Whirlwind for Bo Horvat, Anthony Beauvillier ends with reunion
Bo Horvat of the Islanders and Anthony Beauvillier of the Canucks. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke; Elsa/Getty Images
Bo Horvat is moving on, making plans for his post-Vancouver life on Long Island with his wife, Holly. The couple even did some preliminary house hunting this week in Garden City and Manhasset.
But Thursday was all about memories of his eight-plus seasons with the Canucks, just as Thursday was all about Anthony Beauvillier’s seven-plus seasons with the Islanders.
The teams played at UBS Arena just 10 days after the Islanders acquired the former Canucks captain for Beauvillier, Aatu Raty, who has been reassigned to the AHL, and a top-12 protected first-round pick.
The fan favorite Beauvillier would receive an emotional video tribute. Horvat, who agreed to an eight-year, $68 million extension on Sunday, began winning over the UBS Arena crowd in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over the Kraken as he scored a goal in his home debut.
“It feels like it was yesterday,” Horvat said of the trade. “It definitely doesn’t feel like 10 days. With the All-Star break, I’ve only been on Long Island for three, four, five days. [Wednesday] was our first real day off to go explore the city a little bit. It definitely doesn’t feel real yet but it’s starting to come around now.”
Skating onto the ice and seeing the Canucks’ white road jerseys was a dose of reality.
“It’s weird,” Horvat said. “I’ve never played against Vancouver. Seeing the guys that you grew up playing with over the years and that jersey and you’re not wearing it, it’s definitely weird.
“I’m just going to be relieved when the game starts going. Again, more nerves are stopped and we can just go and play hockey.”
Finally, Thursday marked the end of a drawn-out, post-trade period for both Horvat and Beauvillier.
Beauvillier hasn’t even been to Vancouver yet. The trade happened while he was vacationing during the All-Star break and he met his new team in the New York area. The Canucks played at New Jersey on Monday and lost, 4-3, to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
“Get me on the West Coast,” Beauvillier said. “But it’s how it happened. It’s kind of nice that I got to meet the team in Jersey. Getting to know everyone just makes me feel so much better. Still a lot of nerves. There’s been a lot of nerves in the last week but it’s been better now.”
Horvat signed his new contract, made his Islanders debut in a 2-1 win in Philadelphia on Monday night, his home debut the next night and then had to face his former team.
Saturday afternoon’s game in Montreal is going to be a relief.
“Everything will be kind of done and I can just go play hockey,” Horvat said. “There’s no more drama.”
Over time, Horvat will create plenty of memories as an Islander.
Beauvillier, who broke into the NHL at 19 in 2016 — the same age as Horvat when he made his Canucks debut in 2014 — will forever be remembered for his overtime winner in Game 6 of the 2021 Eastern Conference finals against the Lightning in the Islanders’ last game at Nassau Coliseum.
“He’s going to have a lot of emotions,” Matt Martin said. “It’s always a tough game, the first one back and he was such a big piece of this team for such a long time. That crazy goal that everyone remembers against Tampa in overtime.”
Said coach Lane Lambert: “Anthony did a lot of good things for this organization and he’s very well-liked. His teammates just loved him. It’s going to be an emotional night but, at the end of the day, we have a job to do.”
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.
