To Georges Laraque, fighting in the NHL is a brotherhood.
So when Matt Rempe went on a bout bender during his first days in the league, putting what some believe to be a dying role in hockey in the New York City limelight, Laraque, the former longtime NHL enforcer — like everyone else — watched intently.
He saw the Rangers rookie hold his own against Islanders heavyweight Matt Martin in front of 79,690 fans at MetLife Stadium.
Then looked on as Rempe got clocked a few times by Flyers face-puncher Nicolas Deslauriers and later taken down by Blue Jackets tough guy Mathieu Olivier.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, he’s getting hit way too much because he has no technique,’ ” Laraque recalled to The Post in a recent phone call. “And then after a few fights, his face, he had black eyes and everything. After [the] Olivier [fight], when it kind of went a bit bad, I was like, ‘OK, I have to reach out to him.’ Because he was so good for the league.”
training with this offseason. Screengrab via X/@GeorgesLaraque
The two exchanged a series of messages and Laraque offered up what he learned across 695 career games and 159 fights (according to hockeyfights.com) in the best way that text communication would allow.
After that, when Rempe squared off against the 6-foot-2, 226-pound Ryan Reaves in Toronto, the 22-year-old had much better form.
He then showed composure in his anticipated tussle with the Devils’ hired henchman Kurtis MacDermid.
“So what I told him, I said, ‘Listen, when the season is over, if you want, we can meet up and we’ll do this on the ice,’” said Laraque, who is now a public speaker and member of the NHL’s and NHL Players Association’s Inclusion Coalition. “It’s way better on the ice than by text. So a couple weeks ago, he texted me and he said, ‘Can I take you up on your offer?’ ”
The enforcer of yesteryear and the enforcer of the future met at the Silent Ice Center in Edmonton, Alberta, last week for three days.
They worked for 90 minutes each day on a myriad of fighting techniques aimed at ensuring the longevity of Rempe’s career, which was Laraque’s biggest concern when he first started watching him.
From learning how to take the helmet off to how to get the perfect grab of a jersey.
The way to position himself and protect himself in all different situations.
How to use his reach, his uppercut and how not to get hit.
There was also the psychological approach to cover.
How to make opponents worry about more than just what you are.
Battling the anxiety of a fight.
How to calm yourself down.
How to prepare your body for a fight.
Refining the mental approach in all aspects.
Laraque did it all for free.
“Wait til you see,” the 13-year NHL veteran said, his smile almost audible through the phone. “I gave him so much information, so much technique, we practiced so much. I can’t wait for you to see it. I can’t wait. You know, the other thing too is, they know. The whole league knows what he just did. They know he’s not going to be the same.
“If you look at all my fights, the way that I was, I was very technical. Yes, I was tough, strong, 6-4, but I was technical. I barely got connected. I never got concussions in my career, I never got knocked out, never lost a tooth, never got stitches, never got nothing. Why? Because of technique. It’s not just strength.
“It was technique and he’s taller than me. So now that he has all my technique, all my tricks, at 6-8, who is going to touch him?”
Laraque scoffs at the notion that Rempe can’t skate, noting that the 6-8 ½ forward is fast.
All anybody may be talking about is Rempe the fighter, but Laraque sees the value in the Calgary native’s physical presence.
When considering the 2024 Stanley Cup champions, the Panthers, who beat Rempe and the Rangers in six games in the Eastern Conference final, Laraque pointed to feisty forwards like Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett and the toughness with which that team was built.
The Rangers aren’t built like that, he said, which is where Rempe comes in.
When Rempe is in the lineup, Laraque said he knows everybody else players bigger, tougher and taller with the assurance that he has their back. Rempe can compensate for the lack of grit in certain areas.
Though it’s clear nothing has been more impressive to Laraque than Rempe’s work ethic and demeanor since he cannonballed onto the NHL scene.
“I remember after one hour-and-a-half session on the ice — which is pretty grueling because we fight, we wrestle, we do so many things, right? — just imagine how hard that is,” he said. “One day these kids came on the ice and he skated with them for another hour. Two and a half hours!”
Laraque is in favor of how hockey and the NHL has changed, in the sense that there are no more one-dimensional players.
When the 47-year-old was in the league, there were players who couldn’t hit or skate — they were just there to fight.
That is not who Rempe is, Laraque believes, because it can’t be that way anymore.
He also believes fighting will always be part of hockey. It’s probably true, too.
Just as the NHL’s gladiator era began to slip away, Rempe hauled it back in with two fists and a dream.
The role of the enforcer is still alive and well in the NHL.
Rempe certainly played a part in that.
We’ll see what he can become now that he’s learned from the brotherhood.
“I’m telling you, the Rempe that you see — and again, not saying that he’s going to look for it, but because of how physical he is it might happen — you will see a much different fighter,” Laraque said. “I pity any of these guys that will have to answer to him.”
