Matt Rempe is just short of sainthood among Rangers fans. His game-leading nine hits last night at The World's Most Famous Arena had the crowd going as nuts as can be. Stan Fischler On Rangers Cup Chances A precious few believe he's the key to the Blueshirts Stanley Cup aspirations. In Sunrise, Florida tomorrow afternoon, where the Blueshirts hope to break the 1-1 tie in games, the Panthers regard the Rangers oversized winger with somewhere between a yawn and a belch. Although Cats' esteemed and erudite coach Paul Maurice has seen The Remper in action, he refuses to give the Ranger anything more than a shrug. "I haven't paid too much attention to Rempe," Maurice avers under third-degree questioning. I know that he's a big physical guy who gets in on the forecheck." Yoo-hoo, moo-hoo, Mister Maurice; at Madison Square Garden, Matt The Mauler has become a force. Some serious scouts believe his Jurassic Park presence is enough to intimidate the Panthers. Maybe yes, maybe no; but the Floridians do not have to go to such 6-8.5 heights to scare the living daylights out of the opposition. The Cats have a guy who's a foot shorter than Rempe and will fight the Skating Gargantua on the best day Matt ever had. His name is Ryan Lomberg. He's the 5-9 fellow who flattened Mika Zibanejad and then whooped Jimmy Vesey so hard the fourth-liner never returned to the game. "Lomberg has brought physicality to our team," says Panthers GM Bill Zito. "You can also say that he brought contagious energy to our lineup." So has defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. "He sent Rempe sprawling, limbs akimbo into the boards in the third period," says Florida Sun-Sentinel columnist Dave Hyde. Aleksander Barkov is another large presence for Florida. ESPN's Mark Messier says, "He's too big and too strong. The Rangers have no answer for him now." You get the point; the Cats are a formidable foe. "The series is going to be a grinder," says Maurice. "It's gonna be fast at times and tight on the boards at other times." Let the good – and rough – times roll!
