The Garden faithful will likely get what they asked for.
Chants of ‘We Want Rempe!’ engulfed MSG at the end of the Rangers’ 4-2 loss to the Jets on Tuesday, loud enough for Matt Rempe to hear in the press box while serving as a healthy scratch in the first game he was eligible to play after completing a four-game suspension for a high-elbowed hit on the Devils’ Jonas Siegenthaler.
Peter Laviolette must’ve heard it, too, and the head coach conducted practice on Wednesday as if he plans to not only give the people what they want, but also give the Rangers what they need.
“I feel [Tuesday] was a boring game, it was so quiet, nothing happened,” Kaapo Kakko said. “So something like that can get the boys going.”
All signs point to Rempe having the opportunity to do just that against the Bruins in Boston on Thursday, when the Rangers will require every bit of the 6-foot-8 ¹/₂ forward’s imposing presence to contend with the NHL’s points leader.
The Rangers are in serious need of a physical boost after losing Jacob Trouba and Ryan Lindgren to lower-body injuries, and Rempe will certainly help fill that void. He took reps in his usual spot on the right wing of the fourth line alongside Jimmy Vesey and Barclay Goodrow, which is a line that has outscored opponents 2-0 in 12:51 of ice time, according to Natural Stat Trick.
More than anything, however, the Rangers want the chaos that ensues whenever Rempe is in a game.
“We knew obviously that he was on this tour fighting and so we had some guys that, in their world, it’s kind of just like an unspoken thing,” Jack Roslovic told The Post of what he remembers about facing Rempe when he was still a member of the Blue Jackets on Feb. 28. “I think our couple fighters had an idea that he was going to want to do something.”
All the buzz surrounding Rempe is impossible for opponents to ignore coming into a game against the Rangers, who have seemingly been more conscious of their team physicality since the 21-year-old made his NHL debut on Feb. 18.
It’s become an added layer of preparation for teams whenever the Rangers creep up on their schedule.
Now that Roslovic is Rempe’s teammate after the Blue Jackets shipped him to the Rangers ahead of the trade deadline, the 27-year-old wing has a completely different impression of the rookie.
“Meeting him now than what I thought he was, totally different,” he said. “He’s a willing companion if you want to fight, but also he’s skilled and plays the right way for a young kid.”
Laviolette and the rest of the coaching staff continue to work with Rempe on learning how to pick his spots, control his hits and play his game while carrying the reputation that he’s built for himself.
Asked what he hopes Rempe learned from this experience, Laviolette acknowledged the fact that he needs to be careful with his size, but ensured that he highlighted the positives that Rempe has brought to the team.
“He likes to hit, he’s a good hitter,” the Rangers’ bench boss said. “So he’s got to make sure he’s doing things the right way. That one got away. Every other hit has been pretty good. They’ve been heavy and physical and he brings that presence to the team.
“That’s part of the reason he’s here is because he can bang bodies. He’s also been a good hockey player for us, as well.”
Laviolette also made a point to say he believes Rempe doesn’t need to drop the gloves every time he hits somebody, which is something Trouba has dealt with later in his career.
The coach maintained that Rempe’s hit on Nathan Bastian, which prompted Kurtis MacDermid to challenge him early on in the last Devils game, was just a “good, clean, hard hockey hit.” The Rangers will be looking for those same elements from Rempe, Laviolette said, when he returns to the lineup.
The Garden faithful have been chanting Igor Shesterkin’s name for years.
Jonathan Quick has heard echoes of his name, too, since he joined the Rangers.
The way they chant for Rempe, though, is like a starving fan base that has only gotten a taste of what he can do. They want more, and they’re going to get it.
“He deserves it,” Shesterkin said.
