Canucks' Top Pick: Centre Bo Horvat can't wait to get here 'and show them they picked a good one'

The farming community of Rodney, Ont. has 1,000 residents and 80 of them were present Sunday to see one of their own play a role in a stunning 2013 NHL draft development.

When the Vancouver Canucks traded Cory Schneider to the New Jersey Devils in return for the 9th overall selection, it turned into London Knights centre Bo Horvat and it turned the spotlight on what general manager Mike Gillis was able to get — or not get — in moving his anointed starter and retaining the immovable Roberto Luongo. The buzz even caught Horvat off guard.

"It was shocking sitting there and it's really humbling they traded a guy that high for me," said Horvat. "It's overwhelming and I had no idea about it — it was all a shock to me."

It wasn't shocking that Horvat was on the Canucks' radar all season. The two-way centre was named most valuable player of the OHL playoffs with 16 goals and 23 points in 21 games and his ability to rise to the occasion for the back-to-back league champions wasn't lost on the Canucks. They need to map out their future down the middle and landing a centre who can handle the heat of playing for a top junior program and eventually the heat of a hockey-mad Vancouver market resonated with them.

"It's been a crazy and long past two years," said the 6-foot, 206 pound Horvat, who had 33 goals and 61 points in 67 games this season. "I've been really fortunate to be on great teams and the pressure of going up against top players, you know what it takes to get to next level and I have a leg up. 

"I watched the Canucks quite a bit on television and I could be a huge help to them and hopefully be what they need. I'm more excited than anything else. I can't wait to get there and show them they picked a good one at No.9. Pressure situations don't bother me one bit."

That's good because nothing has polarized the Vancouver hockey populace than Schneider and Luongo. As much as they got along, the conversation about the two goalies often centred on who should play when and for how long. When the Schneider trade was completed late Saturday night, the Sunday announcement hopefully made Horvat more than the answer to a trivia question.

"We got some centres which has been a source of need for us and we've watched him play numerous times," said Canucks assistant general manager Laurence Gilman. "He's the type of player we envision the Canucks being about — captain material and a big-game player. We didn't think there would be a player of that calibre at No. 24. And the board was looking different than we planned, so we're happy we got him."

If Horvat lives up to the hype, the rage over whether the Canucks got enough for Schneider will diminish. There was more than passing interest from Edmonton and the Oilers had the No. 7 pick. But whether they were willing to surrender a top prospect or roster player — or the Canucks pushed for such — was like a tennis-match rumour. It went back and forth. Could they have got more?

"I wouldn't necessarily say that's true," said Gilman. "You ask for assets and we had a lot of interest in Cory and spoke to multiple teams and asked different teams for different pieces. At the end of the day, we felt this one was the best for us. We ran this gauntlet with both goaltenders and knew it was a situation that couldn't continue and it's fair to say, the trade partners knew we had to make a deal. Whether we could have gotten something else had we dealt with it at another time, we didn't."

OnceHorvat was done dealing with Schneider trade questions, he could reveal how this all came to be. His grandparents had farm land in the Rodney area and he skated outdoors and then made a mess of the basement in his parents home.

"A couple of ponds would freeze over and we always skated there and it was a lot of fun," recalled Horvat. "I would play mini-sticks with my brother (Cal) growing up and my dad (Tim) built a shooting gallery downstairs with arena boards."

A fan of Mike Richards growing up, Horvat said he would stay in the game in some capacity if playing professionally doesn't work out. That's hard to imagine.

Source: theprovince