Matt Rempe is a giant. At only 23, the kid stands at 6'9" (nice) and 225 lbs. So it's no doubt that he can put some oomph behind a shot. And on Oct 17, 2025 he did just that.
The result left Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz exposed, and with no end to the play in sight. You see, according to the "NHL," there's a rule in their "rule book" which states, and I'm paraphrasing:
Play is allowed to continue if there’s an imminent scoring chance, even when a goaltender’s mask comes off.
Player safety eh? Also, sorry for my abuse of quotation marks.
And that's how the refs played it. J.T. Miller of the New York Rangers was in position of an imminent scoring chance, so play stayed alive. Regardless of his awareness of Stolarz's lack of noggin protection, Miller acted like the farmboy from Tatooine and blasted his one-in-a-million shot.
Luckily Miller's shot stayed super low, and Stolarz was able to kick the puck away. This then brought the referees to blow the whistle and kill the play. Presumably due to the fact that there was no longer an imminent scoring chance.
What's weird is a similar situation happened the week prior to the Vegas Golden Knights goalie, Adin Hill.
Though I'm missing specifics, this is an event that appears to be happening more and more frequently in this very young NHL season.
What we do know is that shooters are getting better. They're more accurate and they're stronger. Back in my day, shooters wanted to rip it in your 5-hole or over your glove. Nowadays, especially in the NHL, they're trying to overcome that RVH and zing the pucks high corner or right by your ears.
The result? We're getting dinged in the head - a lot.
There's been enough instances this season, where I can count on both hands (yes I can count), where I see a puck pop a goalie in the head, and their bottom straps go flying. It's especially funny in the slo-mo replays, because it looks like a scene from Saving Private Ryan.
Sorry, neither of those are really humorous comparisons.
I'm no stranger to concussions, so every time I see a goalie take one to the bean, I shudder. Flashbacks man, like that time during Saving Priva-
Now, something I'm a bit out of touch with is goalie helmet technology. My final helmet, as I'm currently "retired," was a Bauer Concept mask. It was designed to help protection against concussions. More impact softening padding, a floating liner - similar to baseball helmets, and rubber screw mounts on the cage to further absorb impact.
Needless to say, with the sensitive pile of oatmeal between my ears, I've still suffered concussions with this mask. Likewise, that mask is no longer in production. I'm curious if Bauer carried over any of safety features to their current mask line-up.
Regardless, I wonder how much more advanced goalie helmets have become. Especially now that pros are seeing more and more headshots.