OT: Return of the hockey goon?
As hockey fan that started watching in the mid 80s, I watched a good fight almost every game. Growing up in Philly, it was guys like Dave Brown racking up 275 penalty a year with little actual hockey skill, and players like Rick Tocchet and Craig Barube who actually had some skill.
Looks like this kid on the Rangers is a real throwback player. Article is paywalled but the twitter links below are to videos of couple of his fights.
The Gigantic Rookie Bringing Fighting Back to Hockey
The New York Rangers are a first-place team with cerebral passers, ace shooters and a pair of experienced goalies. But that’s not what’s made them the buzz of the hockey world this week.
That would be a 21-year-old rookie who loves serving knuckle sandwiches.
Matt Rempe joined the Rangers from the minors on Feb. 18. The puck hadn’t even dropped on his first shift before he started firing a barrage of punches at New York Islanders tough guy Matt Martin. In Rempe’s first five games, he spent a total of 20 minutes actually playing on the ice—and racked up 32 penalty minutes after participating in three separate fights.
Rempe, a 6-foot-7 native of Calgary—he’s about 7 feet in skates—is far from the biggest star on a Rangers squad that entered Wednesday having won 10 of its last 11 contests. New York selected him in the sixth round of the 2020 draft, and he spent the next couple of years knocking around the lower levels of the game.
But less than two weeks into his rookie season, Rempe has emerged as an unlikely sensation by challenging several of the league’s most ferocious enforcers to fights. By the time the Rangers faced the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, his reputation was already preceding him. Nicolas Deslauriers, who has never shied away from a tussle, asked the new kid during warm-ups if they could go a round.
February 28th, 2024 at 1:30 PM ^
I had a friend years ago who had a short stint in the NHL with the Rangers and he was considered one of their enforcers. He told me a story one time about fighting Bob Probert of the Wings and he described getting punched by Probert was sort of like somebody holding a brick in their hand and then hitting you in the face with it. He said he never fought anyone else in the league who had heavier hands and could punch with that much power.
He said "I only made that mistake once"
February 28th, 2024 at 1:56 PM ^
I'm sure there were some fearsome fighters before Probert's time, but it's hard to believe that anyone was ever better. His era was likely the peak of the enforcer role and Probert was rarely if ever bested. A few guys gave him a good workout, but I don't ever recall him losing a fight outright. He had size, reach, leverage, and big hands, and he threw punches from the bottom of his shoes. He didn't mind getting hit, either. Just a straight up brawler. He's got the Belt, all time.
February 28th, 2024 at 2:03 PM ^
He was huge...I was with a buddy looking to rent a video game once and he was next us and asked about a few games and I recommended a couple..I walked behind him and was shocked how big he was and I am 6'2--his back was wide as hell
February 28th, 2024 at 2:09 PM ^
On the side, he added 29 goals and 33 assists in 87/88.
February 28th, 2024 at 2:30 PM ^
Yes, that's true! Probie was a pretty good hockey player, too. Great hands around the net.
February 28th, 2024 at 3:13 PM ^
also the height of Probies cocaine use... the following season is when he got pinched at the boarder for having coke on him, got deported and so on...
February 28th, 2024 at 3:26 PM ^
"87/88 also the height of Probies cocaine use"
I have a newsflash. That was the height of EVERYONE'S cocaine use. Just ask Roy Tarpley & Antoine Joubert.
February 29th, 2024 at 10:46 AM ^
yes well aware of late 80's and use of coke... but my point was that after that season and Probert getting pinched at boarder the following season he started to get clean(ish), he never had a season like he did in 87/88 again...
February 28th, 2024 at 11:30 PM ^
I always thought Kocur's skills were underrated as well.
February 28th, 2024 at 4:03 PM ^
He was the top enforcer, but they all lose fights. As far as the hardest punchers Joey Kocur was among the best
February 28th, 2024 at 8:47 PM ^
I have to believe that the Probert/Kocur combination was the toughest duo ever.
February 28th, 2024 at 11:21 PM ^
The Bruise Brothers were to tough duos what Trammel and Whitaker were to double play combos.
February 29th, 2024 at 6:15 AM ^
https://youtu.be/erqeuGuw7R4?si=LwnC_00ZOKdf0vK4
Not Probert but one of my all-time favorite hockey fights. Wings farm club in Toledo (Storm) back in the late 90's. Both guys arms are going like pistons.
February 28th, 2024 at 3:48 PM ^
Probert was the best fighter of that era --- but Link Gaetz was the scariest fighter of that era. Big and could brawl, not quite but near toe-to-toe with Probert, and was also absolutely crazy. The dude had two black eyes in his draft photo because he went 1-on-3 in a bar fight (at 18) the night before.
