For the foreseeable future, the New York Rangers will need someone else to fill the role of enforcer.
Matt Rempe will be out for the “longer term” due to an upper-body injury sustained during his heavyweight encounter with Ryan Reaves last week. Mike Sullivan, the Rangers’ head coach, told Mollie Walker of the New York Post before his team’s 2-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.
Throughout the bout, Reaves dominated Rempe, startling and flooring him with many strong right punches. While Reaves served his five-minute punishment for fighting in the penalty box, Rempe headed down the tunnel at Madison Square Garden with Rangers training staff members.
“He’s a big boy, and you have to fight guys like that a little bit differently,” Reaves remarked afterward. “I’ve watched him fight, so I know what he excels at and what his vulnerabilities are. “It was a good tilt.”
Rempe, 23, played 19 seconds of ice time on October 23 and has been out of action since. Rempe has a 9:48 ice time average and one goal in nine games this season, his first under Sullivan.
Overall, the Rangers have struggled to accumulate standings points early in Sullivan’s tenure, currently lying eighth in the Metropolitan Division with a 4-5-2 record. Tuesday’s victory over the Canucks ended a three-game losing slide.
Reaves, in his first season with the rebuilding San Jose Sharks, has appeared in nine of the team’s ten games this season. The 38-year-old winger averages 6:44 of ice time per game and has two goals.