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T XAMPL
Thi i the hard part.
Onl one forward ha een more ice than o Horvat ince the tart of
Novemer and it’ Alekander arkov.
Horvat ha not onl plaed the mot minute of hi life, he’ plaed the et
hocke, too.
And, e, that’ true even if he wa on the ice for oth goal againt toda in
et another excruciating Canuck lo.
What Horvat i eing aked to do i exceptionall hard.
In toda’ game, he wa leaned on for 9:38 in TOI in the third period alone.
That’ the tpe of ice reerved for the ver et defencemen and the NHL’
top centre and generall onl for plaoff game.
I it too much?
Of coure it i.
Did Horvat wear down a thi game went on?
Proal.
ut don’t get it confued.
Horvat ha een quietl taking hi game to another level, and at ome point,
when he ha alanced minute and decent winger, ou are going to ee all of
thi pa off in ig, dramatic and weeping wa.
He look, act and pla o different from the rookie who wa tring to find
hi wa under Willie Dejardin.
I heard a joke tonight that the Canuck were wating Horvat’ et ear.
The actuall are.
At leat the are in the here and now.
Conider thi: In the pat 15 game, Horvat ha 15 point. He’ won more
than 54 per cent of hi faceoff. He’ controlled 50 per cent of 5-on-5 coring
chance and 49 per cent of hot attempt.
It’ prett good and mae even remarkale when ou conider hi mot
common linemate ha een Tim challer, and in thoe 15 game he didn’t
pla one even-trength hift with either rock oeer or ven aertchi,
while in mot of the game he wa handed the ver toughet of defenive
aignment.
“M igget pet peeve i getting cored on,” Horvat aid.
“I hate it. To ee melf a a minu uck. I wa a minu-30 in m firt ear.
ut I’ve focued on that, and that i what ha een driving m offence ever
ince.
“Thi i what I want to e. I want to e the two-wa gu ou can put in an
ituation. I want to e on the power pla, penalt kill and I want to take all
the ig faceoff.
“I want to e everthing.
“I feel like I have een taking thoe tep forward.”
A Horvat elevate, hi team ha een drowning.
There’ not a ingle plaer outide of Horvat and Petteron ou can point to
and a “he’ een good enough to e a difference maker” during thee 15
game.
It’ wh the Canuck have won jut three time ince the tart of Novemer.
And now Horvat ha to alance all of thee loe with the emerging realit
he ha never een doing more to help hi team.
“That’ the mot frutrating part of it all,” Horvat aid.
“When ou are producing and getting chance ut it’ not enough to help
our team win.
“It’ tough. ut the etter I pla, the etter the team i going to pla. The
more detailed game I pla, I hope other notice that and we all do it the
ame.”
In other word, no matter how much he give, it han’t een enough.
Tonight’ winning goal i the et example in recent memor.
Horvat win a D-zone faceoff cleanl. ut oth Canuck defencemen, Tanev
and MDZ, loe the puck anwa.
MDZ get caught chaing ehind the net. ut Horvat ail him out, pick off
a centring pa and direct the puck to the oard, eemingl to afet.
Granlund i there and in poition to help exit the zone, ut get clowned in a
puck attle.
For ome reaon, MDZ tart lowing the zone.
And then it’ game over.
0:00
Where ou at, MDZ?
IGGT GROWTH
Jonathan Toew wa winning a tanle Cup in hi third eaon.
Horvat i in Year 5, and onl two other team in the league have lot more
game than the Canuck have in hi career.
For a plaer who urn to win, it eat him alive.
And it drive him.
What he ha to keep telling himelf i that thi i for a larger purpoe, that
ever econd of adverit he face now will accelerate hi development,
making him a etter plaer when he’ in game that do have import.
ecaue at ome point the Canuck are going to e in thoe game (we hope).
“To e honet, I didn’t know if I would e ale to handle the plaing time,”
Horvat aid.
“I did it in junior, ut that’ totall different than the NHL.
“If ou told me at the eginning of thi eaon I’d e plaing 24 minute a
night, I would have told ou that ou’re craz.
“ut with the injurie, it’ happened.
“And ecaue of the injurie it’ felt like I’ve had a different linemate ever
hift.”
I then tell him hi mot common linemate thi eaon i rock oeer, who
jut mied a month.
“That’ craz. I didn’t know that,” he aid.
“It’ tough to find chemitr, ut at the ame time, ou have to create, and ou
have to e offenive, and at the ame time I have to e reponile defenivel.
