VANCOUVER, British Columbia — There was nothing just like the wall of media that awaited Bo Horvat at Rogers Enviornment a yr in the past Thursday, however you don’t have to look far to see some No. 53 sweaters emblazoned with the “C” on the streets surrounding the Canucks’ house area.
“Generally, I neglect to signal the 53 as a substitute of the 14,” Horvat quipped Thursday morning earlier than the Islanders smashed the Canucks, 5-2. “So, sorry if I did that to you on the market.”
It’s been 22 months since Horvat performed for the house staff right here, but it surely’s nonetheless unusual for him to come back again.
Horvat, although, was fairly properly conscious from the beginning of that 2022-23 season that he ultimately could be transport out of Vancouver after the cap-strapped Canucks signed J.T. Miller to an eight-year extension, that means they wouldn’t have the room to re-sign him.
Aatu Raty, who was a part of the return bundle the Islanders despatched again, together with Anthony Beauvillier and their 2023 first-round decide, had no clue a transfer was comingplayed on Vancouver’s fourth line Thursday evening.
“I really feel prefer it’s one thing in case you haven’t been traded, you are feeling prefer it’s not going to occur,” mentioned Raty, who was thought to be the Isles’ finest prospect on the time. “I take a look at the room, I don’t suppose I used to be massively talked about to get traded. None of my pals had been saying something about that or something.
“It was positively a shock. I wasn’t on my cellphone, I wasn’t within the room with my cellphone, so I believe I discovered like three hours later. That was not nice.”
Raty, who spent final season on the Canucks’ AHL affiliate in Abbotsford, was going through the Islanders for the primary time Thursday, which additionally occurred to be his twenty second birthday.
“This was positively marked up within the calendar,” Raty mentioned jokingly.
Clearly, that was additionally the case for Horvat, who flew down the ice, beating a number of Canucks alongside the way in which earlier than feeding Anders Lee for the Islanders’ fourth aim of the evening at 11:42 of the third.
“I don’t have as many nerves as I did final yr, for therefore many causes,” he mentioned. “I believe having that have final yr positively helps coming in. It’s nonetheless nerve-wrecking, nonetheless bizarre. … It’s enjoyable to be again.”
Islanders head coach Patrick Roy mentioned Travis Mitchell’s call-up Wednesday was not associated to anybody’s efficiency however merely was meant to offer the Islanders an additional physique whereas on the West Coast.
It stays a chance that Alexander Romanov, who’s day-to-day with an upper-body harm, returns to play sooner or later on the journey, however No. 28 continued to put on a non-contact jersey at Thursday’s morning skate.
