Bo Horvat


A member of last year’s Knights team who won the OHL Championship, and lost the Memorial Cup final in Overtime to Shawinigan, Horvat and the Knights look to get back to the Memorial Cup and settle their unfinished business this season. They took another step towards that goal with a 5-4 OT win in game 5 of the OHL’s Western Conference Final, to win the series. They now await the winner of Barrie and Belleville to determine their opponent for the OHL final.

Horvat has also experienced success on the international stage. He was a member of the 2011 Team Ontario squad that won gold at the U17 World Challenge, as well as the 2012 Team Canada squad that won gold at the Ivan Hlinka tournament, playing a key role for his team in both of those tournaments.

Center
Born Apr 5 1995 — Rodney, ONT
Height 6.00 — Weight 198 — Shoots Left
February Rank 21

Horvat has very good vision, good passing skills, and excellent hockey sense. This makes him an effective playmaker in the offensive zone. He goes to the dirty areas of the ice winning board battles and taking the puck to the front of the net. He also likes to establish his front of the net presence where he can unleash a heavy shot with a good release from the slot. Horvat has good hands and is able to control the puck effectively on the rush or off the cycle game. He protects the puck extremely well, and makes smart plays in the offensive zone. Not the fanciest player, Horvat creates offence through simple, smart, straight ahead plays, and getting to prime scoring areas. Its the type of game that will translate effectively to the next level, so long as Horvat continues to bulk up and add strength as his opponents get bigger and stronger in pro hockey.

Horvat is a quick skater, and he has greatly improved his speed and acceleration this year. What was once a weakness has now become a strength and shows Horvat’s dedication to continue improving his game. Horvat’s good balance and strength on the puck allows him to fight through checks. He could use work on his agility, and his edgework could still use improvement, but Horvat’s skating overall has improved greatly since last season.

Horvat is an effective defensive presence. He is extremely effective on faceoffs and on the penalty kill. He cuts down passing lanes, blocks shots, and plays a very responsible game and is hard on the backcheck. Knights’ coach Dale Hunter has not been afraid to use Horvat in any situation and he plays big minutes against top lines. Horvat works hard and wins board battles as well. He’s not afraid to throw his body around, but he’s not really a huge hitter either, he hits not to get himself out of position and throw thunderous checks, but with the purpose of playing smart hockey and separating his opponent from the puck.

Horvat’s game and style of play is reminiscent of Patrice Bergeron. However this is a stylistic comparison only. In terms of potential, Horvat can be an effective top 6 centre in the NHL, strong in all aspects of the game, and capable of logging minutes against top lines, on the penalty kill, and providing scoring and playing the powerplay. He can be one of those versatile centres that can do it all, and any team needs to be a true contender.

Holy F-word!!

First they dump Dickerella on ya's, and now this?

Whoa..... I'll take all the ribbing in the world over being an Oil fan before suffering the wrath unleashed on the poor 'Nuckleheads.

Welcome back, whoever you are.....

They had to trade either Schnieder or Luongo to avoid the distraction from this past season. That being said I don't recall anyone being interested in jumping on Luongos contract.

I see why Schneider, but I don't know if they got enough for him.

They definitely did NOT!

NEWARK, N.J. - The big move made by Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis on draft day left Roberto Luongo uneasy that he was not traded and the fan base angered about the return for Cory Schneider.

Last April, after a first-round flameout against the Los Angeles Kings, Gillis proclaimed that his club's new No. 1 goalie was Schneider and that Luongo and his big, fat contract would be moved out of town.

But after 14 months of failing to trade Luongo, Gillis instead dealt the 27-year-old Schneider to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for the ninth overall selection on Sunday.

With the draft pick, the Canucks chose two-way forward Bo Horvat, a 6-foot, 211-pound gamer who won the OHL playoff MVP with 16 goals in 21 games in the London Knights championship run this spring. Horvat, of Rodney, Ont. is a tremendous prospect, but it was strange that Gillis could not pry a roster player from the Devils, too.

"Yeah, we tried to do that, but it wasn't there for us," said Gillis, when asked if he tried to get a NHL roster player in a package for Schneider.

