Rookie learning from ‘mistake’ against Devs
WR Williams chose Jets cause they appear built for success
The four-game suspension levied against Matt Rempe by the NHL provided enough time for the purple and green bruising around both of his eyes to fade away.
Marks from his five fights in 10 games are gone. The face of a 21-year-old kid remains.
His time away from game action also gave Rempe some space to calm down from the pandemonium in which the 6-foot-8 ½ forward has been engulfed since making his NHL debut just over a month ago.
“Just a learning experience,” Rempe said of his suspension for his high-elbowed hit on the Devils’ Jonas Siegenthaler. “Made a mistake, and just going to learn from it and grow. At 21, still got to learn lots of things. Watching games, you learn a lot. I can go watch a lot of the older guys and see what they’re doing.
“Got lots of great reps in practice, got to work on my skill, got to work on a lot of things. It was great. Obviously, you never want to be suspended, but you learn things, and you get better and you grow.”
Rempe showed remorse for his actions, which concussed Siegenthaler and sidelined him the next four games. It prompted George Parros, the head of the league’s department of player safety, to essentially throw the book at the firsttime (technically, but not really) offender.
The next step for Rempe is to continue learning how to toe the line. Play hard, but also clean.
“More control of my body, just stuff like that,” he said of what he’s learned. “If a guy is pulling out of a hit, just got to be careful. It was an accident. I thought I was going to hit the wall. … Never want to see a guy get hurt or anything like that. I’m still going to play super-hard, play the same way.
“I’m just going to make sure my hits are clean, like, keep everything compact, keep everything tight. It will be good. Just live and learn.”
There’s obviously no question Rempe’s elbow came up and hit Siegenthaler, but the rookie said he did not realize he made contact with the Devils’ defenseman. Head coach Peter Laviolette said after the fact he also thought Rempe was bracing himself to hit the wall.
Still, Rempe recognized that it does not excuse the fact that his elbow was not kept in tight. He called it a mistake and, again, apologized for how it all unfolded.
There was uproar in the Devils’ locker room after that 3-1 Rangers win on March 11, led by forward Kurtis MacDermid. Understandably so, considering the fact that Siegenthaler was the second Devils player Rempe had knocked out of a game, after he ran through Nathan Bastian during the previous meeting Feb. 22.
MacDermid openly challenged Rempe that night for his hit on Bastian, who has been out ever since with a lower-body injury. After Rempe declined, MacDermid went after him again after the Siegenthaler hit, but the refs kept the two apart.
“I had my instructions,” Rempe said of refusing MacDermid. “I had my instructions before the game and stuff.”
The Rangers signed Jaroslav Chmelar to a three-year, entry-level contract Wednesday, the team announced.
Chmelar, the Blueshirts’ 144th-overall pick in the 2021 draft, is leaving Providence College in the middle of his sophomore season to join the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.
The 20-year-old forward recorded 12 goals and 16 assists in 59 career games for the Friars. This season, Chmelar posted five goals and 10 assists in 26 games.
It’s been an exciting few years for Chmelar, who helped Czechia win a silver medal in the 2023 World Junior Championship with three goals and two assists in seven games.
Mike Williams found more things appealing about the Jets than just his famous breakfast sandwich.
“For me, personally, I just felt like it was a great fit for me,” Williams said Wednesday, one day after signing a one-year deal with the Jets. “Aaron [Rodgers], I want to be able to play with him, pick his brain, learn from him. Playing alongside Garrett [Wilson], he kind of reminds me of Keenan [Allen] a little bit. Similar style play, great route runners, and I feel like we can complement each other. The running game is pretty good. The defense is elite. I just feel like we’ve got a pretty good opportunity ahead of us. I’m just looking forward to it.”
The former Chargers wide receiver tore his ACL in Week 3 of last season. He said he had surgery 4 ¹/₂ months ago and expects to be ready for Week 1 of the 2024 season. He said “we’re gonna see” about being ready for training camp.
“I’m about 4 ¹/₂ months out, right on schedule,” Williams said. “My main focus is just coming in every day, putting in the work and just continuing to grind. Everything is on schedule. Everything is looking good.”
The Jets signed Williams as part of an offensive makeover after the team ranked 31st in yards per game last season. They hope a healthy Rodgers can thrive behind a rebuilt offensive line and with Williams playing opposite Wilson.
Williams, 29, had a career year in 2021 with 76 catches for 1,146 yards and nine touchdowns. His production slipped in 2022 as he played in just 13 games, and had 63 catches for 895 yards and four touchdowns. Last year, his season was cut short in Week 3 by the ACL tear. Williams believes he can recapture the form he showed in 2021 and the ACL injury won’t hinder him.
“I’m very confident,” he said. “I’m putting in the work to be able to do that. I feel like I’m going to get good results from this. My main focus right now is not the numbers. It’s more so getting healthy, getting everything back to 100 percent, and the numbers will speak for themselves.”
Williams was a first-round pick of the Chargers in 2017. He has been able to play with Philip Rivers and Justin Herbert as his quarterbacks, and now will play with Rodgers.
“It makes my job a lot easier,” Williams said “It also makes their job easier, too, having a guy like me out there to go out and compete with them. I’ve been pretty privileged to have good quarterbacks throughout my career. I’m looking forward to working with Aaron and getting with the rest of the guys and see where it goes.”
Williams visited the Jets on Tuesday and was greeted by a breakfast sandwich sent by a fan that became a social media sensation. Williams was scheduled to visit with the Panthers and Steelers after the Jets, but they did not let him get out of the building.
“It was a crazy week,” Williams said. “I started off in Paris, flew to California the next day, flew out here, met with the staff. Great meetings. Everything went good, sitting down with the whole staff just going over a plan, a process and everything. Everything went smooth. I’m looking forward to the opportunity. I feel like I have a great opportunity ahead of me.”