Last spring’s Capitals-Rangers first-round series was short, but plenty heated thanks in large part to New York’s Matt Rempe.
Rempe was a menace throughout the four game series sweep — most notably due to two hits in Game 3 that injured Trevor van Riemsdyk and TJ Oshie.
TVR did not return for the series’ final game, while Oshie played through a broken hand. Rempe did not receive any supplemental discipline from the NHL.
The two plays drew the ire of feared Capitals enforcer Tom Wilson and it was clear Wilson had seen enough, challenging the hulking Rangers winger to a fight midway through Game 3. Rempe, perhaps acting against The Code, refused to throw down with Wilson despite fighting 12 times in his previous 17 career regular season games.
Rempe was asked about that refusal on Wednesday while at MedStar Capitals Iceplex for the 2024 NHLPA Rookie Showcase.
“In that scenario, we’re up 2-0 in the series and we’re up in that game, in Washington’s barn, there’s no benefit for me taking that fight,” Rempe said. “I think that’s just trying to grow and be smarter. I’m having an effect. I was being very physical that game. I was having an impact without fighting.”
Rempe, who averaged 6:46 of ice time per game in the series, could have taken the much more valuable Wilson off the ice for five minutes — a trade Wilson was all-too-willing to make after Rempe’s pair of reckless plays.
“It’s hockey,” Wilson said in April. “You’re weighing a lot of different options in situations like that. Is it the right time? Do I really want to sit in the box for seven or eight minutes with him? I just felt like there’s a certain point where he hits enough of your teammates — that are kind of borderline hits — that it doesn’t matter whether it’s the playoffs or a big game, it doesn’t mean anything, it’s still hockey, you can still stand up for your teammates.”
With the Capitals and Rangers scheduled to square off three times in 2024-25, Rempe may not be out of the woods just yet. The first meeting will be held early in the campaign, inside Capital One Arena, on October 29.
Given the lesser importance of an early-season, regular-season game, an altercation is almost guaranteed if Wilson is still down to throw knuckles. However, the 30-year-old tough guy previously teased that the two’s playoff meeting may have been Rempe’s only chance.
“We’ll see,” Wilson said.
Rempe shared bouts with many of the league’s top fighters during the 2023-24 regular season, including Wilson’s longtime nemesis Ryan Reaves. His other opponents included former Wilson foes Ross Johnston, Matt Martin, and Nicolas Deslauriers, as well as noted tough punchers Kurtis MacDermid and Mathieu Olivier.
“I really enjoy it,” Rempe said Wednesday. “That’s the thing as well. I don’t know. I want to be a hockey player but it’s part of the game. It’s a nice tool to have.”
