Matt Rempe Earned the Respect of Enforcers in the NHL After This Fierce Bout
Photo credit: Sportsnet
Matt Rempe is now a household name, after a speedy introduction to the NHL.
He used his fists, and his brutal checking skills to make a name for himself, in February.
That month included him fighting three other heavyweights in his first 5 games in the NHL.
One of those fights would be against Matthieu Olivier of the Columbus Blue Jackets, which he lost but would gain his respect afterward.
«I'm pretty sure Rempe fought the game before (Feb 24 in Philadelphia) and we were playing them the next night or whatever, and 'Olly' was saying like 'Listen man, if you need a night (to recover)' and I'm pretty sure the story goes that [Rempe] said, 'No, we'll go tonight,'» Adam Fantilli said on the Drop the Gloves podcast.
«'Olly' is one of the scariest human beings when he's pissed off I've ever seen. He definitely got the best of Rempe in that fight. But he had so much respect for Rempe for actually going and dropping them two nights in a row.»
It's uncommon for many NHL enforcers to fight back-to-back, but that's exactly what Rempe did. Olivier noticed Rempe's fortitude and he and the rest of the league took notice of the bruiser.
«I just told him 'Great tilt yesterday. Hope you're doing alright' because that was a tough one. And he said, 'Yeah, I'm good.' First shift he came in and asked me, so there's a lot of respect there for doing that. Kudos to him,» Olivier said after that game. «For lack of a better word, that takes some balls.»
However, to protect his long-term health, he slowed down his fighting, but he has put a target on his back. Undoubtedly Rempe is returning as the Rangers' top enforcer in 2024-2025.
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