Latest news with #CalvindeHaan
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Calvin de Haan's cheeky take on brief, rocky Rangers tenure: ‘checks weren't bouncing at end of day'
By his own admission, Calvin de Haan is both outspoken and sarcastic to a degree. Both of those qualities were on display when the veteran defenseman discussed his brief and rocky tenure with the New York Rangers during his appearance on the Cam and Strick podcast. Acquired from the Colorado Avalanche in the Ryan Lindgren trade March 1, de Haan played well in three straight games for the Rangers, who were 2-0-1 with him in the lineup while trying to earn a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 34-year-old played his typical steady game, chipping in with an assist and posting a plus-4 rating as he averaged better than 15 minutes TOI. Advertisement The Rangers had an expected goals share of 60.17 percent with de Haan on the ice 5v5, per Natural Stat Trick. So, in line with this trainwreck of a season for the Rangers, Peter Laviolette scratched de Haan in every game the rest of the season — 20 straight. Carson Soucy was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks ahead of the trade deadline to eat into de Haan's opportunities, and everyone from Urho Vaakanainen to Zac Jones to rookie Matthew Robertson the last two games of the season played ahead of de Haan. 'Was it frustrating? Of course. But the checks weren't bouncing at the end of the day, so it could've been a lot worse. It didn't suck,' de Haan said on the podcast. Advertisement The veteran of 679 NHL games and another 38 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, did say, 'The Rangers were good to me, aside from not playing.' That 'not playing' part still sticks in de Haan's craw, as they say. He firmly believes that he could've helped the Rangers win more and find a way into the postseason. Instead, he sat, watched and stewed as the Rangers missed the playoffs for the first time in four seasons. 'There was a rotation at some point of some d-men coming in and out of the lineup and I was like 'F— yeah! Here we go! Here we go!' And my name never fell into it, and then I kind of knew my season was cooked at that point,' de Haan explained. 'It was frustrating because I know my analytics were good. Every team in the NHL uses Sportslogiq, and my Sportslogiq numbers in the things we struggled in, I could've helped. Especially on the defensive side of things, giving up chances, rebound chances, Grade A chances. A lot of my numbers were strong in those categories and I'm like 'F—, I could probably help the team.'' Advertisement Related: Peter Laviolette seeks NHL job, wants 'opportunity to show people last year wasn't on him' Calvin de Haan surprisingly says Rangers GM Chris Drury 'was good to me' despite frustrations Brad Penner-Imagn Images De Haan's frustrations did bubble over in what he believed to be an informal private back and forth with some reporters in South Florida after the Rangers were officially eliminated from playoff contention in mid-April. The reporters tweeted his off-the-cuff remarks and unwittingly de Haan was trending on social media. 'To be honest I was going on to the ice (for practice) and there was no scrum or microphone. I thought I was having a conversation like we are right now,' de Haan explained. 'I said a lot of it with a smile, too. If you guys get to know me down the line, you'll know I'm sarcastic and I wear my heart on my sleeve. Advertisement 'Next thing I know I've got a ton of text messages, people are like 'Hey, well done, sticking up for yourself.' I had no idea what was going on, so I pulled up my Twitter (X) and said, 'Shit!'' In that exchange with Rangers beat reporters, de Haan expressed he was 'wasting time' at practice and that his Rangers tenure was 'f—ed.' He explained on the podcast that he immediately called general manager Chris Drury to explain. '[Drury] was great. I thought it was the honorable thing to do to hear it from the horse's mouth, so that's why I called him,' de Haan said. 'I just wanted to put the fire out. He's a good guy, he was good to me. No issues.' Despite all of the drama and frustration over not playing, de Haan is not ruling out a return to the Rangers. The defenseman is an unrestricted free agent and open to conversations with the Rangers, though that would appear to be a long shot. Advertisement 'I'm still an employee of the Rangers,' de Haan noted. Well, at least until July 1. Related Headlines
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Why Rangers veteran was ‘honestly shocked' to see how good a player Matt Rempe is
There weren't a lot of positives for the New York Rangers to take from their trainwreck of a season in 2024-25. But Matt Rempe's growth as an NHL player the second half of the season was most definitely a positive development. Veteran defenseman Calvin de Haan was Rempe's teammate for only six weeks after being acquired from the Colorado Avalanche on March 1, but he was really impressed with the towering forward's work ethic, skill and overall improvement. Advertisement 'I was honestly shocked. He's come a long way,' de Haan said on the Cam and Strick podcast. 'And I might get some flack for this if some listeners are going to tell me he's the worst hockey player on planet earth, but he can make a pass, man. I mean, he works hard in practice. He works to get better religiously and it's definitely shown. Like from playing against him to being his teammate, like I was shocked. I mean he can move, too. Straight lines, man, he's f—ing going. He's not slow.' After bursting on the scene as a raw physical force over 17 games and 11 more in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2023-24, Rempe worked hard in the offseason to put himself in a spot to contend for regular playing time on the fourth line this season. That didn't quote work out the way he hoped. Rempe was beaten out by another towering (6-foot-6) forward, Adam Edstrom, and played in three of the first 11 games. He was sent to Hartford of the American Hockey League at the start of November and received extended ice time, playing in all game situations including special teams. Advertisement Rempe was called up to play one game with the Rangers between Nov. 1 and Dec. 20, missing most of the worst stretch of their season. Seeking a spark from the popular 22-year-old, the Rangers recalled Rempe during a 4-15-0 stretch. In his first game, Rempe received a major penalty for elbowing Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen and was suspended for eight games. That was his second lengthy suspension just 22 games into his NHL career. Things needed to change, and to Rempe's credit, they did upon his return from the suspension. Rempe earned more ice time and responsibility as a lineup regular, playing all but five games (due to injury) from, Jan. 9 until the end of the season. Rempe became a force. Not because he was dropping the gloves, which he did on occasion, but more so with a dynamic all-around game, full of effort, speed, physicality and smart play at both ends of the rink. Advertisement He had three goals and eight points over the final three months of the season, including his first multi-point game, a two-pointer (goal, assist) against the Florida Panthers on April 14. Rempe looked the part of a young player that could be counted on to shift momentum in games in a bottom-six role. 