horvat traded to islanders - 30 January 2023

Story by Rocky Rhodes

Coming off the PJHL weekend schedule that saw the Richmond Sockeyes play a doubleheader on the Sunshine Coast, many in the hockey world or rather Canuck world are shocked to hear about the news of the Bo Horvat trade.

This isn’t the first time that the Canucks have been involved in a trade with the Islanders and reflecting back to February 6th, 1988 Trevor Linden was moved out in exchange for Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan McCabeand and a third-round that saw them select Jarkko Ruutu.

The trade sends Horvat to the Islanders in exchange for the Islanders first-round selection as well as Anthony Beauvillier (25) and 20 year-old Aatu Räty with the Canucks retaining 25% of Horvat’s cap hit. The interesting part to know is that Bo played in his rookie season in 2014-15 at the age of 19 and at season’s end would be an unrestricted free agent who many thought  would not be signed to a new contract with the terms he was wanting.

I am hearing that the Islanders focused on Horvat for his goal scoring ability due to their ratings in the top ten in goals against, while being in the bottom ten having a 15.5 PP which ranks 31st in the NHL.

Goal productivity this season hasn’t been an issue for Horvat as he has reached his personal career high of 31 goals and at this pace could finish with 52.  As of press time he is tied in ninth with 11 PP goals.

It’s interesting that the prize piece to the trade is the first round pick that has a condition that has the pick protected and if in the top 12 in the 2023 Draft, but if the pick ends up being in 2024 it will be an unprotected selection.

If the Islanders don’t go far in the playoffs the Canucks will get a selection ranging between 13th to 16th in the 2023 draft of a first-round pick in 2024.

The move will be an improvement to the current roster for the Islanders and if they somehow make the playoffs his presence will be a welcome addition.

This season Beauvillier (5’11”) has played in 49 games  having a record of 9-11-20 in addition to his 10 PIM’s starting with the Islanders in 2016-17 playing 457 regular season games.

Raty (20) adds size to the roster (6’2” 190 lbs) splitting his time in both the NHL and the AHL Bridgeport Islanders having a record of 2-0-2 in 12 NHL games and was selected in the second round 52nd overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.

The Canucks are heading in the direction that some feel lacks leadership with the next leader yet to take the team on their shoulders and lead them in the direction that has been lacking for a while.

The recent retirement of both Henrik and Daniel leaves many questioning if Elias Pettersson and Quin Hughes are the right two or if more is required to put them on the pedestal to return to the good books of their fan base.

Horvat carried the Canucks in recent years while some thought the one to step up was be Brock Boeser would be the one to lead the charge, while in reality it was Bo alon

The local coffee shop earlier in the day was full of quick fixes to solve the Canucks problems with some questioning who the next Canuck Captain will be? 

Others feel and for what it’s worth they should finish the season having only Alternative Captains and sort this out at the start of next season, which isn’t that far off.

Simply put as I was told earlier in the day – Bo never failed the Canucks, they failed him!!

Let’s not forget that Horvat’s lost stick was but eventually found and returned to Marshall and Linden Ervin who got their unique piece of memorabilia back and delivered to their house.

The boy’s now own more than just owning a stick – it’s Bo’s

Story by Steve Erickson

On the heels of the CHL Prospects game hosted by the Vancouver Giants we are pleased to mention that hockey fans in Port Coquitlam will once again have a team to support.

Hockey doesn’t have to be either the WHL or the BCHL, but locally we have some exceptional young players playing in the Pacific Junior Hockey League which until now consisted of 13 teams.

Given the continued growth of hockey in the Tri-Cities area of the lower mainland the best kept secret conducted its own official face-off.

Given the recent re-fit, upgrade or rebuild whatever you wish to mention the PJHL held an afternoon press conference at the Port Coquitlam Community Centre.

The newly named arena is officially called the Jon Baillie Arena and seats 780 spectators making the franchise the leagues 14th which will now balance both conferences.

The league currently consists of two conferences named the Tom Shaw Conference and the Harold Brittain Conference.

With the exception of the Surrey Knights one might assume that the Harold Brittain Conference is made up of teams from the Fraser Valley, while the Tom Shaw Conference consists of teams from the lower mainland.

This season saw the league increase the number of games played from 44 to 48 that has each team play each other four times, twice on home ice and twice on their opponents ice.

While the league has undergone name changes dating back to the 70ties with one team based in Seattle and called the North West Americans.

