Nature is healing in the Big Apple: Peter Laviolette and the New York Rangers got back in the win column in the 2024-25 NHL season and Matt Rempe delivered a nasty hit that led to a game-misconduct, everything is back in place.
The Rangers desperately needed a win to snap their three-game losing streak and get back on the hunt for a spot in the NHL‘s Stanley Cup Playoffs. They secured the victory over the Dallas Stars, but they couldn’t avoid their havoc-breaker fourth liner Matt Rempe to make waves around the league with a brutal hit to Miro Heiskanen’s head.
It’s been a common story in Rempe’s career. The Rangers seem to be on board with his playstyle, rolling the dice every time they let their Tasmanian Devil loose on the ice. After the illegal hit to a defenseless Heiskanen that led to a game misconduct and a hearing with the NHL Departement of Player Safety, Laviolette issued a controversial comment about Rempe.
“I thought he had a big impact in the game,” Laviolette stated on Rempe’s outing in Dallas, via Vince Z. Mercogliano on X. “I would like to stay away from the five-minute major, but he’s doing his best to hit bodies and make a difference in the game. Our guys really rallied around that, as well. I thought he led off a little bit at the end. He’s just such a big guy.“
Head coach Peter Laviolette of the New York Rangers looks on against the New York Islanders during the first period during the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series.
Laviolette’s comment felt like a big understatement on the gravity of Rempe’s actions. It seems to be a never-ending story with the 22-year-old forward, in only 22 games played he registers nine major penalties and four game-misconducts.
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Rempe expected to miss considerable time
While the Rangers face the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden, Rempe is participating in a hearing with the Department of Player Safety and is expected to receive a severe suspension for his repeated offenses.
New York’s franchise will play back-to-back games as they cross the Hudson River to take on the New Jersey Devils on Monday. More likely than not, Rempe won’t be in the team’s lineup for the Tri-State showdown.
