Former Canucks captain Bo Horvat apologizes for comment about Vancouver fans

Vancouver -

Former Canucks captain Bo Horvat apologized to Vancouver fans Monday morning after causing a stir on the weekend, when he seemed to throw some shade at his former city.

In a post-game interview after a 4-0 home game win against the Philadelphia Flyers, the New York Islanders centre was asked about the excitement from the fans during the team's playoff push.

“It's been unbelievable. It’s a lot better than Vancouver. I’ll tell you that for free,” Horvat responded.

That comment stung for some Canucks fans, evident by the marquee at the Penthouse Night Club, which now reads “F@#k you, Horvat.”

Bar manager Benjamin Jackson's friends encouraged him to respond to Horvat's comment, so he grabbed a ladder and changed the marquee, he explained in an interview with CTV News. When he woke up the next day, his action had gone viral on Twitter.

"He was there for 10 years, he’s the captain, I think it probably caught a lot of people off guard essentially, and that's why people got so upset," Jackson said. 

In an interview with CTV News, Canucks writer for The Athletic Thomas Drance said Horvat's swipe was "very out of character" for the player, who normally watches his words. 

"I think for some fans it was obviously emotional. They saw it as a knock on the fans in particular, and this was a guy who was very popular, widely supported during the course of his time here." 

But Horvat walked back his comments in a pregame interview Monday morning, two days after his jab went viral.

“It was kind of a heat-of-the-moment thing. I didn’t mean any disrespect to the fans of Vancouver, my teammates or the city of Vancouver at all,” he said. “I really enjoyed my time in Vancouver. I’m not trying to disrespect them at all.”

“The (Islanders) fans were all excited, and I was excited to be in a playoff push. It was just kind of one of those things where my emotions got the best of me. I was just really happy to be there, to be honest with you. It might have come out the wrong way to a lot of people, so I apologize for that. I’m just excited to be in this position right now, to be in a playoff push,” he continued.

"He was throwing some red meat at the fans he is going to play in front of for the next eight years, so I thought it was a cool moment for him," Drance said. 

The 28-year-old from London, Ont., played for the Canucks for eight and a half seasons and was named captain in 2019 before being traded to the Islanders in January.

His new team is currently vying for one of the remaining two slots in the playoffs during the final week of the regular season.

When Horvat returns to Rogers Arena to play against the Canucks next season, Drance predicts he'll be "roundly booed." 

"And I think it will be fun," he said. 

With files from CTV Vancouver's Shannon Paterson