Rangers Fisticuffs Prodigy Matt Rempe Was Dishing Out Photos At Cheesecake Factory

Few players in recent memory have made a name for themselves with their fists the way that New York Rangers rookie Matt Rempe has. 

In his first week and a half, Rempe has three fights to his credit. These weren't scraps against other dudes trying to stay in the NHL, these were against seasoned pugilists. His first bout was with Islanders tough guy Matt Martin, his second was a spirited bout against Flyers knuckle-thrower Nicolas Deslauriers that was arguably the best fight this season, and he capped it off with a tilt against Columbus Mathieu Olivier who has five fights of his own on the year.

As if that wasn't enough, Rempe scored his first NHL goal against the Flyers which proved to be the game-winner (although it basically just ricocheted off of him, but who cares, it looks the same on the scoresheet). He has also proved to be a key piece of a solid line along with Barclay Goodrow and Adam Edstrom.

So for those keeping score, he has 1 goal, 1 assist, and 32 PIMs in five games. You bet your sweet ass this dude has some fans lining up to take pictures with him.

The 6-foot-7, 21-year-old said he was grabbing dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (hopefully not on a first date, that's a problem for some reason).

Of course, you can't get in three fights in just over a week and not show some mileage, and Rempe is just taking a gander at the double-shiners he's rocking these days.

"I appreciate all the support," Rempe said, according to WNBC's Bruce Beck. "I was at a Cheesecake Factory last night and was getting some photos with people, rocking the black eye, so it was pretty cool!"

Imagine crushing some of that brown bread with the seeds on it, then squinting across the restaurant and being like, "Either there's a giant raccoon at that table over there, or that's New York Rangers rookie sensation Matt Rempe."

Getting a picture with the Rempe and his black eyes is one heck of a souvenir.

Is Matt Rempe The Next Jeremy Lin Or Tommy Devito?

Oddly enough, despite his willingness to throw hands like nobody's business, Rempe sounds like a pretty normal dude.

"I love reading books," he said, per NHL.com. "I'm a big fantasy book guy, so I like to read my books. I go home, read my books, talk to my family, do that type of stuff, play my guitar."

I'm calling it now: the dude is about to be a megastar. He's going to be to the Rangers what Jeremy Lin and Tommy DeVito were to the Knicks and Giants respectively.

However, can you have any longevity fighting like this? Tough to say, and in today's NHL, you need to do more than fight.

Right now his CF% (corsi for percentage at even strength) is currently 47.7%. Under 50% which means that the Rangers are without the puck more often than not. You'd think the team would like to see a change there, but they seem happy with the play of that Rempe-Goodrow-Edstrom line. 

Only time will tell if Rempe becomes another New York flash-in-the-pan sensation, but I think he could definitely be a key bottom-six player for the Rangers for the rest of this season and beyond.