Islanders' Bo Horvat 'nervous and excited' for first game in Vancouver since trade
Islanders center Bo Horvat skates with the puck against the Red Wings in the first period of an NHL game at UBS Arena on Oct. 30. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Bo Horvat is unsure of the emotions he’ll feel on Wednesday night as he plays at Rogers Arena for the first time since the Canucks traded their former captain to the Islanders.
And Horvat is also unsure how the Canucks’ fans will greet him after his eight-plus seasons in Vancouver, but a post-trade comment he knows upset them. Still, what reception he gets does matter to him.
“I think a little bit,” Horvat said. “I like to think I did a lot of good, not only in the organization but in the community. I tried to wear the Canucks’ sweater with a lot of pride and passion and I thought I did a good job of that every year. You like to think that people saw that. I definitely felt it from the community and from the city and the fans and my teammates. They all treated me with respect.”
The reeling Islanders (5-6-3) will look to snap an 0-4-1 slide — with four straight regulation losses — after their four-game Western swing opened with a 4-1 defeat to the Oilers on Monday. The Canucks (11-3-1), with an exciting core of young players, are 5-0-1 at home.
So Horvat’s homecoming does take a back seat to the Islanders’ current problems, which include being outscored 14-3 in the third period of their last seven games (1-4-2) and having their penalty kill allow six goals on 14 chances over their last five games.
The Islanders acquired the All-Star Horvat on Jan. 30 for Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Raty and a first-round pick and promptly signed him to an eight-year, $68 million extension. Beauvillier scored the winner in the Canucks’ 6-5 victory at UBS Arena on Feb. 9 in his third game after the trade.
In April, Horvat, still frustrated with how the Canucks handled contract negotiations after he declared he wanted to be a “Canuck for life,” said the atmosphere at UBS Arena was, “a lot better than Vancouver, I can tell you that for free.”
Canucks’ fans naturally took that as a dig at them, even though Horvat has repeatedly insisted that’s not what he meant.
Horvat acknowledged he will be nervous for his first game at his old home arena.
“Nervous and excited,” Horvat said. “There’s so many emotions I’m going to be running through.
“l think it’s just going to happen organically. I don’t really know what I’m going to be feeling leading up to the game but I’m sure a lot of emotions. I spent a long time there. I built a family there and made a lot of friends. It’s going to be emotional but it’s going to be a fun night.”
His teammates think so, too.
“It’s special for him and it’s special for Beauvillier to play against us,” defenseman Scott Mayfield said. “It’s part of it. You don’t let the emotions get too high. We’re all professionals. We’re going into that game to win it. We need a win to get off this little slide.”
Notes & quotes: The NHL fined the Oilers' Leon Draisaitl the maximum $5,000 for a dangerous trip against Horvat in the second period.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
