Matt Rempe’s ejection for his hit on the Devils’ Nathan Bastian last week is a situation the towering forward has had to navigate for much of his hockey career.
Former coaches have had conversations with officials.
Management has had to step in on Rempe’s behalf in the past.
At 6-foot-8 ½ , Rempe is head and shoulders above everybody else on the ice. There’s a price he’s had to pay for that sheer fact, and the way that he plays the game.
Clean or not, Rempe’s hits are weighed and perceived differently because of his proportions.
So much so that even when he does everything right — not leaving his feet, keeping his elbows down, going through the body — Rempe is more susceptible to penalties due to the effects of his hits.
“There’s been cases like [in Newark last Thursday], but just learning to hit right inside a game,” Rempe told The Post before the Rangers’ 4-1 win over the Blue Jackets, as the rookie had a career-high 7:42 of ice time.. “I’m a big guy who can carry a lot of speed in my hits and I’ve just got to make sure I’m going right through the body and not clipping or anything like that. I think I know how to hit. It’s not something I worry about because I think, most of the time, I hit very clean.
“So it’s nothing I’m worried about. Just learning, learning inside the game, what hits and what hits are going to be good and stuff like that.”
Rempe got thrown out of a lot of games during his last season with the Seattle Thunderbirds in the Western Hockey League in 2021-22.
Before he was called up to the Rangers this season, Rempe had racked up 96 penalty minutes with the Wolf Pack in the American Hockey League.
Wednesday was just his sixth NHL game, and through the first five, he already had 32 penalty minutes and been assessed a match penalty.
This is not new territory for Rempe, who said he doesn’t let the repercussions of his height dictate his game.
And why should he? It’s not his fault he’s the tallest player in the NHL (if he really does have the half inch on the Canucks’ 6-foot-8 defenseman Tyler Myers).
Nor should he have to apologize for a trait that has helped him stand out and ultimately achieve his dream of playing in the NHL.
But Rempe has made necessary adjustments. He’s had to, or he’d be leaving his team down a forward most nights.
“I think the one thing, just especially in junior, on the open-ice hits, I just want to make sure they’re lined up,” he said. “If they aren’t completely lined up, maybe sometimes they can go awry. Just make sure they’re lined up. It doesn’t change my game at all.”
