The axe-murderer on the Rangers, who otherwise goes by the name of Jacob Trouba, doesn’t much care about the outrage he consistently elicits on social media.
Not even on Sunday, when folks were demanding his expulsion from the NHL in the aftermath of Saturday’s early second-period incident against Boston in which he inadvertently cracked Trent Frederic across his head with his stick in a goalmouth battle in front of Jonathan Quick.
Good grief, the keyboard social warriors were comparing this to Marty McSorley stalking and then whacking Donald Brashear across the side of his head with a baseball-bat swing in 2000, an act of insanity that brought with it an open-ended suspension that ended his career.
The population in Pittsburgh, apoplectic since Trouba took out the cherished Sidney Crosby in Game 5 of the 2022 first round, all but demanded a military tribunal be convened.
“I know there were some pretty good memes, but I don’t really see much of it,” Trouba said hours ahead of Monday night’s Garden match against the Sabres. “I don’t have Twitter on my phone, I don’t have Instagram on my phone.
“I really don’t put a ton of thought into it. When I go home, the helmet comes off. I think I’m a different person when the helmet is on. That’s almost how I’ve come to play the game, I guess, when the helmet goes on it’s kind of game-on and when it’s off I’m a pretty soft-spoken guy who runs away from any trouble.
“I know the hockey player I am and I know the person I am. I take some comfort in that.”
The incident happened lickety-split. There was no confrontation. No one even mentioned it after the game. It was a play among hundreds of plays. It received no notice until the NHL Department of Player Safety announced that it had fined Trouba the maximum $5,000 fine for high-sticking.
“It was obviously 100 percent accidental, at the time I was kind of shocked that it happened,” the captain said. “I think Frederic was a little surprised too, and he was like, ‘Actually, that just happened?’ And I was like, ‘Sorry, my bad.’ I did not mean to do that at all.
“But it’s also something that can’t happen, I obviously have to control my posture and stick better. So I deserve the fine for sure, learn from it, move forward and don’t let that happen again.”
Trouba is a throwback, maybe even unique in the NHL. Danger lurks when an opponent has his head down and makes himself vulnerable for legal checks that offend those who don’t seem to know where the line is drawn in the rule book.
“The way I see it is if people have problems or an issue with [the way I play], the problem is with the rule book, not with me,” he said. “That’s how I was raised playing the game, those are the rules I’ve always played by so if they want to change the rules, they can change the rules, and see you later.”
For years — no, decades — the Rangers have been the guys on the beach who’ve had sand kicked in their faces by bullies. After losing either to the Bruins in the 1972 finals or the Flyers in the 1974 semifinals (pretty much the same difference), Brad Park said something to the effect of, “I’d rather lose our way rather than win their way.”
But not when you win one freaking time in 83 years. I’m not condoning head-hunting. But for once, the Rangers have perhaps the NHL’s greatest villain, the most hated guy in the league, someone whom you always have to be aware of, and it’s somehow this kind of goofy, laid-back guy named Jacob Trouba.
They have an X factor back there. They have a unique force in the lineup. Who cares about being polite? The Blueshirts have been too damn polite for too many damn years. White gloves are not part of Trouba’s ensemble.
“He’s always out there against the team’s top players, so his job is to make their nights as tough as possible,” said longtime friend and once-again teammate Blake Wheeler. “He’s a pretty unflappable guy.
“He’s done a tremendous job evolving into that type of player.”
The 29-year-old is having his finest year since coming to New York in a trade from Winnipeg before the 2019-20 season. His positional play and reads have been exemplary. He has paired with K’Andre Miller to form a tandem with the best goals-for percentage in the NHL (13 for, 5 against, 72.2) among the 20 duos with at least 250 minutes at five-on-five. He’s a linchpin of the penalty kill.
“I think this is probably the most comfortable I’ve been,” he said. “The first year of the captaincy is out of the way and I’m comfortable in that role, more comfortable than I was last year.
“We have a great group of guys, I don’t have to do everything, I don’t have to try to be the guy all the time. When everyone’s doing their job, no one has to be Superman or do everything. I think that’s what’s been successful for us, myself included.”
Night after night, Trouba is doing the, uh, er, dirty work for his team that entered Monday atop the NHL with a 15-3-1 record. Night after night, he has a red circle around his number on the other team’s grease board.
“I don’t know if I feel like a marked man but I play the game a certain way, I guess,” Trouba said. “I haven’t put much thought into it. I’m not changing my approach.”
The Rangers have a villain.
About time.