Matt Rempe Looking To Be A ‘Menace’ On The Ice

Peter Laviolette confirmed Matt Rempe will make his return for the New York Rangers on Friday night against the Dallas Stars.

This comes after Rempe has spent the majority of this season with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League.

To start the year, Rempe was seeing very little ice time with the Rangers while even being scratched for multiple games, so he was sent down to the Wolf Pack in an effort to help his development.

The 22-year-old was thrust into playing a major role in Hartford, and he admitted it was difficult to adjust to at first.

“I felt like I was dead because I’d never played that much before…I had to do a lot of extra conditioning, I had to do a lot of that type of stuff,” Rempe said via Mollie Walker of The New York Post.

Eventually though, Rempe started to find his stride and began to excel in this new role. He recorded three goals, two assists and three points in 18 games.

Rempe went from barely touching the ice to playing around 18 minutes per game while serving a role on both the power play and penalty kill.

As a result of this experience with the Wolf Pack, Rempe feels his overall game has taken significant strides.

“I got a long journey ahead of me. I’ve come a long way in a short time and I think that the best thing for me is to just keep developing and stuff like that,” Rempe said. “First years in Hartford, I don’t think I played over 12 minutes once.

“I don’t think I played a single second of special teams – Ever. I think that for me to go and suddenly play 18 minutes and be very effective, as well, Not just be given that, earn it as well. I can be very effective in those minutes. It’s very beneficial. I think it means my games come a long way.”

His improvements caught the eye of Laviolette and he rewarded the young forward by calling him back up to the NHL.

“He’s playing really well down there,” Laviolette said. “Just being effective at what he’s doing. For us, I think just a change sometimes is good, as well. What we’re doing needs to change, so you try different pieces and different elements at different times. See if that brings anything to the table.”

Now, Rempe comes at a time of great distress for the Rangers. The Blueshirts continue to lose game after game and seem to have lost their identity in the process.

Rempe knows that he’ll have to help spark the team by playing a physical brand of hockey and by being the kind of player we have all gotten to know and love.

“I want to be myself, bring a lot of energy, bring speed, physicality — just play my game,” Rempe said. “Bring some youthful energy and try to do the best I can do. Go have fun, play hard, get under other team’s skin. Try to be a menace. Be good.”

Rempe Mania officially starts tonight, so be prepared.