NHL Reporter’s Harsh Claim on Evan Bouchard Divides Oilers Fans Post Saddening Loss: “Horrendous”

The Edmonton Oilers players and fans gathered inside Rogers Place, everyone wanted February to start with a win on home ice. With the taste of the heartbreaking Detroit Red Wings loss still lingering, the Oilers wanted to hop back on the winning train. Yet, the Oilers found themselves trailing by three goals just 20 minutes into the game. Despite Evan Bouchard getting the Oilers’ first goal, a renowned NHL journalist had some hard words for the defenseman.

“Oilers playing poorly. Evan Bouchard playing somewhere south of that,” wrote Sportsnet Sr. columnist Mark Spector. The former President of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association’s brutal remark indicated the veteran defenseman was playing even worse than the rest of the team and was 4-1 down on the scoreboard heading into the third period.

Mark Spector focused on the errors Bouchard had made. “Puck error after puck error. Bouchard wasn’t ready to play tonight,” the reporter argued. However, it was Bouchard who had multiple shots on target before giving his team the much-needed breakthrough. The goal that kicked off the Oilers’ push for a comeback was Bouchard’s ninth this season.

It was also Evan Bouchard’s 50th career goal, making him the second-fastest Oilers defenseman to hit a half-century. The NHL veteran didn’t stop after scoring the landmark career goal. He kept pushing Toronto and helped Zach Hyman score the Oilers’ second goal, picking up his 30th assist this season. Yet, the 25-year-old also acknowledged the Oilers could’ve played better.

“We were all over them, but we came up short,” the defenseman said as per NHL.com. However, Spector’s criticism of Bouchard and the Edmonton Oilers’ performance divided the fan base into two parts. However, even those who agreed with the Sportsnet reporter blamed another Oilers player.

Fans didn’t think Evan Bouchard was the only one responsible

“We see this every night though… This isn’t just tonight,” one fan commented in agreement with Mark Spector. And while the netizen didn’t mention anything about goaltender Stuart Skinner, others did. One fan had a less-than-flattering comment about the defenseman. “Bouchard is horrendous. Has been all year,” the fan wrote. However, he also put equal blame on the Oilers goaltender.

“We have Skinner to back him up, so there’s that,” added the fan. Although harsh, the criticism directed at Evan Bouchard wasn’t baseless. Last season, he notched 64 assists and 18 goals in 81 games. Unfortunately, those numbers have taken a hit this year as the defenseman has only scored nine goals with less than half the assist despite playing 52 games.

While it’s clear that a section of fans think Bouchard’s slump is bad enough to warrant harsh criticism, not everyone is on the same page. “Lol, what!? Bouch had a goal… Skinner’s team had 48 shots and lost to 28 shots. Typical,” commented a netizen. However, the one thing common in both fans who agreed with Spector and those who didn’t was Stuart Skinner.

A third fan highlighted the Stuart Skinner issue. “It’s Bouchard’s fault that his goaltender can’t make a save? Get real, stop trying to run our third-best player out of town,” commented the NHL fan, arguing against Spector’s criticism of Evan Bouchard. Just like Spector pointed out Bouchard’s flaws, the fans highlighted the disparity between Skinner and Toronto’s goaltender, Joseph Woll.

Despite facing an absolute onslaught by the Edmonton Oilers in the final period of the game, Woll conceded only three goals. The fourth Edmonton goal got reversed due to a penalty. Meanwhile, despite having to defend nearly half as many shots on target as Woll, Skinner conceded four goals. So many thought that Spector directed his criticism toward the wrong player.

Finally, another fan defended Bouchard by bringing up his playoff performance. “He’s resting for a killer playoff run,” argued the fan. Last year, Evan Bouchard played 25 games during the playoffs, notching 26 assists and six goals. The fan argued that despite the slum in the regular season, the defenseman will once again prove the doubters wrong in this year’s playoffs. Yet, which take do you agree with? Let us know in the comments.