"I kind of had a stretch there where I wasn't happy with my game myself. I didn't really recognize the player that was out there," said Haula. "Probably was good to sit a game, reset a little bit and now work to get back to my game which was more of last night, skating, more confident on the puck, harder. That was my emphasis and I thought it was a good step towards the right direction."
Haula, now in his ninth NHL season, recognized that after a less than stellar stretch through the month of November, he was likely headed for a stint on the ninth floor. It was a decision that the 30-year-old did not necessarily disagree with.
"I feel like I've been in the league long enough, feel like I've seen all the situations there are," said Haula, who has a goal and two assists in 18 games this season. "Yes, I think it was warranted in a sense, where I wasn't where I needed to be. I wasn't playing the way the team needs me to play. So, in a sense, I took it as let's reset and start over and find my game again and make it looks like it's supposed to."
The Finland native, who was signed to a two-year deal with the Bruins on the opening day of free agency last July, started the 2021-22 campaign well with a strong preseason as he teamed up with Jake DeBrusk and Nick Foligno to form Boston's new-look third line. But after a solid Opening Night showing, the trio struggled to produce much offensively and Foligno went on to miss a stretch of eight games with injury.
"A lot of variables go into it. Start of the season, I was fine but didn't have the production, so different things that can factor into it. I was a little bit in my own head, a lot actually," said Haula, who went the first 11 games of the season without a goal.
"In that sense, that reset was good and just kind of clear the head a little bit…starting over is kind of a dramatic thing…but just take a breath and look at some things and focus on a few areas. That's usually worked for me before and that's kind of my focus."