The "Missing Link" also led to one of the best quotes ever (from the-then Minnesota North Stars GM):
"I drafted Mike Modano in the first round to protect our franchise. I drafted Link Gaetz in the second round to protect Mike Modano. I should have drafted a lawyer in the third round to protect Link Gaetz.”
February 28th, 2024 at 1:42 PM ^
Used to follow this aspect big time and it really added to the drama of games in the 80s and 90s. Then it became a more planned and staged super heavy fights that really didn’t effect the momentum of games.
I think I really stopped following it entirely when Derek Boogaard died and his story came out. Boogie was 6-7, 270 and the best fighter in the league and died from an OD on the pain killers he needed to do his job. The stories that came out about how much enforcers suffer mentally from all the pressure and concussions just showed this was really damaging.
February 29th, 2024 at 11:21 AM ^
100% agree Jimmy. It's completely unnecessary. The best hockey in the world is Olympic Hockey (especially when Canada wins gold) and there's no fighting
February 28th, 2024 at 1:42 PM ^
Heard the Wings are trying to sign this guy - issue is that he was deported to Canada, and Canada's subsequent refusal to take him back.
February 28th, 2024 at 2:05 PM ^
I hear the Wings are also after these three guys
February 28th, 2024 at 2:09 PM ^
Ogle-torp? Asking for a Quebecois ami.
February 28th, 2024 at 1:45 PM ^
I love that a Flyers guy (my hometown team as well) basically touched gloves during warm-ups. That's hilarious.
February 28th, 2024 at 1:49 PM ^
I'm sorry, but fighting in hockey in 2024 is really dumb. Boxing on skates, knowing what we know about CTE? Count me out. Plus, most "fights" now are about as spontaneous as WWE anyway.
February 28th, 2024 at 1:53 PM ^
WAIT ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT WWE IS NOT SPONTANEOUS AND LEGIT BUT IS CHOREOGRAPHED AND SCRIPTED AHEAD OF TIME???
Next, what, you'll tell me Santa isn't real either? Must really suck to live in your version of the world.
February 28th, 2024 at 2:50 PM ^
I actually think the lack of spontaneity is a feature, not a bug. The fights that I remember the most all fall into the non-spontaneous category - Probert/Domi, Probert/McSorley (when McSorley was on the Pens and they fought for what seemed like 10 minutes).
February 28th, 2024 at 3:52 PM ^
In sports, for individual game achievements, there are few things better than a Gordie Howe Hat Trick.
February 28th, 2024 at 6:27 PM ^
Yeah, I tend to roll my eyes when a self-proclaimed "hockey fan" starts talking about fighting. Fighting is necessary sometimes because refs can only do so much to protect players moving at such speeds, but 99% of enforcers today are taking an NHL roster spot away from many more deserving players that actually want to play hockey.
February 28th, 2024 at 7:31 PM ^
40 years of playing and watching hockey add I merely get “hockey fan” status…smh
February 28th, 2024 at 1:58 PM ^
Saw the fight between this guy and some guy on the Flyers the other day. Best hockey fight of the year.
I agree with others downthread that planned, non-spontaneous fighting between goons that have no skill is stupid given what we know about long-lasting consequences of blows to the head.
That being said, I'd be pretty happy if on-ice enforcers return to making more of an impact going forward. Maybe it'll stop some of the cheap-shotting of skill players that has gotten more prevalent -- and seems to happen quite frequently to Dylan Larkin.
February 28th, 2024 at 2:06 PM ^
This may be a Karen response from me, but the only thing that will stop cheap shots, IMHO, is if the DoPS starts indiscriminately giving out 15 game suspensions for them.
February 28th, 2024 at 2:16 PM ^
The Department of Player Safety is a hive of scum and villany (and incompetence), and I don't want them handing down hefty suspensions on the regular since they so regularly get things wrong.
The league missed its chance at deterrence by not hanging Dale Hunter at dawn three decades ago. My trust is with enforcers.
February 29th, 2024 at 1:47 PM ^
Perhaps, but shit like this should be an automatic insta-ban:
This hit was literally just at the 3rd period buzzer in a game that was 3-1. Should Laine have been trying for an empty netter at that point? No. Did he deserve to miss three weeks while the guy that hit him only got four games? Fuck no.
The Jackets and Flames play each other twice a year. This hit happened at the end of the game. How does an enforcer rectify that?
February 28th, 2024 at 1:59 PM ^
Bob Probert, Joey Kocur and D Mc kicked ass and took names!
February 28th, 2024 at 3:16 PM ^
D-Mac lost more than he won, he also had a bad habit of getting hurt every time he fought...
