A lesson for Matt Rempe after his eight-game suspension.
Here's the real story of Matt Rempe in six little words: He got too full of himself!
Before The Maven even could knock off these words, my objective hockey pal Noam Kogen dropped me a note. I kid you not, Pal Noam wrote:
"Matt Rempe got too full of himself."
Hey, it happens. And, yes, it did happen to the Skating Giraffe from Calgary, Alberta.
He landed in the NHL with only these credentials – 6-8, 240 pounds, smiles and a gift of gab that would make Paul Bissonnette seem mute by comparison.
Faster than you can say Taylor Swift, the large fellow with no credentials became worshipped like he was Taylor Swift's kid brother.
Some say it's because he's a fighter but some nobody on Columbus beat Rempe as if he was Ranger pinata.
Still, the MSG crowd treated him as if this bloke was the second coming of Mark Messier. Management – probably against its better judgment – even allowed him to play in the postseason.
Now here's the trick. Rempe began to believe his own myth. Or, like my pal Noam says, he got too full of himself.
You would too, especially in the off-season. Nobody sent a reporter to see heroic Breadman Panarin or Igor Shesterkin.
But when The Remper went for boxing lessons he was a story. When he took Hockey 101 lessons with Chris Kreider, Mauler Matt was a story again.
He got more off-season attention than any Ranger and, by the way, how do you think his hard-working teammates felt about that? (Mister Nothing is an instant rock star? Gimme a break!)
The vast numbers of his loyal fans began wondering just who they were rooting for and, yeah, whether he could play hockey.
Of course he could but the way coach Peter Laviolette figured it he should come up for a cup of coffee and mostly should bang bodies. Rempe obliged but his radar was a bit off against Dallas.
When he – from behind, mind you and with a leap – blitzed Miro Heiskanen into oblivion, the NHL said that was a bloody no-no. And that particular brand of no-no cost Rempe eight games.
As a matter of unpleasant fact, that no-no again could turn Mauler Matt into a nobody from whence he came.
And, perhaps, a little less full of himself!