The New Jersey Devils may have secured a 5-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets in their recent match, but do you know where the real entertainment was? Well, definitely not on the ice this time; rather, it was during the pressers after that amazed fans the most! For Devils fans, this season has already been a rollercoaster, with their centre and alternate captain Jack Hughes’ season-ending injury, without whom the team’s scoring struggles became more prominent.

However, this allowed veteran players like Erik Haula to step up and find the back of the net after what feels like an eternity! After a brutal 29-game scoring drought, Haula became an easy target for criticism. And when confronted by a reporter, he just couldn’t hold back but send a fierce slap shot directly at the media.

In a video shared by BarDown on X, a reporter innocently asked Haula if the defense would play a more significant role now that Hughes was out. And boy, Haula didn’t stand down, “Well, I don’t know, you tell me. You’ve been chirping me about my goal scoring for the past couple months, so I don’t know. I mean, yeah, of course it’s important.” If that’s not worthy of clipping critics, then what is?

Even though his frustration is valid because nobody enjoys being called out, with just six goals in 53 games and a -10 differential, is the criticism undeserved? Well, not exactly when you’re not producing any good results. With the fact that the Devils need him to step up, especially when Hughes is out, Haula really needs to score if he wants to silence the doubters. Otherwise, the only thing getting clipped here is his ice time, and questions about his place in the lineup are inevitable. Don’t you think?

Well, the NHL fans think so. They want him to step up for real, considering the situation that the Devils are in! And, with just a few goals in the last matches, it’s hard to argue otherwise.

The Devil fans don’t want Erik Haula to shoot back at reporters

As soon as the news spread like wildfire, fans wasted no time in turning it into a meme fest. The social media opened up flood-gates with comments like “’Clapped back’ dude didn’t score for 29 games how is the reporter in the wrong lol,” mostly trolling and criticising Haula for his poor performance further. And honestly, they have a point. If a player goes nearly 30 games without scoring, how is it not fair for reporters to question his impact? Here’s what the rest have to say.

One fan wrote, “Snapping at a local reporter for telling the truth.” Well, they are just trying to pinpoint the truth! After all, the reporter just stated what the stats were speaking out—29 games without a goal—and instead of owning up to it, Haula was livid. It got all heated up when he further added, “Then following it up with another stinker and 25% faceoffs. Lmao.” Probably Haula had a chance to bounce back, but unfortunately, the numbers didn’t reflect any improvement.

There’s no doubt; it’s been a tough year for Haula, and this other comment couldn’t have summed it up better. It read, “I would have replied, ‘what goal scoring?’ lmao. He’s been f—– horrible this year.’ And then came the real slam-dunk: “Players have become so soft. Can’t handle criticism for going 29 games without a goal. This is the NHL, bud.”

This fan tried to reminisce about back inthe days when players took offensive criticism as feedback to come back stronger, but now, everything is sensitive and personal. However, at the end of the day, if you’re a professional, part of the job is to handle the heat, especially when the numbers aren’t in your favor. What do you think?