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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
