It's time to give Bo the 'A'

[D'Angelo Russell]

Don't think he's ready for it. He's on a 6 game point streak, and yes he's been playing better even before that, but if that's the only conditions for getting an A, lots of players in the league would probably have it by now. 

On another note, if he does get an A, will there be an extra A on the Canucks, or will they strip the A off someone else? 

[new look 'nucks]

Can we please just let the kid play for now? He has taken huge leaps this past season and a half for sure, but let's not push it.

[smokes]

25 minutes ago, ShakyWalton said:

Chill bro..it was just a statement..Bo was 6th overall in a pretty good draft..Im not saying Bo will play or do as much as Linden and the others you mentioned..but he is on the same track..by the time the twins retire Bo will be in the mix for the C and he will obviously be older than 21...right or wrong Wanda?..

Bo was ninth and Bo is no Linden. Did you see Linden at twenty? Bo only wished he could have been as good as Linden at 20.

[Kevin Biestra]

30 minutes ago, ShakyWalton said:

Chill bro..it was just a statement..Bo was 6th overall in a pretty good draft..Im not saying Bo will play or do as much as Linden and the others you mentioned..but he is on the same track..by the time the twins retire Bo will be in the mix for the C and he will obviously be older than 21...right or wrong Wanda?..

Bo is looking promising, but he's not on the same trajectory as Linden (Calder finalist right out of the gate and 50+ points in his first two seasons each).  Linden had 51 points I think in his 2nd year, and people were calling it a sophomore slump at the time.

Bo is trending upward and looking like he has a good future, but Linden was a player that hit the ground sprinting and didn't slow down for about seven or eight years.

At Bo's current rate of development, in a few years he'll be as good as Linden was as a rookie.

[ShakyWalton]

Just now, smokes said:

Bo was ninth and Bo is no Linden. Did you see Linden at twenty? Bo only wished he could have been as good as Linden at 20.

Im not comparing the two and I agree Bo is no Linden..Linden almost won the rookie award..came second..two different type of players really..yes I did see Linden when he came into the league..Im just saying at present rate Bo will be in line for the C when the Sedins retire...this isnt a pissing contest as to who was better.

 

yes,, my mistake about Bos draft pick  ..I dont know why I said 6th

[Mad_Duck]

^ Cause Jake* went 6th?

 

 

 

 

 

* The next CDC candidate for Captaincy, once he gets up and running.  

[HK Phooey]

For one reason or another, it's embedded into the Canucks history/culture that a "kid" cannot lead the team.  The last time the Canucks had a bonafide young man to lead the team in the room and on the ice was Trevor Linden.  Seems to me he turned out okay.

I don't buy into this notion that a player has to be a certain age or have certain amount of experience to be considered for captaincy or assistant captaincy.  If a player, regardless of age, has the attributes to lead the team, then I say give the player the appropriate and formal designation (in this case an "A" on the jersey).  If Bo is the voice for the young guard (i.e., the defacto spokesperson for Virtanen, MCann, Gaunce, Shinkaruk, Baertschi, etc.), then he should be given the letter.  

IMHO, this team is transitioning into Bo's team -- he's showing it with his play of late and in the confident way he speaks to the media...the current core has the Sedins as their voice and it seems to me that the young/new/emerging core have the utmost respect for Hank/Dank, so giving Bo the A probably wouldn't create a risk of a divisive factor in the room.  

Linden, Toews, Hawerchuk, Gretzky, Yzerman, Lemieux, Stamkos, and a bunch of others were given letters in their early 20s.  I think giving Bo a letter is appropriate because he has all of the attributes of a leader...furthermore, it shows that the management/coaching staff has confidence in at least one of their young rising stars, instead of babying them, which has been the Canucks way of doing things.

[babych]

CDC Math:

 

6 game point streak = A

 

Does Horvat have potential to to wear a letter at some point? Absolutely.

Should we strip a letter off of one of our current players and give it to Horvat right now? Absolutely not.

I get the excitement surrounding Bo but, as many posters have already stated, some patience is prudent in this case.

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, babych said:

CDC Math:

 

6 game point streak = A

 

Does Horvat have potential to to wear a letter at some point? Absolutely.

Should we strip a letter off of one of our current players and give it to Horvat right now? Absolutely not.

I get the excitement surrounding Bo but, as many posters have already stated, some patience is prudent in this case.

Who has the A's?  Trade one of those guys not named Sedin.  Problem solved.

[ShakyWalton]

8 minutes ago, HK Phooey said:

For one reason or another, it's embedded into the Canucks history/culture that a "kid" cannot lead the team.  The last time the Canucks had a bonafide young man to lead the team in the room and on the ice was Trevor Linden.  Seems to me he turned out okay.

I don't buy into this notion that a player has to be a certain age or have certain amount of experience to be considered for captaincy or assistant captaincy.  If a player, regardless of age, has the attributes to lead the team, then I say give the player the appropriate and formal designation (in this case an "A" on the jersey).  If Bo is the voice for the young guard (i.e., the defacto spokesperson for Virtanen, MCann, Gaunce, Shinkaruk, Baertschi, etc.), then he should be given the letter.  

IMHO, this team is transitioning into Bo's team -- he's showing it with his play of late and in the confident way he speaks to the media...the current core has the Sedins as their voice and it seems to me that the young/new/emerging core have the utmost respect for Hank/Dank, so giving Bo the A probably wouldn't create a risk of a divisive factor in the room.  