February 28th, 2024 at 2:00 PM ^
Oliver knocked his ass out, but that boy is not afraid to throw down. As Reg Dunlop once said "I'm a lover not a fighter" is more my style!
February 28th, 2024 at 3:27 PM ^
Yeah, fighting Olivier the very next game was not a good idea. He took some heavy shots and was clearly concussed after that.
February 28th, 2024 at 2:02 PM ^
What, no mention of him pre-arranging a fight pre-game with Mathieu Olivier in Columbus and then getting his entire ass handed to him?
February 28th, 2024 at 2:10 PM ^
I don’t know a damn thing about hockey, but isn’t the last link in the OP what you’re talking about?
February 29th, 2024 at 1:49 PM ^
It is, that's my bad. I conflated the two links with the Isles and Flyers fights OP mentioned.
February 28th, 2024 at 4:40 PM ^
Seems like a rather large mention considering the link to it is about a paragraph of text in the post.
February 28th, 2024 at 2:17 PM ^
I remember watching George LaRaque take the ice...... i thought, "holy shit, I can actually skate better than that guy". I wasn't nearly as large, nor could I fight like him, but I honest to God believe that there was an NHL player who I could probably out skate.
February 28th, 2024 at 2:28 PM ^
you ever watch Laroque work the corners? He was a machine down there.
February 28th, 2024 at 2:42 PM ^
he certainly served a purpose.... but a skater he was not.
February 28th, 2024 at 2:19 PM ^
The scariest hockey fights I ever saw took place were in the 70's in the upper balcony of Chicago Stadium. My Father stood 6'-7" and even he kept and head on a swivel. I watched men's faces get pound into hamburger and not an Andy-Fran to be found.
February 28th, 2024 at 2:33 PM ^
I always enjoyed hockey fights by and large, but honestly the thing I really loved was situations 'getting out of hand'. Like goon-on-goon quasi organized fighting is nice, but it's not 'thrilling' really. Thrilling is when games get nasty overall and there's just a palpable sense of nastiness and hate in the air. Big hits, heated words, tons of tussling, a crowd baying for blood. That's what made hockey special. It wasn't just 60 minutes of guys trying to win and then shaking hands afterwards and talking about their plans for the weekend.
February 28th, 2024 at 2:43 PM ^
"There's no room for a nervous person."
February 28th, 2024 at 3:19 PM ^
Michigan games where there may have been a heated rivalry, so especially Saturday night games of a weekend series, Gassoff used to join the 4th line. Wasn't big, but would scrap with anyone.
College hockey had the more spontaneous fights with fighting not allowed. Hard to fill a spot with an enforcer, but he seemed to take on that role in early 2000s. He got plenty of "We want Gassoff" chants when he was and wasn't suited up.
February 28th, 2024 at 3:26 PM ^
I remember one time, an opposing player (I can't remember which team) took a cheap shot from behind on Jed Ortmeyer, knocking him out. When Gassoff saw Jed go down, he jumped on the player from behind and began raining blows down upon his head.
After he graduated, he apparently went on to become a Navy SEAL.
February 28th, 2024 at 2:49 PM ^
I recall a Wings game, probably '90 or '91, one of the Wings slashed the wrist of the player skating the puck up the ice, Gallant was trailing the play. The player who got slashed threw his hand up in the air (probably because it hurt like hell, taking a stick across the wrist) his glove flew off and hit Spuddy in the face. Spuddy, seemingly unware of the slash, must have thought the guy threw the glove at his face because he grabbed him by the shoulder, wheeled him around and starts punching him in the face.
Poor dude gets slashed on the wrist and then gets the shit beat out of him and has no idea why.
oh the good ol' NHL
February 28th, 2024 at 2:58 PM ^
20 PIM in 5 games... thats nothing...
Tie Domi played in 2 games in 89/90 it was a weekend home and home with the Wings, in those 2 games Tie spent 42 mins in the box... he was sent back down after those 2 games...
https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/d/domiti01.html
the Friday night game set a record for PIM in a period IIRC, Saturday was a bit tamer but there were still a couple of fights...
February 28th, 2024 at 2:59 PM ^
I was a big fan of boxing in the 70s-80s and used to go drink beers with a friend at the Grand Blanc Inn in the mid-80s hoping to see Probie and/or Kocur fight. Watching guys who couldn't speak anymore, or ended up dead early etc. lead me to me feel guilt over it even BEFORE we knew what CTE is (I enjoyed watching Tommy Hearns beat on Wilfred Benetiz; Google Benitez and see where he is now). I get that athletes get hurt and sometimes have chronic pain the rest of their lives. Hockey fights are not necessary to the game however. I'm glad that they've become pretty rare.