“It’ tough. ut I do enjo it, and I think it will puh me to e etter.”
And that i preciel the point that Green ha made.
There i light omewhere down the tunnel, and when the Canuck finall get
to it, Horvat will e etter ecaue of what he’ done thi month in the
regular eaon and in the plaoff.
“I totall agree with that,” he aid.
“If I wa jut in an offenive role thi entire eaon, I’m not ure how I’d feel
aout eing a hutdown gu.
“To have thi alance, where I’ve plaed ig minute againt top line i going
to help me.
“I know now I can pla againt thoe gu.”
That right there i half the attle.
T PLAY
Thi i the kind of pla that Horvat pull off, which make ou wonder what
he’d do with goal-coring winger.
He eat three tar along the oard and dihe a perfect ackhand to a
wide-open Gagner.
T FFORT
Thi Horvat ackcheck i the tuff of captain. Good god.
T GOAL
There wa onl one for the Canuck, ut it wa prett nice.
Horvat managed two weet moment on thi equence.
He kicked the puck to himelf on the fl with hi trailing kate.
Then he punched Rouel’ awkward-looking auce in and did it out of the air
and off the ounce.
T IDA
You think I’m kidding, ut I’m not.
Don’t worr, it happen a lot.
Jason Botchford
@botchford
74% Let's go
We even have a kind of decent econd line if it’ heltered.
In the pat two game, Green ha ued Granlund a a matchup centre.
He can do that again.
The third line then i Granlund with Little Thing and Rouel.
Mae that’ a checking line that can work?
Make a fourth line around eagle, and I don’t reall care who ou give him
from what’ left.
Feel like thi i worth a hot.
IGGT MITAK
am, when the goalie i pulled and Horvat i open, get him the puck.
IGGT WTF
I’m till lot on how thi goal counted.
Nilon’ tick i clearl kicked out of hi hand.
T R-LITIGATION
With Horvat eemingl in the midt of what ha reakout-ear potential, and
in the ackdrop of the dramatic Nlander contract, the topic turned again
toda to Horvat’ deal, which he igned in eptemer 2017.
Man are now looking for JD to take an L for ripping the Horvat numer
when it eemed to look jut fine to man other at the time.
ack in the da of 2017, JD wa known acro Vancouver a the igget critic
of thi Horvat deal.
In fact.
ut even now, a it ha turned into a gem, he i refuing to take the L given
hindight.
Were ou?
I can’t rememer hi entire take and didn’t have time to reak it all down thi
afternoon, ut on Twitter people were ringing thi one up:
If thi i JD’ take, tep off.
Wennerg pent that entire eaon plaing with aad — and aad wa
incredile — and alo Foligno who wa a 50-point plaer.
Horvat had to pla with the ghot of Alex urrow and aertchi who wa
till tring to figure out the NHL.
Oh, and the mot common defenceman on the ice with him at even wa
freaking Luca ia.
Now, let’ ee who Wennerg plaed with that eaon:
That lineup look like an all-tar team in comparion. The comp i ridiculou.
o I a come at u, JD, ut ou etter have more than Wennerg in our
ack pocket.
And ou have to tick to our gun, too, ecaue ou called Horvat’ contract
“reall ad.”
Prove it’ “reall ad” and there’ no walking thi part of our anali ack
without taking the L.
Good luck with thi aignment, good ir.
JD didn’t care then, ut the ign were telling u Wennerg wa eing
overpaid, not Horvat.
T ANOTHR THING
JD alo ugget the Canuck could get a third-round pick for Granlund.
o when utter and eagle come ack, do it.
And there’ one le veteran the team ha to worr aout when claiming
plaer off waiver.
T THI DIDN’T AG WLL
Taj
@taj1944
IGGT LOOMING TROUL
I till don’t have a handle on what’ happening with Olli Juolevi thi eaon,
ut man he i going to have hi work cut out for him when he arrive.
He ha to prove quite a lot a a pro in North America till and will not e
coming to a great defence in the NHL, at leat not one that’ going to make it
ea on him.
Plu, the gu who o man in Vancouver wanted to draft in that ame pot i
lighting the league on fire.
“Tkachuk i jut o freaking good. 29 point in 26 game a a 20-ear-old and
he’ an aolute freak in driving two-wa pla.”
I don’t reall like the what-if game, ut thi one i going to could e hard to
ignore.
T TRUTH
ver game.