It seems odd Gillis could not have received some immediate help. The Canucks are a team that is ready to win now, and that window is closing, not opening.

The Los Angeles Kings received in return Matt Frattin, a second-round pick and a backup netminder in Ben Scrivens from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for goalie Jonathan Bernier, who has 62 games of NHL experience.

At the trade deadline, the Ottawa Senators were able to pluck rookie Cory Conacher and a fourth-round pick from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Ben Bishop and his 45 games of NHL experience. Even two years ago, the Washington Capitals traded goaltender Semyon Varlamov to the Colorado Avalanche for first- and second-round picks.

Schneider is better, but he didn't yield much more than the Bernier, Bishop or Varlamov.

Sure, it's a different climate out there these days. And everybody knew that Gillis had to create some salary cap space. But there were only four teams in on the Schneider sweepstakes in the Devils, the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets. The price for the Oilers and Flames was higher, but that's always a difficult trade to make with a division rival.



Gillis on edge

There was no doubt Gillis was on edge about this move. His ownership would not approve a costly compliance buyout on Luongo, so Gillis felt this was a move he had to make on Sunday.

"Because the salary cap has been set at a point that is much different than it was," he said. "We had a situation we didn't want to drag into the summer and continue on and we just felt this is our best opportunity to get a couple of really good young players out of the first round of the draft. We've traded picks historically."

It's difficult to believe Gillis when he stated that he began thinking about trading Schneider instead of Luongo back when the new CBA was ratified in January. If that was the case then why had Luongo or Schneider not been presented with the possibility?

Luongo, who usually is omnipresent on his twitter account, went silent on Sunday. He must wonder what the heck transpired. He also recently put up for sale his downtown $4.2-million Vancouver condominium. It hasn't sold yet. So he could move back in.

Gillis talked to Luongo's agent Gilles Lupien on Sunday, but had not discussed the development with Luongo. Instead, Canucks owner Francisco Aquilini met with Roberto Luongo at his South Florida home on Sunday afternoon.

Remember Luongo's disappointment at the trade deadline? Remember when he said his long-term contract, that still has nine seasons with a salary cap hit of $5.33-million, "sucks" after the Canucks failed to trade him?

But Gillis wasn't worried about Luongo's reaction to Schneider being the one traded.

"He signed a long-term contract with our club for a lot of money and was very happy to do it and I don't anticipate there being issues, but I haven't spoken to him," Gillis said.

"I need to have a conversation with him, though, and explain what happened. We've already talked to his agent, Gilles Lupien, and I'm not anticipating there being issues, but if there are, we'll deal with him."

The Vancouver Canucks dove into the free agency pool aiming to improve their depth at centre and did just that, inking 28 year-old Stanley Cup winning pivot, Brad Richardson.

Richardson is expected to compete for the third line centre position, a spot the Canucks had trouble filling for much of the last season.

“That’s my goal and that’s what we talked about when I met with the team. It will give me a nice challenge and I’m really looking forward to that.”

A player with Richardson’s experience - he has over 400 regular season and playoff games under his belt - had many potential suitors, but said after visiting with Canucks management the decision was easy.

“When I talked to Vancouver I felt most comfortable with them. They made me feel like they really wanted me. You want to be able to contribute and play centre and they were just the most attractive to me.”

Canucks General Manager, Mike Gillis, said he has high hopes for Richardson after the signing was made official.

“He’s a guy we’ve wanted for sometime. We think he can be a versatile player for us and move up and down the lineup.”

They say familiarity breed contempt, and Richardson, who spent the past five seasons as a Los Angeles King, admitted there was no love lost when it came to facing the Canucks.

“They are a really tough team to play against. When we were in LA we really hated to play Vancouver to be honest with you.”

But when the 5’11” two-way centre became an unrestricted free agent, those negative feelings gave way to respect.

“They have great goaltending, great forwards and great defence. They want to win and I want to win again,” said the 2012 Stanley Cup champ.

Following eight years in United States, split between Colorado and Los Angeles, returning home to play in a Canadian market is something the Belleville, Ontario native has dreamt of.

“Every Canadian player wants to play in a Canadian market at some point, so it’s going to be a great challenge.”