Bo Horvat had been an unofficial member of the Islanders' coaching group since arriving in New York, so sewing a letter onto his sweater was only natural now that he had the opportunity to do so.
Horvat, a former Canucks captain, will carry the 'A' mark as assistant captain alongside Brock Nelson, replacing Cal Clutterbuck in the Islanders' season opener against the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday night. Become.
“I think it's always an honor to wear a jersey, but to have the words on your jersey is so special,” Horvat told the Post after Tuesday's practice. “I don't take it lightly and I want to represent myself and the team. Just play the right way every night. I think my past captaincy will definitely help. ”
Horvat has been an alternate captain for the Canucks since March 2017 and earned a 'C' at the start of the 2019-20 season.
That made him the obvious candidate to receive a letter with the Islanders this season, but other players such as Casey Cizikas or Noah Dobson would have been valuable as well.
Two-thirds of the team's official leadership has changed over the past two seasons, with Anders Lee continuing to serve as captain, after Nelson received his letter to replace Josh Bailey as captain at the beginning of last season.
“There are a lot of great leaders at this club, I talk to Lou. [Lamoriello] And we felt he was ready – he was the captain of Vancouver – he was ready to step up there,” coach Patrick Roy said. “Did we have any discussions about this? No, it just happened naturally. But are there many players who could be assistants? Yes. We have a lot of good leaders in our team.”
For Horvat, this is much more recognition than a change to the job he already does.
He has no intention of changing the way he operates in the locker room or within the coaching group.
“I think just because you have the letter, there's a reason why it was given to you,” Horvat said. “And it's obviously not because you suddenly have to change clothes because there's a letter on your sweater. There's a lot of guys here who could be wearing that.”
Ilya Sorokin continued to practice with the team, but the Islanders have not yet committed to their plans for using him in Opening Day.
“Maybe we should talk. [trainer] damian [Hess] Let's see what happens by the end of the day [Sorokin] Roy said: “And tomorrow we'll probably be in a better position and decide what we want to do.”