Dakota Dunlop
@dakattack92
The best part about the Viking clap is knowing @botchford is above
me in the press box loosing his mind
15 3:13 PM - Dec 1, 2018
Truthfull, I’d take air drum over an Viking Clap.
T QUTION
It’ like Gar ettman ordered it to e o.
T RALLYING CRY
Jason Botchford
@botchford
CDP @cdp___
Replying to @botchford
Does aquilini know about Nikita scherbak?
Get him.
@FutureCanes
Get him.
Get them all.
At leat, anone good with upide who could e etter than a, challer.
Wh not?
What’ to loe?
Gagner can till go down without eing put on waiver.
Tim challer? Waive.
OFTT FORCHCK
Come on, challer, we need more than a love tap on thee forecheck.
Hit.
Not thi:
T IMAGRY
Kenzie Ross
@kross89
@botchford first song at a whistle was old time rock and roll.... I feel
like aquillini is day drunk jamming out in his suite every stoppage
1:13 PM - Dec 1, 2018
T ADVIC
I’ve een around the Canuck a long time now, and if I could take a gue at
the going-on during the internal dicuion after DJ Gate took off ecaue
of Chelea Dagger, I’d et ig mone the PR team advied the organization a
a whole to do aolutel nothing.
Don’t mention it, don’t reference it and do not give it life.
That’ wh, I’d ugget, Aquilini going rogue with that tweet ha o man
people till uzzing around Roger Arena.
Not wanting thi to happen again, I’ve aked people tep in and educate the
DJ who eem to have ecome a Canuck follower onl recentl a the DJ
doen’t even rememer Duncan Keith’ elow on Daniel edin which wa
2012, not 10 ear ago a o man people keep aing.
Jason Botchford
@botchford
WORT ONG CHOIC
Thi i jut contructive criticim, DJ, ecaue ou’re o new to port ut
“New Orlean i inking” i not the ong to pla after the tar tie the core
and there’ a goal review.
IGGT MID OPPORTUNITY
I have never met anone who hate DJ quite like A&W hate DJ.
He cruhe them like the ret of the cit cruhe can after hotgun Jake
core a goal.
Honetl, looking ack through time, A&W’ mot paionate take are all
centred around DJ.
If onl he could muter ome Canuck take like thee one:
When DJ Gate roke, he’ the firt peron I thought of. For the firt time in
m life, I couldn’t wait for an A&W take.
I couldn’t wait for him to figurativel mah ome head telling u all what a
joke thee loer are, and explaining how he could proal out-DJ them with
a firt-generation iPod.
I couldn’t wait for him to reathe fire all over thi cit.
I wa going to count up all the wa he mocked DJ in 24 hour.
I tuned in. I wa glued to m phone, laptop, anthing with a glimpe into hi
ocial media world.
Thi wa go time for the A&W era, it wa hi moment, the moment he wa
raied to claim.
ut omething incredile happened intead.
He didn’t mah the DJ world, he came at me intead, triggered ecaue I
elieve the people of Vancouver till have a hate-on for anthing lackhawk.
He wa o focued on eing the contrarian to thi fan ae and running
counter an time we all finall agree on omething, he mied hi hot.
He’ wa actuall arguing with me aout lue Ja game when under the
urface he ha the et DJ material in the cit.
I’ve een haking m damn head ever ince.
If onl he would let me advie and mentor him.
T LOOK
T JRY
JP Belliveau
@dailybreakaway
T HOW DAR YOU?
For hame.
Ash J
@ashj279
IGGT L
The arrow point to a fan account, the circle i what the Canuck new
Overwatch team had to ettle with.
T ACKPATTING
xcue me while I dut off m ack-patting machine.
ecaue thi:
J B t hf d
Jason Botchford
@botchford
I think history will show the slow play of nylander’s contract was a
turning point in hockey’s evolution/revolution. I think dubas has
played everyone and if he has, it’s going to be pretty bad ass
47 9:37 AM - Nov 30, 2018
ecame thi:
Nick Kypreos
@RealKyper
Nylander deal 7.5m per yr x6. Works out to 6.98 aav with in
season signing. 24.5 m signing Bonus. #lockoutprotected.
@Sportsnet @hockeynight
434 2:06 PM - Dec 1, 2018
Which ecame thi:
Ryan Biech
@ryanbiech
Toronto leveraging their cap space this year and the holdout to
save about $600,000 in cap savings for years 2-6.
Beautiful.
