New Jersey Devils Head Coach Fires Shots At Reporter After A Normal Question

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Julien Trekker
January 18, 2024 (2:08 PM)

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The New Jersey Devils' head coach snapped at a reporter after he asked him a perfectly normal question after last night's game against the Montreal Canadiens.

Lindy Ruff Snaps at Reporter After Normal Question

In his post-game press conference, reporter Ryan Novozinsky asked the coach to explain the limited ice time of Alexander Holtz.

Holtz was on the ice for only 8:07 last night, despite scoring the game-tying goal and leading the team in shots.

Here's what Ruff said:

"You don't watch the game very well. If you look at the opportunity in the second period where (he) threw the puck in the middle of the ice, you get a point-blank scoring chance. In a tight game, in a one-goal game, it's plays like that where we're trying to get back in the game and we drop down to three lines. We happened to get back in the game."

Ruff answered in a brutally honest way, and it's easy to understand what he means.

Ruff Explains Why He Benched Holtz Last Night

While Ruff's comments may have rubbed Novozinsky the wrong way, the coach explained clearly why he decided to bench Holtz.

Ruff wasn't too happy with Holtz's puck management last night. The coach mentioned that Holtz sent the puck in the middle of the ice:

"He understands we're trying to eliminate the pucks that go into the middle of the ice, the puck management part. So when you make a play like that, then it's going to be hard to get back onto the ice because we just gave them a quality scoring chance off a play where we put it in the middle of the ice where we didn't need to put it."

He also made brutal comments about Holtz's power play goal that tied the game:

"Yeah, I liked his power play goal, a couple of other things I liked, but is he going to make the same play again?"

The Devils ended up losing 3-2 against the Canadiens, and Devils fans certainly wonder if the outcome would've been different if Holtz had gotten more ice time.

As seen on NJ.com - Devils' Lindy Ruff scoffs at question about Holtz: �You don't watch the game very well'