Rangers ‘not going to take any sh**’ this season: Matt Rempe
After one of the most dysfunctional and disappointing seasons in franchise history, the New York Rangers clearly are all about a fresh start in 2025-26.
In fact, the dye was cast on Day 1 of training camp, when Rangers players, coaches and staff members were handed t-shirts that had a very clear message emblazoned on the back.
There are two letters — B and S — in a circle with a line through it.
In other words, No BS. No bullshit.
There’s a new coach, new captain, and new feeling as the Rangers embark on their centennial season. After so much BS last season, on and off the ice, cost them a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Rangers appear invigorated for some serious redemption.
“Love that. I think it’s just the mindset. Yeah, we’re going to go to work. We’re going to be mean, we’re not going to take any shit and we’re going to go hard,” rugged forward Matt Rempe said after the first practice of training camp Thursday.
Speaking of the new team slogan, the new coach and captain, Mike Sullivan and J.T. Miller, respectively, are about as no nonsense as you can get. It’s a big reason the Rangers hired Sullivan as coach — though the two Stanley Cup championships on his resume didn’t hurt.
“He brings that no B.S. kind of attitude to the game. I think that’s something this team needs,” alternate captain Vincent Trocheck said.
Miller is the living, breathing example of no BS on and off the ice.
“He brings a level of intensity to the game that I think he brings people into the fight a little bit,” Trocheck noted. “Having him back there to lead our group is going to be good moving forward.”
Rangers general manager Chris Drury said something similar about Miller on Wednesday.
“He goes over the boards looking to get into the fight, and he drags people into it,” Drury explained. “That’s what we need.”
Related: How Rangers GM Chris Drury proved again he’s learned from past mistakes
Rangers appreciate ‘fresh start’ after dismal 2024-25 season
Not to live in the past, but the Rangers were a mess last season. Off-ice disenchantment led to some horrendous play and lack of effort and spirit on the ice. A 4-12-1 stretch in November and December was a major eyesore. And the Rangers ended up being the fourth team in NHL history to miss the playoffs one season after winning the Presidents’ Trophy.
Trocheck admitted that it was a relief when the dismal campaign finally ended in mid-April.
“It was a fresh start as soon as the season was over last year,” the 32-year-old center explained. “I think we were all upset with the way the season went. And when the season was over, it was almost a sigh of relief to be able to have that fresh start. Be able get rid of everything that we had gone through throughout the year …We knew what was going on throughout the year that we didn’t live up to expectations. Let the fans down, let ourselves down. But having that summer to kind of go back to the drawing board, have a fresh start, new coach. It’s a new team in here. It feels much different.”
As for the captain, Miller embraced the fresh start talk when he met with reporters Thursday. Miller scored 35 points (13 goals, 22 assists) in 32 games after the Rangers acquired him from the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 31. That, of course, followed a soap opera of its own in Vancouver, where Miller and star center Elias Pettersson feuded, leading to Miller taking a 10-game leave of absence from the Canucks and then the trade back to the Rangers.
So, yes, the captain is all about leaving the past in the past.
“I think for me, where I came from last year, and the guys here, everyone’s looking for a fresh start,” he said. “I don’t think anybody wants to talk or think about last year anymore. There are so many new and exciting things about this year, and we’re just excited to turn the page and move on.”
