Last season, the Capitals split the season series with the Rangers before being swept by them in the playoffs. In typical Rangers fashion, there were a lot of questionable and flat-out intentionally cheap plays coming from New York, and in particular, Matt Rempe. Many of them were unnoticed and unpenalized. As the Capitals take on the Rangers and Rempe on Tuesday night, here’s a refresher on the four most dangerous plays from the Rangers last season that injured four Capitals.
- Matt Rempe high sticks Beck Malenstyn off a faceoff leading to a Rangers goal.
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This high sticking infraction went unnoticed and unpenalized by the referees. If called, the penalty would have negated the Rangers third goal because the high stick occurred before the goal was scored. As soon as a Ranger touched the puck, the play would be blown dead and the Capitals would have received a powerplay. There’s no telling how a powerplay in a 2-0 game could have changed the tide. Instead, the Capitals were left with a three goal deficit, an injured player and a very bad taste in their mouths for the officials.
- Alexis Lafreniere boards Vincent Iorio from behind, leading to another Rangers goal.
There was no penalty on this play and the Rangers scored while Iorio was still incapacitated on the ice. Head coach Spencer Carbery referred to the hit as ‘borderline”, noting how Iorio was not in the best place to receive a hit anyways.
However, this could easily have been called a boarding penalty. Again, that would have negated the Rangers goal and sent the Capitals to a powerplay. According to Rule 41.1 of the NHL rule book (page 73): “A boarding penalty shall be imposed on any player who checks or pushes a defenseless opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to hit or impact the boards violently or dangerously. The severity of the penalty, based upon the impact with the boards, shall be at the discretion of the Referee. There is an enormous amount of judgment involved in the application of this rule by the Referees.”
Iorio did not return for the rest of the Caps-Rangers series, and missed multiple AHL games from the injury after returning to the Hershey Bears.
- Artemi Panarin throws a high hit on TJ Oshie.
Panarin was initially called for a major penalty, but was overturned upon official review: Panarin received no supplemental discipline from the NHL. Notably, Oshie was pulled from the game by concussion spotters, signaling the presence of head contact and a potential head injury.
During the game, analyst and former player PK Subban said how the hit on Oshie was clearly high and in the head. He also mentioned how most other players would get suspended for that type of play.
Oshie later said he was fine with the contact, despite having to call in his doctor on an emergency flight after the game. Oshie returned for Games 3 and 4, and played with lingering back issues aggravated by the Panarin hit along with a broken hand courtesy of another Matt Rempe hit.
- Matt Rempe injures Trevor van Riemsdyk on a high hit to the head.
TvR left the game and did not return for the remainder of the playoffs. Despite Rempe jumping to hit TvR (his skates are off the ground), which is typically a big no-no, Rempe received no supplemental action (fine or suspension). He received only a single 2 minute minor for interference in the game. The hit received national media attention for its ill-intent. Even NY outlets called the hit “brutal”.
Rempe later declined a fight from Tom Wilson following the cheap play. Declining a fight after an injury is typically seen as disrespectful in terms of hockey etiquette. If you injure someone, intentional or not, the respectful thing is to step up and pay for your actions. For example, just recently Pittsburgh Penguin Marcus Petterson laid a hit on Edmonton Oiler Victor Arvidsson that the rest of the Oilers thought was cheap. A few minutes later, Petterson stepped up to fight Oiler Darnell Nurse. That’s proper etiquette in hockey. Even the Penguins know that.
This was somewhat of the final straw after a long list of poor plays that ended up injuring Capitals. After the game, Nic Dowd publicly commented how “That was a dirty hit…I think a player [Rempe] took advantage of another player [TvR] in a vulnerable spot.”
John Carlson echoed Dowd’s comments postgame, saying “I’m sick and tired of losing defensemen to ‘clean’ hits, though. It’s frustrating how guys can get injured and it’s legal.”
Tom Wilson also voiced his opinion on the play, stating “I’ve been told you can’t hit that late. It’s a pretty late hit. It’s a target on one of our D. You hate to see it.”
The NHL’s decision not to issue any disciplinary action on Rempe, who has a history of similar dirty head hits, was shocking and quite frankly creates a double standard. Rempe had previously been suspended for other headshots, including one on former Cap and current Devil, Jonas Siegenthaler.
So far this year, the Rangers have already drawn criticism for their hits. Rangers Captain Jacob Trouba angered the Montreal Canadiens after taking out Justin Barron in a controversial headshot. Canadien Michael Matheson was ejected from the game for trying to stand up for his teammate, while the Rangers’ Trouba received a simple two minute minor penalty. Trouba did not receive any disciplinary action for the play. Barron has missed two games so far as a result of the hit. The longer these types of plays go undisciplined by the NHL, the more often they will happen.
Beyond the danger these plays pose to players, they’re also unfair plays. It’s not a true competition of skill and ability. Anyone can start flinging their elbows left and right, taking out good players so the team has to play short handed. And you still won the game? That doesn’t mean you’re better, that means you cheated. And the officials let you. If you have to injure players to win, then you’re not confident in your athletic abilities. So instead, you have beat up the other team.
When the Caps take on the Rangers Tuesday night at 730pm, I hope that we see a fair, competitive, gritty and hard-fought game. These are two teams who have started the year with high-powered offense, and that should lead to a great game on the ice. Whichever team wins should win fairly because they are just better than the other team. If the Rangers truly outplay the Caps (which I’ve yet to see), then so be it. But a team should not win because they bulldozed their way through another team to steal two points.
