Matt Rempe was in a fight, and Georges Laraque didn’t like what he was seeing.
“He was getting hit way too much in the face,” Laraque said.
Laraque knows about fighting; he had over 150 fights in the NHL and spent more than a decade as an enforcer because he understood how to take fewer hits to the head.
He reached out to Rempe to offer advice over the phone and then spent a few days with him on the ice during the summer to teach the 6-foot-8 forward some important fighting techniques.
That was just one part of Rempe’s offseason training. He also practiced power skating almost every day and worked with New York Rangers veteran Chris Kreider on how to tip pucks in front of the net.
The 22-year-old Rempe is entering his first full season hoping to improve his skills, both with and without fighting.
“The fighting is a very small part, and I highly prioritized the skills and skating and everything,” Rempe said over the summer. “I’ve got to become a better player, so that’s what I’ve got to work on. I definitely enjoyed it, and I think I’ve taken big strides this summer with that.”
With 28 games of regular-season and playoff experience, along with five fights against some of the toughest players in the sport, Rempe wants to show he can be a regular player. Laraque believes Rempe could become a solid third-liner because he is young and eager to learn how to improve his physical game.
“Without fighting, that guy could be a factor, and that’s what a lot of people don’t know,” Laraque told The Associated Press by phone.
“He’s a force. Dumping the puck, when the ‘D’ will go retrieve, they’re going to die. He’s so strong that the whiplash, just the contact of him while skating how fast he is, he’s going to hurt guys. … He’s a truck.”
