The “rookie lap” during warm-ups is a tradition held by many hockey teams, but on Saturday, Rangers forward Matt Rempe made NHL history and took his rookie lap in front of 79,000 fans at MetLife Stadium. He is the NHL’s first player to debut in an outdoor game. At twenty-one years old, Matt Rempe is a staggering forward at 6’ 7” and 240 pounds. Hailing from Calgary, Alberta, Rempe was drafted 165th overall in the 2020 NHL draft by the New York Rangers. He has played for the Rangers AHL affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons. After getting called up by the Rangers earlier in the week but scratched from the lineup, he was set to make his debut on a larger-than-normal stage for the Stadium Series game against the Islanders at MetLife Stadium.
The “rookie lap” clearly got him fired up, as he wasted no time dropping the gloves against Matt Martin within the first 2 minutes of the game. In addition to his imposing size and willingness to get chippy, Rempe joins the lineup at a time when the Rangers are feeling the loss of Blake Wheeler, who will be out for the rest of the season after suffering a leg injury. In his time in Hartford, Rempe has gone from a fourth liner to centering the second line and posting a career-high eight goals on the season so far. Rempe isn’t considered a dazzling prospect, and no one’s necessarily expecting him to post incredible numbers. But what Rempe can bring to the team is energy and a willingness to win. The NHL season can be grueling, and the Rangers have been looking fatigued lately. While currently leading in the Metropolitan Division and sitting at second in the Eastern Conference, if teams like the Bruins, Maple Leafs, and Hurricanes get hot, it won’t be difficult to overtake the Rangers place in the standings. The Rangers are in need of a spark, and new faces like Rempe can help bring a new sense of energy and purpose to the group.
After scoring early on Sunday, the Rangers found themselves down 4-1 by the beginning of the second period. A couple of goals by Vincent Trocheck pulled them back within one, only for the Islanders Alexander Romanov to score and put the Isles up by two. The Rangers then scored two unanswered goals to end the third and send the game to overtime. Artemi Panarin scored just ten seconds into overtime, sealing the victory for the Rangers. The Stadium Series game acted almost as a metaphor for the Rangers season, starting off hot, then struggling, then getting back in it, then struggling, then showing some life again, and finishing strong. In order to finish the season strong, the boys in blue will need to approach the game a little like Matt Rempe does: with tenacity and energy.
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