Harsh Advice For Matt Rempe If He Wants To Remain A Ranger

Curb your enthusiasm, Remper, unless you like having your head handed to you.

Your "Fight A Night Follies" were fun while they lasted.

And they lasted until you did a dangerous dance-a-thon with a Southern Gentleman from Biloxi, Mississippi.

Mathieu Olivier is Exhibit A when someone came up with that canine caper, "Let Sleeping Dogs" lie.

Young Olivier is no canine but a 6-1 217-pound broth of a boy who plays right wing for the Columbus Blue Jackets and skates about 4,000 miles away from being a Lady Byng candidate.

Bang? Yes. Byng? No.

There's gonna be some 18,000 fans filling The Garden tomorrow, just aching for you to "get even" with Ollie after the boxing lesson he gave you at Nationwide Arena. TKO is what I call it.

That foolish folly, no doubt, has entered your mind now that your name has become the talk of New York.

Outdoors, you outpointed the Islanders veteran Matt Martin, won more spurs by intimidating the Devils, and then fought a draw with Philly's Nic Deslauriers.

But, looking backward, that fistic trio was all preliminary stuff. Very small potatoes compared to the conking you got in Columbus.

Better you should have rested on your laurels, pal. But, no, you wanted another walk along

Boppo Boulevard, where Sluggo Olivier outbopped you 13 hard ones to 6 ehs.

And when you did get to your skates, you wobbled off like a guy leaving Duffy's Tavern after knocking off a double Mickey Finn. So, here's the deal:

1. You can try for revenge and go for the rematch with Sluggo, which is what the SRO audience would like to see.

2. Or, you can listen to The Maven and play hockey as we know you can. Good, hard, clean hockey that already has produced two points in five games including one game-winning goal.

Pally, you and your skating steeple buddies, Adam Emstrom and Barclay Goodrow, give Peter Laviolette one nifty fourth line.

You guys hustle, forecheck, gain acreage around the crease, and can drive other teams nuts.

I'm convinced that Chris Drury would love to keep the unit intact rather than make some mindless media-motivated trade.

Listen up, sir. If -- tomorrow night -- you get the urge to fight that un-sentimental gentleman of swing from Biloxi, Miss., well, curb that enthusiasm.

If you decide to go out there and just play good hockey, don't curb anything.

You'll be doing your face, your chin, your brain and your team, a great big favor!

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