'He was playing with confidence at the end of the year,' de Hann noted. 'It was great to see. I loved it. It was awesome.' Related: Braden Schneider is 'built to adapt,' so could be key to Rangers offseason strategy Calvin de Haan's advice to Matt Rempe a Rangers benefit Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Perhaps, de Haan played a small role in Rempe's turnaround. The 13-year NHL veteran had some advice for the 6-foot-8 youngster shortly after arriving from Colorado. Advertisement 'After I got there, I think he was just coming off a suspension and in a week there was another questionable hit in there, and I told him, 'You've got to just stop hitting guys. Just run into them.' There's a difference, trust me. Just run into guys. Don't try and hit them,' de Haan explained. He noticed that Rempe's elbows came up even higher when he attempted to deliver a big check and drive through an opponent. De Haan's advice was that less is more, and a good way to avoid costly penalties and possible suspensions. 'He's huge. He's a gigantic guy. The simple physics alone, he's going into the corner with a guy who's six-feet (tall), he's got six, seven, eight inches on the guy. Simple physics alone, his elbows are up higher,' de Haan noted. 'Just literally run into guys. I know it sounds stupid but …' Perhaps Rempe listened to the advice of de Haan. But there's no question he was more mindful of how and when he delivered his hits the second half of the season. There was far less running around trying to land the game-changing hit, and more focus on remaining physical within the parameters of being a more complete hockey player. Advertisement 'I think he's done a good job becoming the 'Rempire State Building' there. He's a great kid, awesome.' Related Headlines
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
New York Rangers veteran trashes team for his treatment: ‘It's f------'
Frustration has boiled over on Broadway. With the New York Rangers officially eliminated from post-season contention, at least one player seemed ready to speak his mind on Sunday. According to New York Post reporter Mollie Walker, veteran defenceman Calvin de Haan had some pointed words for media during a practice session on Sunday. 'Calvin de Haan walked past us as he was about to get on the ice and commented on how it's all finally over,' Walker posted on X. 'He said something to the effect of, 'How about the way I've been treated here? It's f—–.' 'We asked if he wanted to talk, he said yes and that he would be 'very transparent.'' Walker followed that up by sharing that de Haan, after speaking with a member of the Rangers PR staff, would wait until the season ended before addressing his issues with the team. 'After coming off the ice and having a conversation with #NYR PR, de Haan decided he wanted to wait until the end of the season so he could get more information,' she posted. 'I confirmed it was his decision and he said yes, but it was clear the Blueshirts didn't want him to talk.' De Haan was acquired from the Colorado Avalanche with Juuso Pärssinen and two conditional picks for Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey back on March 1. After having played 44 games for the Avs, de Haan suited up for three games with the Rangers before being a healthy scratch in every game since then. In the three games that de Haan played for the Blueshirts, the Rangers won two by shutout and lost the third in overtime to the Washington Capitals. Later on Sunday afternoon, de Haan replied to the brewing controversy with his own social-media post. 'Going to get ahead of this now,' the 31-year-old began his post on X. 'I was hoping that I would have been able to express in a scrum setting versus a quote as I was going onto the ice and having it on the Internet 30 seconds later. I said what I said because I am frustrated, and any competitor who says that they would be happy in this position would be lying to you. After playing 3 games for the team and going 2-0-1, I thought I maybe would have got an opportunity to jump into the lineup and help win some games 'Did I help win those games I played, maybe? Maybe not? But we still won and collected some crucial points to climb the standings. I understand the youth movement in the NHL, and I'm getting older in hockey years and I may not play every single night. I feel like I can still contribute and help teams win. I know I'm not going to play 20 minutes a night in the role I've been in the past few years, but again I feel like I can still keep up and help a team in certain facets of the game. Any way you slice it, an ex-Leaf is coming home to Toronto for NHL playoffs LEAFS 4, HURRICANES 1: Circling the wagons like this will help on the playoff trail 'I'm not trying to be the villain or gain attention or throw shade on the organization, I would have preferred a scrum setting to chat about how my time with the Rangers has gone. As a player you have to respect the lineup decisions whether you like them or not. It's just been frustrating not being able to compete and do what I love to do. I hope everyone understands.' The defenceman joins a growing list of ex-Rangers who have spoken out about the team since departing Manhattan. According to the Post, ex-captain Jacob Trouba, former second-overall pick Kaapo Kakko and Jimmy Vesey have shared their negative thoughts about the club since being shipped out this season. Now in his 13th NHL seasoin, De Haan will be a free agent after this season ends.
