New Jersey Devils defenceman Kurtis MacDermid sounded off on Matt Rempe after the New York Rangers rookie was ejected from Monday’s game.
Rempe was given a misconduct for elbowing Jonas Siegenthaler during the final minute of the second period in the Rangers’ 3-1 win. As Siegenthaler dumped the puck in from the neutral zone, Rempe came across the ice and hit the Devils defenceman in the head with his elbow. Siegenthaler was slow to get up and did not return to the game.
MacDermid, who also received a 10-minute misconduct, attempted to fight Rempe after the play but was held back by officials. As Rempe left the ice, he mocked MacDermid by waving at him.
“There’s a right way to go about things and a wrong way,” MacDermid told reporters. “I kind of lost a lot of respect for him tonight.”
He added: “He’s a young kid in this league, he has a lot to learn still. You don’t do things like that in your first year in the league, especially. Like I said, I lost quite a bit of respect for him tonight.”
Things were already heated between the teams, which stemmed from their previous meeting on Feb. 22 when Rempe hit Devils forward Nate Bastian in the head. Rempe received a match penalty but was not suspended for the hit.
MacDermid was not with the Devils at the time — having been acquired from the Colorado Avalanche via trade on March 1 — but was well aware of the incident.
“First shift I asked him, there’s a bit of a code and I thought he would have answered that, but I don’t know what he was told but he said no,” MacDermid said. “After a hit like that, it kind of goes without saying you should answer the bell in some way and be a man about it.”
Although MacDermid understood the officials were just doing their job to de-escalate the situation by holding him back, he said he wished he “could have gotten to [Rempe] quicker and taught him a lesson.”
Devils interim head coach Travis Green addressed Rempe’s hit on Siegenthaler and believes there was some intent to injure.
“Everyone that knows the game knows that [Siegenthaler] is in a vulnerable spot,” Green said. “Call it predatorial or whatever you want to call it. It’s definitely not the first time that it’s happened and second time against us.”
Devils leading scorer Jesper Bratt also said he didn’t like the hit.
“I mean, it’s an elbow to the head,” he said. “Obviously, you don’t want to see that.”
The 21-year-old Rempe has only played in 10 games but has already made a name for himself racking up 54 penalty minutes and four fights since the Rangers called him up from the minors last month.
The Rangers and Devils face off for the final time during the regular season on April 3 in New York.