New York Rangers enforcer Matt Rempe has been issued an eight-game suspension by the Department of Player Safety for elbowing Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen into the boards. This is the longest suspension for on-ice conduct since Tom Wilson’s 20-game suspension in October 2018.
The right winger received a game misconduct for elbowing Heiskanen on Friday. The Stars defenseman was chipping the puck out of Dallas’ defensive zone when Rempe hit him with a high elbow from behind.
He racked up 17 penalty minutes on the night, including a five-minute elbowing major and a two-minute minor for roughing with Stars center Roope Hintz, who came to Heiskanen’s defence. The Finnish D-man was slow to get up on the play but returned to action after missing six minutes of game time.
This is not the first time Rempe has been suspended for an elbowing incident in his career. The last time was in the Battle of the Hudson River against the New Jersey Devils last March.
The 22-year-old was suspended for four games after elbowing Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler into the boards. In some ways, it was similar to his hit on Heiskanen, and Siegenthaler was sidelined for about a week, suffering a concussion from Rempe’s hit.
Rempe has been ejected four times in his career in only 22 NHL appearances and recorded 95 penalty minutes. Last season, he racked up 71 penalty minutes in just 17 games. He also scored a goal and an assist in that campaign.
The Rangers had Rempe feature in 11 games during the last playoffs, where he also potted one goal.
In five games this season with the Blueshirts, Rempe has no points, has only one shot on goal and averages 6:15 ice time.
He’s also played 18 games with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. With the Rangers’ affiliate, he has three goals and two helpers for five points. Rempe also recorded 22 penalty minutes in the minors this season but a total of 205 in his AHL career.
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