With no teams south of the 49th and having a location set between Junior A franchises placing a team in Port Coquitlam or Po. Coq as it’s commonly known makes sense – at least to me!!!

Fans are looking for a viable alternative to pro sports and it goes to say that there is no surcharge or upcharge other than the price of a ticket.

With the move that saw the Vancouver Giants from the Pacific Coliseum to the Langley Events Centre this location was a prime fit for the PJHL and the new franchise.

Coming off the CHL Prospects game which drew a sell-out crowd of just over 5,200, I am not saying that the building will attract those numbers, but they will sell out many games.

The Ownership group headed up by Rob Toor who is a local resident and this wasn’t a wim that began last week, but began dating back to 2022 with a proposal to bring and welcome Junior hockey back to Port Coquitlam. 

Ownership has been working diligently since they put their proposal forward and it’s obvious that they have a strong focus which the PJHL’s Board of Governors felt adding this new franchise will strongly be of benefit to the league, the players and the community.

League Commissioner Trevor Alto mentioned “We are proud to welcome a new franchise in Port Coquitlam to our league and Rob and his partners have shown us they are prepared to do what it takes to run a successful team so it made sense to offer Junior hockey to players and fans in that community.”

Rob Toor mentioned “We want to provide further opportunities for hockey players in the area wanting to play Junior and higher levels of hockey and our mission is to develop everyone within our organization from players to coaches to volunteers; our vision is to ensure each home game is an event to bring the community together.”

Besides being a hockey dad and coach, Rob first started the thought process shortly after he saw the PCCC play in front of a packed building while coaching U18 Rep hockey.

Po Coq had a franchise years back as Delta TV covered the league All-Star game and the team then was called the Poci Buckeroos and operated from 1990 to 2006. 

Following their tenure in Po Co they moved to Port Moody where they were and still are known as the Panthers.

Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West mentioned “We are very excited about this great opportunity for the City of Port Coquitlam and for hockey in our community. I know our residents will be looking forward to cheering on this new team in our state-of-the-art facility.”

He continued to add “We look forward to showcasing our local hockey community, our great facilities and this amazing city.”

I for one know that they are in search of a name as well as a logo, so if you have any ideas please let me know and I’ll pass them on for.

After having a conversation earlier in the day with some hockey fans in the area and knowing what they might be looking for, I’m hoping that they connect with BCIT and utilize their students who are looking to get into the broadcast industry, be it camera or play by play.

Sportswave wishes them all the best as well as success moving forward.

Welcome to the PJHL!!!!

Story by Steve Erickson

Locally the Junior hockey world continues to entertain young upcoming prospects who put their talents on display looking to advance their career to the pro level of the game.

We recently saw young Connor Bedard show the sell-out crowd the next level of players that will soon be taking the ice at a rink near you.

Some still question the move of the Vancouver Giants from the Pacific Coliseum to have their home residence at the Langley Events Centre which seats far less than the rink on Hastings, but the move proved a success.

I for one welcomed the move for a couple of reasons, first the distance, second there are no bridges and lastly parking is free.

The Giants continue to make changes to their roster, all done in a positive  manner by Barclay Parneta, their GM who works closely with ownership.

This past weekend they played host to the Kelowna Rockets and dropped the contest by a 4-1 margin, while Saturday’s game saw them pull out a 4-3 win narrowly outshooting the Rockets by 29-28.

Kelowna opened the scoring early in the first at 1:09 that saw Carson Golder getting his 15 of the season jumping on a  rebound early with assists going to DeSouza and Kydd.

The first ended with both teams getting chances both being unable to score, while the Rocket’s jumped out to a 2-0 lead at 15:14 with Grady Lenton (3) continuing to lead the Rockets.

Vancouver rebounded with their first and only goal at 4:08 that saw Ty Thorpe get his 24th of the season with Gronick and Anderson assisting on the play.

The Rockets got their third of the game  at 8:04 while the G-men were short handed on a breakaway, which was followed by Golder getting his second of the game at 2:41 on the PP.

GAME SUMMARY

Final Score: Vancouver 1 – Kelowna 4

Final Shots:

• Kelowna: 33,    Vancouver: 30
• Jesper Vikman: 29/33 saves for Vancouver, Talyn Boyko: 29/30 saves for Kelowna
• Vancouver Power Play: 0/8
• Kelowna Power Play: 1/6

Three Stars:

1)   Szturc (KEL)

2)   Thorpe (VAN)

3)   Golder (KEL)