The New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs stepped into this Original Six clash on Hockey Night in Canada this Saturday, both riding high. Yet it was a potential sparring, the main storyline before the two heavyweight contenders in the Eastern Conference squared off.
On the Toronto side, there's 37-year-old, 6-foot-2, 226-pound Ryan Reaves. And on the Rangers' end, we've got the young gun, 21-year-old, 6-foot-8 ˝, 245-pound Matt Rempe.
Now, everyone's been talking about Rempe lately, calling him the league's new face puncher, as he's only been in the league for a week and fought four times.
Yet whether he throws down with Reaves, one of the last of the old guard fighters in the NHL, remains to be seen.
"This kid is doing everything it takes," Kevin Bieska from Sportsnet said pregame, adding to the hype.
Fans were on the edge of their seats from puck-drop, waiting for these two giants to clash. And then it almost happened—Rempe and Reaves met on the ice for the first time. Reaves even taunted Rempe, asking if he wanted to go at it.
Yet Rempe played it smart, skating away and declining the offer.
