MONTREAL — Four days ago, Bo Horvat was playing in the biggest game of his life with Team Canada for Olympic gold.
On Thursday, he was playing Game 59 of the regular season in Montreal, back to reality and the grind of a playoff race.
“It’s kind of a weird feeling,” Horvat said before the Islanders faced the Habs. “It felt like a completely different season over there. Being with a different team the whole two weeks, you build relationships and stuff. It’s different coming back and not having a lot of time to get back in the swing of things here. So I feel good. Got a good night’s sleep last night for the first time.”
Horvat’s first time skating with the Islanders was Thursday morning.
And though coach Patrick Roy said he had no worries about Horvat’s physical state or plans to watch his minutes, he is paying attention to the mental side of things.
“When I came back from Nagano [after the 1998 Games], I should’ve taken care of my mental side a little more,” Roy said. “I said, ‘We’ll be there for you. We’ll help you, and if you need a break here and there from practices and stuff, we’ll be more than happy to support him on that.’ You gotta find a way to do that, especially a guy like him who cares so much about the team, wants to see the team do so well.”
Horvat called playing in the Olympics “the coolest experience I’ve ever had in my life” despite Team Canada settling for silver with a dramatic overtime loss to the United States.
“I’m just so grateful to be able to say I was there and be a part of that team,” Horvat said. “And that experience was something I’ll never forget. I’m happy my family was there to experience it with me and everybody as well.”
In the immediate future, there’s only one way for him to play in such meaningful games again, and that is to help the Islanders go on a run of their own.
“Being a part of that, I think, is right up there with winning a Stanley Cup,” Horvat said. “Obviously, not the outcome we wanted. It still stings. But excited about that, just to be there and to represent your country at that big of a stage. Dream come true for me. Makes me want to come back here and push for a Stanley Cup, be a part of that.”
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