Just in: The legendary New York Islander, Bo Horvat, has experienced another heartbreaking piece of information regarding his…
Bo Horvat fielded several questions from reporters during his media conference on Monday after being traded by the Vancouver Canucks to the New York Islanders. This was hours after his family vacation was interrupted by his participation in an NHL blockbuster.
Following questions about his feelings about leaving the Canucks and whether he would still play with Mathew Barzal in the All-Star Game, he was asked what number he would wear on Long Island, given that Casey Cizikas had already claimed No. 53.
“Casey has been in the league a long time, and he wears that number well,” stated Horvat. “Please select a different number. He has done a great job representing the 53.”
On Tuesday, we learned that Horvat, the 14th captain in Canucks history, would don No. 14 while playing for the Islanders, making history as the 22nd player to do so. In the one game he played earlier this season, William Dufour wore it. The reason Horvat wore No. 53 in the first place is something that most Islanders fans might not know, but no one asked. He wore this number into the NHL and throughout his junior career, and it has particular significance.
Why Bo Horvat, a center for the NY Islanders, wore number 53
The London Knights selected Horvat, who was selected ninth overall, and goaltender Ian Jenkins, who was taken 29th overall, in the 2011 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Priority Selection. A few weeks following that momentous day, at the age of fifteen, Jenkins tragically perished after falling out of the back of a pickup truck.
In his recollections, Horvat wears number 53, which is the opposite of Jenkins’s number 35, which he wore as a goalie. 2013 saw Horvat tell Eliotte Friedman, “I’m sure we would have been great friends if he was here.” “It was special to me and his family to switch my number around, kind of in memory of him.”
“Definitely getting the number [shows] how much character Bo has and how much he cares about his teammates,” Knights head coach Dale Hunter stated at the time.
