In present day ice hockey in the NHL, who are the toughest enforcers in the league? Who are the Bob Probert’s or the Stu Grimson’s on the ice these days? In present day hockey, fighting is not quite outlawed yet. The sport has less bouts in present day than in the past. Hockey still needs the goon to police the activity on the ice and protect their star players at the same time. In the Big Apple, a 23 year old center is taking the league by storm going up against the baddest of the bad in the NHL. He plays for the Rangers and his nickname is the Rempire State Building. He may be the same height as the Empire State building in New York standing at 6’9″ & weighing 261 pounds. His last name is Rempe so the clever play on words was formed with how tall he is. Playing in New York why not The Rempire State Building? That may be one of the best nicknames of all-time in sports. Matt Rempe dropped the gloves once again with veteran winger Ryan Reaves with the San Jose Sharks and it was an epic fight that took place Thursday night between the old enforcer and the new.

Ryan Reaves has skated in the NHL for 16 seasons playing the position of right winger and is a guy that will scrap it up with on the ice any night. The NHL season is still very young so far and Reaves before Thursday night already dropped the gloves with Ross Johnston of the Anaheim Ducks. Reaves has played in 919 NHL games, is 38 years of age, and will mix with anyone. He has played for multiple teams as he was originally drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 5th round of the 2005 NHL draft. He has suited up with the Penguins, Rangers, Golden Knights, Wild, Maple Leafs, and this is his first season with the Sharks. He is not paid to put the puck in the net. Reaves has scored 64 goals over his career while dishing out 74 assists for 138 total points. During warm ups between the Sharks and Rangers, he was seen chatting with one of New York’s top goal scorers, Artemi Panarin. Obviously the Rempire State Building had to have his say about this little conversation as both enforcers dropped the gloves and exchanged hay makers.

Ryan Reaves to me and you is a big dude weighting 225 pounds while standing at 6’2″. Matt Rempe being 6’9″ and with his long arms, it looks like Reaves is a rag doll to the bigger opponent.

Reaves is a scrapper and wily veteran as he looked like Rocky Balboa on the Ice. Not Sly Stallone in Rocky 2 skating with Adrian.

Ryan Reaves landed some devastating punches in this bout as he was determined to crumble the bigger building on the ice. This is not the first time these two enforcers have met on the job. Last year Reaves was on the Maple Leafs and these two had a brief tangle. In part two on Thursday, both enforcers put on a great show like two heavy weight fighters in the boxing ring. Both goons landed solid punches in an epic fight that you wish you would see more often. In present day, sports are changing. You can’t touch the quarterback in football. In baseball, pitchers are on pitch count instead of trying to complete the entire game. I guess you have to give Reaves the decision on this fight card because the Rempire State Building did not return to the ice after the bout. He would leave the game with an upper body injury. The Sharks would win their first game of the season beating the Rangers 6-5. I’m sure this will not be the last time these two enforcers cross paths

Matt Rempe has been in the NHL for only 3 seasons and has played in 68 games. He was drafted by the Rangers in the 6th round of the NHL 2020 draft. In 68 games he has only tallied 5 goals and dished out six assists. Once again he is not here to put the puck in the net which is just icing on the cake if he polices the ice for his team.

The Rempire State Building has already made a name for himself before dropping the gloves with Ryan Reaves on Thursday. He has fought many of the toughest enforcers in the league in only his third year in the league. He had an epic fight with Philadelphia Flyers tough guy Nicolas Deslauriers while leaving his mark on his face. He has fought Islanders tough guy Matt Martin, Kurtis MacDermid on the Devils, and Mathieu Oliver of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Stu Grimson as an enforcer still to this day has the best nickname ever by a tough guy being called the Grim Reaper. The Rempire State Building has to be up on the charts as well. Maybe some day Matt Rempe will have a book like the Grim Reaper telling it all about how the Enforcer goes about business on the ice. At 23 I believe we will see many more bouts from The Rempire State Building. It is nice to actually know goons are still lingering in the league and making a name for themselves. As a hockey fan, in the past it seemed like every team had a name on the roster that was the enforcer that you knew. The full back is basically dead in the sport of football. Maybe the Enforcer position will make a prestige return to the ice.