Rangers rookie Matt Rempe is bringing back old-time hockey every time he steps out onto the ice, but after the 21-year-old bruiser got his clock cleaned in a recent scrap, one former NHLer had some advice for the youngster.
During a recent episode of John Scott’s “Dropping the Gloves” podcast, the former NHL tough guy dished out some advice on how Rempe can be a better fighter when he gets into a scrap.
Rempe, who has a goal and an assist, has appeared in five games and has been challenged to fight in four of those contests.
While he had held his own in the first four, the fifth fight against Blue Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier didn’t go quite as well and he ended up on the losing end of that bought.
“When You’re 6-foot-7, you want to grab him by his neck right here,” Scott said while motioning to his Adam’s apple. “You want to drive your fist up into his neck so he can’t breathe and it’s uncomfortable for him. That’s what I would try to do. I wasn’t a big jersey jab, punch in the head. I hated that. I would grab it and I would push it on the guy’s neck and it would make it uncomfortable so he’d have to swivel off.”
Scott was no stranger to fighting during his eight-year NHL career which included stops with the Wild, Blackhawks, Rangers, Sabres, Sharks, Coyotes and Canadiens.
The bruiser logged 544 penalty minutes in 286 NHL games during his career.
Scott did see the fight that Rempe had on Sunday in Columbus and called it a “10 out of 10.”
“He grabs him from behind his shoulder and Olivier is like ‘Jackpot!’,” Scott said. “So you’re grabbing me behind my shoulder. I still have full range of motion and you’re pulling me towards you? Uh, yes please, can I have another? And he just feeds him his lunch. One, two, three, four, five and Rempe, good on him, he stuck in there a long time. His face is probably mashed potatoes this morning, but it was a great fight. It was a fun fight to watch, 10 out of 10 for entertainment value.”
So far Rempe has gone toe to toe with Islanders’ Matt Martin, the Devils’ Jonas Siegenthaler and the Flyers’ Nicolas Deslauriers along with Olivier.
He was looked at inside the Rangers locker room but did return to the ice shortly after.
Rangers coach Peter Laviolette was asked how sustainable it was for Rempe to consistently be fighting and he said that there were “conversations all the time.”