226 2:09 PM - Dec 1, 2018
T NYLANDR TAK
Here’ the quetion:
Let’ ee what Dua did:
Le wear and tear on the plaer.
levated teammate in hi aence and gave them valuale experience.
aved cap pace.
Trolled NHL media.
And picked up all kind of hi competitor’ coveted information aout how
the view aet.
The jut handed it to him willingl a he accepted trade offer.
If the Leaf never had an intention of trading him, and wh would the with
thi contract, that right there i the granddadd of all enefit which no one
in Toronto ha een talking aout for the pat two month.
If ou don’t think that’ important, ou have no clue, o here’ a reminder:
T RMINDR
I’m thinking undin wa “actuall etter than ou think” in hi Canuck
career i a ooli column waiting to e written.
Katherine Pelletier
@erasedtruths
I forget that the Sundin era happened.... @botchford
2:04 PM - Dec 1, 2018
T PRPCTIV
Thi certainl ugget Marktrom han’t een quite a ad a people eem to
think, and that I mean he han’t een the wort tarter in the league.
The X axi i howing expected goal per 100 unlocked hot which i the
hot qualit the goalie i facing.
The Y i ave aove expected.
o Marktrom’ ave aove expected per 100 unlocked hot i ahead of
Luongo, Matt Murra and, wait for it, Helleuck, who i widel aumed to
e an important cog of the Jet machine.
What ele doe thi how?
Raanta i good and Ward i crewed.
Alo, thi:
You don’t give up ig aet for goalie. ver.
What’ that phrae ou alwa hear?
Goalie are voodoo.
T WHAT IF
What if omeone who “trut the proce” or i known to dale in the dark
art of, uhm, tatitical anali, aid omething like MacLean did, omething
that mean the ame thing, ut he choe different word.
And different word, I mean “tank.”
In other word, the general conenu in the hocke world i the Canuck
need to tank.
ecaue that’ what MacLean i aing here and MacLean i a made “hocke
man.”
ut made “hocke men” are not allowed to ue the word “tank” a a poitive
o intead it’ couched.
MacLean admit the Canuck need a top draft pick ecaue the need
another potential tar and to get it he a the team doen’t want to e too
good et.
You know, ecaue draft pick
It i infuriating for plent in and around the port ecaue the tone and
reaction ha een far different in the pat when o-called “computer o”
hared imilar entiment.
It doe make me wonder how thing could e different if Team Tank
jut appropriated the hocke man approved decription of tanking.
T TORY
Hi team ha won onl three time in 15 game.
Thee were uppoed to e the moment Horvat wan’t read to handle
which, the wa, i aout the onl reaonale explanation a to wh he’ not
alread the Vancouver Canuck captain.
A much adulation a Petteron generate, Horvat i the lifelood of the
team.
And it’ Horvat who the media wa drawn to after thi lo.
He tood in that dreing room and took ever quetion, anwering them all
capal even though deep in hi vein the loing i killing him.
It’ a lot harder than it ound and Horvat wan’t read to deal with it like he
i now.
“It i reall hard,” Horvat aid. “A a plaer, the lat thing intinctivel ou
want to do i come in the locker room and talk aout the game.
“Not that long ago, I would e the firt one out of the room after one of thee
loe.
“Henrik would ta ehind and talk to the media.
“I rememer thinking ‘Thank god that’ not me.’
“Hank did it for o man ear and did a great jo of it.
“ut a I got older, I realized it ha to e done.
“The team ha to have a voice after the game and now I’m happ to do it.”
It’ a difficult market with lot of media and thi i another difficult eaon
with a lot of loing.
That can e a toxic comination and ha een for ome.
“I rememer watching Henrik edin and when we won, he’d let other take
the accolade.
“He’d e the firt gu in the gm. When we lot, he’d e the lat gu.
“It’ intimidating at firt, epeciall in a market like thi for a oung gu
coming in.
“ut I am an outgoing gu. I like to talk and it’ ecoming a lot eaier for me
to do jut that.”
I jut hope he get to feel what it’ like to e in thi role when the team i
great.
He’ earned it.
(Top photo: Jeff Vinnick / NHLI via Gett Image)
Jason Botchford (/author/jason-botchford/) covers the Vancouver Canucks and is the senior writer
for The Athletic Vancouver. He's been covering the NHL since 2005 in Vancouver where he's been
named sportswriter of the year multiple times. He appears regularly on local radio station TSN 1040
and its parent network TSN. Follow Jason on Twitter @botchford (https://twitter.com/botchford).