Ken Campbell, not Matt Rempe is the “embarrassment” to hockey

Earlier this week, Ken Campbell, he of The Hockey News “fame,” wrote a hit piece on Matt Rempe, calling him an embarrassment to hockey. Campbell has never been known to have quality takes, instead arguing on old timey hockey tropes. He’s just a younger Stan Fischler at this point. But no, Ken. Matt Rempe, a 22 year old kid, is not an embarrassment to hockey. You are.

I’m not linking to Ken’s piece(s) because I don’t want him to generate any additional traffic. Ken’s basic justification is Rempe doesn’t do anything aside from fight and hit people. Almost as if he didn’t just argue that fighting after a clean hit is silly. He’s so close to the right answer, especially since most of Rempe’s hits are within the rule book. Emphasis on most, since Rempe is far from perfect and he’s been (deservedly) suspended for an elbow.

Many issues stem from Rempe being 9 feet tall and even with his elbow tucked, the hits can look bad. But again, most hits are within the rule book. You, Ken, are the embarrassment for not understanding the basic rules of hockey. If you have a problem, go look at the rule book. If you want any contact with the head banned, then go look at the rule book. Rempe–again, for the most part–tries to get low enough on his gigantic frame to hit shoulder to shoulder or chest. He tries to avoid the head as the primary point of contact. He’s gotten much better at this too.

Calling Rempe an embarrassment to the game is remaining laser focused on one incident (the Siegenthaler elbow). He served a 4 game suspension for it, deservedly so. I don’t see the article calling Tom Wilson an embarrassment to the game, he of many incidents and fines and suspensions. I don’t remember seeing anything about Matt Cooke. Seems Ken here has a problem with a kid still learning the game.

No, Ken. You’re the embarrassment to hockey. Targeting a kid who is still growing. Targeting a good kid with his heart in the right place, trying to figure out his game and where he belongs. Oh, and you’re also ignoring the very clear fact that he’s not picking these fights. Rempe has been trying to focus on hockey, and people like you won’t let him.

How about putting in something constructive? Rempe does need to work on decision making, paths to the puck on the forecheck, and keeping his stick in lanes to disrupt outlets. But it seems Ken doesn’t have any actual hockey systems knowledge. He’s just an angry old man yelling at a cloud. Maybe he wants to be Abe Simpson in retirement.

Ken Campbell is the embarrassment to hockey for such an infantile piece. Babies complain about a kid who has 111 total NHL minutes. If Campbell spent that same amount of time, 2 hours, watching tape and his games, he’d see a kid that has a good motor and an eye for the puck, but is still raw and needs fine tuning.

Instead, Campbell used his old man yells at cloud platform to denigrate a kid one-third his age. Retire, Ken. You’re the embarrassment with targeting pieces like this. Rempe is not the embarrassment. This kid will have a decent NHL career, assuming fools like Campbell allow him to grow and develop his game.