.”
Time will tell if Rempe will make a playoff lineup, but he played against the Ottawa Senators on Monday. Rempe had nine shifts and a total of 5:48 TOI, and he was also involved in an incident with Senators’ Bokondji Imama.
Imama, known for his fighting skills more than anything, tried to instigate a fight with Rempe just five minutes into the game after a non-dirty hit from the Rangers rookie along the boards.
Rempe had just bumped into Zack MacEwen when Imama took exception by skating towards him and hitting him with his stick, trying to prompt a fight.
However, Rempe completely ignored Imama and refused a fight, and he was praised a lot for it on social media, with fans all saying the same thing.
”Good to see him turn it down. That “hit” wasn’t bad at all,” one said.
”Rempe barely even touched the Sens player. What is Imama even doing?” another said.
”Looks like someone (wisely) got in Rempe’s ear about picking his spots and not accepting every offer,” a third added.
