Player Discussion Bo Horvat
- Thread starter canuckfan75
- Start date
Thing about Bo is he has the humility to identify his weaknesses and the work ethic to massively improve on them. I wouldn’t at all be surprised if he develops into a good playmaker down the line and becomes a defensive beast as well.
Shareefruck
Registered User
Curious if he's ever actually brought up his defensive game as something he wants to work on, though.
Whoosh!!!
Since the point seems to have been missed, the point of the post you were responding to was not a suggestion that Canuck players are using meth. It was an analogy arguing that it is absurd to argue that it is a good thing to adopt bad habits to bond with those who have those bad habits.
He's mentioned it. He's always talked about being a complete player and has talked about playing against top guys and shutting them down. I don't think that was something he focused on over the summer though.
PuckMunchkin
Very Nice, Very Evil!
The ironic thing here is that their current profession, ice hockey, was likely viewed as a bad habit of a past time not too long ago.
BenningHurtsMySoul
Unfair Huggy Bear
Would love to see Bo fight more - last game reminded me of one of Iggy's old monster performances.
Obviously he's not on that level, but it was definitely reminiscent.
Obviously he's not on that level, but it was definitely reminiscent.
Shareefruck
Registered User
I've heard him mention that it's the kind of player he views himself as and aims to become, but I don't recall him identifying it as a weakness. Hopefully he has, because it's a far more pressing concern than some other areas I've heard him mention trying to improve (like foot speed, for example).
PuckMunchkin
Very Nice, Very Evil!
If Bo consistently remembers he is 215 lb he can be a scary player for us.
Just to be clear. You mean his current foot speed? His draft time skating was his no.1 concern, by far.
Just to be clear. You mean his current foot speed? His draft time skating was his no.1 concern, by far.
Iginla never won the Cup, hopefully Bo can be better and lead this team to a Cup
I don't really see the relevance or agree that this is a pressing concern. His expected role on this team coming into the season is that of a #1 C with the priority being to put points up on the board. Green is not utilizing him as a shutdown matchup C. Besides, it's not like Horvat is terrible defensively and he improved last season compared to the year before. I think the whole "defensive issues" with Horvat is overstated. He's not the next Ryan Kesler and not an elite PKer. Maybe he will never be a Selke candidate or elite PKer. That's okay. Overall he's a very effective player for the Canucks.
Horvat's offensive production rates have increased each year. If it's a matter of choosing what to work on, what I want from him is to keep developing offensively and increase his offensive production first and foremost. Players with Horvat's defensive reputation and play in juniors are rarely defensive liabilities absent some lack of talent issue such as skating ability. From what I have seen, there isn't anything noticeably holding back from becoming better defensively.
Billy Kvcmu
Registered User
That was only his second fight ever in his career, the last time he fought was in junior....ya, not gonna happen
He fought Darnell Nurse in the final game in 2016-17 season. I saw it live, he beat Nurse as well
Shareefruck
Registered User
I mean from his first year in the NHL onwards (or I guess technically half-way through his first year), his defensive game was a bigger weakness than his skating (which looked better than everyone expected).
He's not completely incompetent defensively, but he's probably one of our weaker defensive forwards right now, and it's clearly the weakest area of his game at the moment, IMO (which is otherwise well on its way to being complete/balanced). The concern isn't that he isn't as good defensively as Ryan Kesler, it's that you could argue that he struggles with the defensive game more than guys like Boeser (well, the good version of Boeser), Baertschi, Pettersson, Eriksson, or arguably even Granlund/Virtanen. That applies whether he's playing on the 1st line or not.
And yeah, considering his reputation, I agree that that's odd, but it happens. Nobody is arguing that he isn't an effective player regardless. It's just the first thing I hope he identifies as an area to improve.
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Breakers
Make Mirrored Visors Legal Again
He has 7 points in 9 Games which is good, don't get me wrong.
But for some reason I haven't liked his game this season. When he isnt trapped in his own zone for most of the game he tries hero hockey trying to stickhandle 1 vs 3 on rushes.
Hopefully with a larger sample I'll come around to his game.
But for some reason I haven't liked his game this season. When he isnt trapped in his own zone for most of the game he tries hero hockey trying to stickhandle 1 vs 3 on rushes.
Hopefully with a larger sample I'll come around to his game.
Melvin
21/12/05
Billy Kvcmu
Registered User
I understand your point of view, I just disagree with you that it is a pressing concern. His challenge was to take over the #1 C role. Continuing to improve his ability to produce offensively is the more pressing concern. Obviously with Pettersson's play, the challenge for Horvat may be different next summer. He may very well be challenged to go against the other team's top lines and outscore them. With that said, he can work on your defensive game during the season by studying video etc. Like I said, he is improving defensively whether he has identified his defensive play as an area of weakness or not.
From what I've seen lately, Horvat doesn't seem to share the puck as much as his teammates do. Too often he chooses to take a low probability shot than make a pass that would lead to a higher probability shot by his teammates. I think he becoming a bit too selfish with the puck trying to be the hero.
Shareefruck
Registered User
That last point strikes me as odd. You could say the same thing about his offensive game, or just about any other area.
Oddly enough, I think the biggest limitation currently holding back his offensive game IS his defensive game-- He spends too much time hemmed in his own end unable to push things back the other way. Once he has the puck entering the offensive zone, he's very effective (despite occasionally selfish/tunnel-vision play). The ice just isn't tilted in that direction when he's on the ice nearly as often as you would think he's capable of.
On top of that, expecting him to dramatically improve his offensive game sounds a bit unrealistic/unfair of an expectation to me. It's possible, but it's not something I'm banking on. If he tops out at a 60+ point pace for most of his career (which he's already pretty close to doing consistently), that's pretty fitting for his talent level. Meanwhile, his defensive game seems like it should be at a level dramatically beyond what it is right now, I would most expect that focus to bear results, and it would probably help his line's overall effectiveness more than anything else, IMO.
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BenningHurtsMySoul
Unfair Huggy Bear
Bo is a machine. 7 goals on the year.
