NEW YORK — Beaming in front of his locker after the New York Rangers’ Game 1 win, Matt Rempe made a point to mention that his mom, Janice Rempe, had been in attendance. It was her first time at Madison Square Garden, and she got to see her son make his postseason debut and score the second goal, playoff or regular season, of his NHL career.
Did her presence give Rempe any extra juice?
“I’ve always got juice,” he said with a grin after the Rangers’ 4-1 win against the Capitals.
The 21-year-old sure did in Game 1, earning 8:33 of ice time, more than all but one of the 17 games he played in the regular season. He finished with a plus-two rating and three hits to go along with his goal.
The Rangers line of Jimmy Vesey, Barclay Goodrow and Rempe generated two goals in the game, the first of which came from the 6-foot-8 rookie who has won over fans with his penchant for physicality on the ice and happy-go-lucky demeanor off it. Early in the second period, Rempe positioned himself next to the crease and whipped a Vesey pass into the net. The crowd, which chanted his name during his first shift, erupted.
THE REMPIRE STATE BUILDING GETS MSG ON ITS FEET! 💪 #StanleyCup
🇺🇸: @espn ➡️ https://t.co/Pp9X7OGP3W
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/sEijvXhbA1 pic.twitter.com/AhNfu7w5E3— NHL (@NHL) April 21, 2024
Rempe waved them on. When his teammates skated over to celebrate, a smile broke across his face.
“A little bit of shock,” Rempe said of his emotions after the goal. “Then you hear the crowd. It was a dream come true.”
“It’s a big goal in the game, obviously,” Vesey added. “The look on his face was pretty cool too.”
And it’s fitting that his mom was there for the biggest moment of his young career. Matt raves about both his mother and his two sisters, Alley and Steph, as well as his late father, Ron, who died in 2018. Matt wears one of his dad’s old necklaces, a gold chain with a cross on it, whenever he’s not playing. The whole family is close, and Rempe called Janice his biggest fan after Game 1.
“I bet she was pretty emotional today, so it was really cool,” Rempe said. “She’s the best.”
The two had dinner the night before at an Italian restaurant. Rempe said he’s not used to making reservations; he had to reach out to 10 restaurants before he could find one with availability.
The young forward, who loves fantasy novels and playing guitar, has developed a cult following among Rangers fans. They chant his name during every game he plays (and sometimes during ones he doesn’t) and online vendors have sold custom shirts with his face and the nickname “Rempire State Building.”
“I can’t think of a player that’s come in and had that impact on a team, on a fan base, on a city,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “If you watch him and look at him, he just smiles. He’s just happy. Loves being here. Loves to play the game, and he’s been great.”
The mania began when Rempe fought Islanders veteran forward Matt Martin in his NHL debut during the Stadium Series, and it built in the ensuing weeks as he engaged in bouts with some of the league’s toughest players. Rangers coaches eventually had to have conversations with him about not accepting every invitation to fight, especially staged ones or ones after hits New York believed to be clean. Rempe’s physicality, when contained, has benefitted the Rangers. But the young forward has gotten himself in trouble when he doesn’t control it. He received a four-game suspension earlier in the season for an elbow to Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler’s head.
Physicality is part of Rempe’s play style, but it’s not the only element of his game. He noted going into the Capitals series that most players his size can’t skate as well as he does. He likes to make big hits, but he also wants to make sure they’re clean.
“I have belief in myself, and I’m just going to continue to work,” he said. “I’m just getting started.”
That work ethic is nothing new. Those around Rempe during his junior hockey days with the Seattle Thunderbirds noticed it, too.
“Every summer he seemed to get a little bigger,” remembered Bill LaForge, the Thunderbirds’ general manager. “Just the work he put in on his body and the physical strength was incredible. During the COVID season, he would send videos in of (himself) shooting pucks in the driveway or lifting weights or boxing, whatever it was he was doing at the time. You could just see the work he was putting in.”
Sometimes, LaForge said, Rempe would work out for so long that the staff had to tell him to stop because he likely had maxed how much he’d get out of it in one day. The Thunderbirds still use him as an example for the team’s current players.
“As he got older he started to believe in himself and take it to another level,” Thunderbirds coach Matt O’Dette said. “He started to see some serious progress with his game. Started to do even more.”
That all has helped Rempe go from a sixth-round pick not considered much of an NHL prospect to a player who made the postseason lineup for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers.
“I’m built for the playoffs, I think,” he said.
Rempe’s postseason debut got off to a less-than-stellar start. He spoke going into the Capitals series about avoiding needless penalties. But on his first shift, he got called for charging: the first penalty in a whistle-filled period. Rempe disagreed with the referee’s assessment, and Laviolette seemed to as well, considering he put Rempe right back onto the ice shortly after the successful Rangers penalty kill.
There wasn’t much else wrong with Rempe’s first playoff game. The Rangers had 76.44 percent of the expected goals when he was on the ice at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick. He credited his linemates with making big plays alongside him. Vesey had a goal and an assist, and Goodrow had a pair of helpers.
“Those guys have taken me under their wing a lot,” Rempe said. “As a young guy, I love them a lot. I was really happy we all had success.”
Rempe had another shot on a rush attempt in the third period, then resisted a Dylan McIlrath attempt to provoke him into further roughness. With the Rangers leading, it wasn’t the right time.
After the final buzzer, the public address announcer named him one of the three stars of the game, much to the fans’ delight.
“Crowd was absolutely buzzing,” Rempe said. “A day I’ll always remember.”
(Photo of Matt Rempe after scoring his goal in Game 1: Jared Silber / NHLI via Getty Images)
