Rangers lament loss of vet Wheeler for season
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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — Blake Wheeler‘s regular season ended Thursday night when he injured his right leg in the New York Rangers‘ win over the Montreal Canadiens.
As the Rangers prepare for their Stadium Series game against the New York Islanders on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the loss of the 37-year-old Wheeler was weighing heavily on them.
“As much as these guys are teammates, we lost a friend. He’s obviously going through something that no one wants to go through, so there’s more to it than just the impact on the team,” Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said. “We all care a lot about the hockey and our jobs, but we’re also humans and friends and have families outside the rink.”
Trouba was Wheeler’s teammate for six seasons in Winnipeg before the two were reunited this season with the Rangers.
“I’m not saying this is true, but maybe he played his last hockey game [last night]. That’s something that you see as a player and as a friend. It’s emotional. It’s something you think about so that you don’t take things for granted here,” Trouba said. “And for me it’s a little extra tough. He’s a guy I looked up to, and he’s helped me a lot in my career.”
Wheeler went down in pain 11 minutes into New York’s 7-4 win. His right leg bent at an unnatural angle, and he was unable to put weight on it, needing help getting off the ice. The Rangers placed him on injured reserve Friday.
Wheeler has 21 points in 54 games in his first season with the team after being bought out of his previous contract last summer by Winnipeg.
“He’s been amazing since he’s been here,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “His presence, he comes into work every day positive, hardworking. He was committed to being a part of this team and making it successful, and he did that both in the room and on the ice.
“And when you lose a veteran player like that, with such an impact in the room, that’s tough to replace. Certainly our thoughts are with him and a healthy recovery at some point. But that’s a tough one last night. We miss him.”
Wheeler had been skating with center Mika Zibanejad and winger Chris Kreider on the Rangers’ top line. In practice at MetLife on Friday, winger Jimmy Vesey took his place. Vesey has 12 goals and 6 assists in 52 games this season for the Rangers and has skated with Zibanejad and Kreider as a linemate before.
“It feels good to rewarded for good play,” Vesey said. “But at the same time, it’s tough to see a teammate go down like that. Pretty awful to see him not be able to off the ice on his own. Especially a veteran guy that has been in the league so long. He’s not going to stay down unless he’s hurt. It’s brutal see a friend go down like that.”
After Wheeler was injured, the Rangers recalled forward Matt Rempe from the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack. He skated on the team’s fourth line in practice Friday. If he plays in Sunday’s Stadium Series game, he could become the first rookie to make his NHL debut in an outdoor game, according to the league.
Laviolette wouldn’t confirm that Rempe is in the lineup but praised his recent play in the AHL and called him “a great kid, smiling from ear to ear, looking for an opportunity to play.” Rempe, 21, said he couldn’t help but notice the next game on the calendar for the Rangers after his recall.
“Outdoor game. That would be pretty damn cool,” he said.
His mother and two sisters are flying in Saturday to attend Sunday’s game and potentially see Rempe make his NHL debut. He said his skills are suited for an intense game against a rival.
“I think I play a hard physical game that runs on adrenaline, so I’m going be juiced up to the max. I think I’d be buzzing out there. How can you not be going, with all the fans and playing outdoors? Like, this is pure hockey. It’s unreal,” he said.
Vesey said it would be a debut to remember.
“That would be a pretty sick first game. Stadium Series and Rangers vs. Islanders,” he said. “If he’s in, I’d probably just say that it was the coolest NHL debut I’ve seen so far.”
BOSTON — Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas suffered a ruptured tendon in his left knee and is out for the remainder of the season, the team said.
The 25-year-old Casas ruptured his patellar tendon running to first on a slow roller up the line and fell awkwardly in Boston’s victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. After laying on his back in pain — not moving the knee — he was carted off on a stretcher before being taken to a Boston hospital.
The team announced Sunday that he had surgery for a left patellar tendon repair at Massachusetts General Hospital. The surgery was performed by Dr. Eric Berkson.
“I talked to him last night,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said in a news conference on Saturday discussing the injury outside Boston’s clubhouse. “We exchanged text messages [Saturday]. We all care deeply about just his overall wellbeing.”
Manager Alex Cora said Casas worked hard during the offseason to play every day after missing a large amount of last year with torn cartilage in his rib cage.
“He did an outstanding job in the offseason to put himself in that situation. It didn’t start the way he wanted it to,” Cora said of Casas’ struggles. “He was going to play and play a lot. Now we’ve got to focus on the rehab after the surgery and hopefully get him back stronger than ever and ready to go next year.”
Casas batted just .182 with three homers and 11 RBIs, but Breslow said his loss will be felt, especially with the team’s lack of depth at the position.
“He certainly struggled through the first month of the season but that didn’t change what we believe his production was capable of being,” Breslow said. “It’s a big loss. In addition to what we think we were going to get on the offensive side, he was kind of like a stabilizing presence on the defensive side of the field — also a big personality and a big part of the clubhouse.”
During spring training, Casas talked about how his focus at the plate this season was being more relaxed.
“You really want it until you don’t,” he said, explaining his thoughts while standing at his locker. “Then you can’t want it that much.”
Now, he’ll have to focus on his recovery plan for next season.
Casas, a left-handed batter, was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with infielder/outfielder Abraham Toro selected from Triple-A Worcester.
Cora said Toro — a switch-hitter — will split time at first along with Romy Gonzalez. who bats right-handed.
Breslow said the team might be exploring a long-term replacement.
“This is unfortunately an opportunity to explore what’s available,” he said. “We’ll look both internally and outside as well.”
Cora said there are no plans to move Rafael Devers, who was replaced at third by offseason free-agent acquisition Alex Bregman and moved to DH.
“We asked him to do something in spring training that in the beginning he didn’t agree with it and now he’s very comfortable doing what he’s doing,” Cora said. “Like I told you guys in spring training, he’s my DH.”
TORONTO — Cleveland Guardians star Jose Ramirez was back in the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, two days after the third baseman left in the third inning because of a mild right ankle sprain.
The six-time All-Star was injured when he stumbled and fell while crossing first base on an infield single. Ramirez went down after being struck in the back by a throw from Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt.
Ramirez was batting third Sunday against right-hander Bowden Francis.
Ramírez sat out Saturday when Cleveland beat Toronto 5-3. He went 2 for 2 before departing Friday, boosting his average to .274. He has five home runs and 15 RBIs in 31 games.
In last Thursday’s 4-3 victory over Minnesota, Ramirez became the first primary third baseman to reach 250 homers and 250 stolen bases.
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