How did Matt Rempe handle his week, where all of the hockey world seemed to be talking about him despite never seeing game action?
By going to a vampire-themed escape room with his buddy Adam Edstrom, that’s how.
“I was not off to a hot start, but Eddie was buzzing,” the jovial 21-year-old said on the morning of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final. “Then the last half, I had some elite codebreakers. I solved the puzzle. The guy was so impressed, he took us out for wings after.
“It was a good job. I blew it away. It was some Zodiac sign puzzle. I don’t even know anything about Zodiac signs, but I cracked it. Not a big deal. So, that was good. He took us out for wings, so that was fun.”
Rempe has been the talk of the town and the sport, all without him actually having played in the series-opening 3-0 loss to Florida.
Mark Messier called for him to come into the lineup.
Wayne Gretzky and Henrik Lundqvist talked about him on TNT.
His ratio of ice time to attention surely must be an all-time record.
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Indeed, there was a crowd around Rempe’s locker at MSG Training Center on Friday morning. And indeed, Rempe provided some entertainment.
The escape room trio was completed by Edstrom’s girlfriend. So, Rempe was the third wheel?
“No,” he said. “She was third-wheeling.”
The Rangers did not run line rushes Friday morning, so the question of whether or not Rempe would be inserted into the Game 2 lineup to provide a physical response remained open as he spoke.
The only thing Peter Laviolette would say is that the calls for Rempe to play would have no impact on the coaching staff’s decisions.
But there was no wondering about Rempe’s energy, which he had in excess. The 21-year-old was riffing, reeling, owning the room.
“If I get an opportunity, like, chomping,” he said. “I’m ready to go. Ready to go. If that happens, I want to be buzzing.”
If Rempe is feeling any pressure at all, he did a hell of a job hiding it.
“I don’t like to look at it like that,” Rempe said. “Yeah, I got an opportunity. Am I gonna — ‘Oh, god’ — be nervous? No. I’m just gonna go out there, take it shift by shift, every day type of thing, just have fun with it.
“That’s what I like to do. Create some chaos, go skate hard and have fun. I’m 21. I don’t have no pressure.”
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