Linden, Toews, Hawerchuk, Gretzky, Yzerman, Lemieux, Stamkos, and a bunch of others were given letters in their early 20s.  I think giving Bo a letter is appropriate because he has all of the attributes of a leader...furthermore, it shows that the management/coaching staff has confidence in at least one of their young rising stars, instead of babying them, which has been the Canucks way of doing things.

and Monahan is wearing the C in Calgary..I agree..he could quite possibly get a A next year and I dont think he will be pulling it off another player..after all the impending moves there will be a vacancy.

[higgyfan]

1 minute ago, babych said:

CDC Math:

 

6 game point streak = A

 

Does Horvat have potential to to wear a letter at some point? Absolutely.

Should we strip a letter off of one of our current players and give it to Horvat right now? Absolutely not.

I get the excitement surrounding Bo but, as many posters have already stated, some patience is prudent in this case.

I don't think Bo would feel very good about that either.

[elvis15]

53 minutes ago, ShakyWalton said:

Chill bro..it was just a statement..Bo was 6th overall in a pretty good draft..Im not saying Bo will play or do as much as Linden and the others you mentioned..but he is on the same track..by the time the twins retire Bo will be in the mix for the C and he will obviously be older than 21...right or wrong Wanda?..

Bo was 9th overall. He certainly has leadership skills, but even as you say the Sedins are here and will be for a few years so there's no reason at all to rush him. Maybe he does get an 'A' in the next couple of years, but it'll come naturally.

[smokes]

What I don't understand is why look so far into the future and call it Bo's team? Last time I checked it was Henrik's team and Horvat is playing without that extra chip on his shoulder, Maybe he turns out to be the second coming of a Brendan Morrison during the West Coast Express days but what is another young player starts to outplay him? The way Sedin;s are playing it seems like they can play forever. In the meantime, why not let the kids develop and figure it out as they develop. It's not fair to put that kind of expectation on him at twenty and not ready. 

[elvis15]

17 minutes ago, Mad_Duck said:

^ Cause Jake* went 6th?

* The next CDC candidate for Captaincy, once he gets up and running.  

Virtanen isn't as much of a leader to where he's likely to get a letter. I'm not saying he's terrible in that respect, just that we have other more likely players (Gaunce is the first that comes to mind) to take on that official leadership role. But as has been said for Horvat, he doesn't need a letter to be a leader in the room.

[grumpworsley]

This whole everything has to happen now if not sooner attitude is quite amusing. After a loss ..... everyone on the team should be traded and the coach fired.

After a win Make Bo the hero he is our captain all hail captain Bo.

I have committed my fan participation level to critical acceptance. There are somethings about this team I like and some not so much. However I do recognize this is a process of rebuilding and like anything that is being renovated there will be a learning curve as the cladding is stripped from the bone. A little patience is bound to go a long way. By the way Good game from Bo 

[HK Phooey]

3 minutes ago, smokes said:

What I don't understand is why look so far into the future and call it Bo's team? Last time I checked it was Henrik's team and Horvat is playing without that extra chip on his shoulder, Maybe he turns out to be the second coming of a Brendan Morrison during the West Coast Express days but what is another young player starts to outplay him? The way Sedin;s are playing it seems like they can play forever. In the meantime, why not let the kids develop and figure it out as they develop. It's not fair to put that kind of expectation on him at twenty and not ready. 

I get what you're saying...but, we are all dealing in what-ifs.  

I personally think that Bo Horvat is one of those real special hockey players who can have a big impact from a very early age (i.e., early 20s).  So, following this premise, IMO, he's mentally tough enough to not shrivel up under any sort of pressure...in fact, I think he would flourish under this sort of pressure and holding him back may actually hurt him more than help him.  

I think for exceptional players (and this is not limited to just on-ice play), you have to have a different development pathway.  We all seem to think that somehow, ALL kids are fragile and need to be "managed" properly (which I don't disagree with), when I would say, there's probably 5% to 10% who are capable of taking on more.  My points are all made from afar, so I can be speaking out of my ass, but I think Bo is one of those exceptional players who wants more and is capable of taking on more. 

Just my two cents.

[smokes]

22 minutes ago, ShakyWalton said:

and Monahan is wearing the C in Calgary..I agree..he could quite possibly get a A next year and I dont think he will be pulling it off another player..after all the impending moves there will be a vacancy.

If Horvat can bounce back and catch up to 62 points in his sophmore year, then yes ok. Give the A to Horvat.

[Crabcakes]

Look how this team is built going forward.  There is a veteran leadership group followed by a lot of younger guys who are now 24 and younger. 

C's and A's should be worn by the leaders of the team.  On the Canucks, these are clearly the Sedins.  Hamhuis and Burrows are sharing an A.  If Hammer moves along in the offseason, I would nominate Hansen to wear an A because these are the players that the others are looking to for inspiration.

Of course, as the younger players assert themselves as leaders, they should take over.  Does anybody really see Hank or Danny giving up their C and A before they retire?  This could be 5 years from now.  I think they'll finish their present contracts and sign year by year after that like Jagr and Doan do. 

I like McCann with the C and Horvat with an A.  I couldn't say who will wear the second A.

[Honky Cat]

Its not time to give Bo the "A"..IMO...He's actually struggled this year,and is now ,more than finding his game..He's handled the adversity he's had on the ice with humility and more hard work....He's still a work in progress though.

His time will come..Just let him concentrate on his play,unencumbered by extra roles on the team.

[Just Jimmy]

14 hours ago, *Buzzsaw* said:

I thought it would not be till next season that Bo would really deserve the 'A'.

But it's clear for the last 10+ games, he is ready.

Henrik is the Captain till he retires... that is a given, but looking over the rest of the team, and who is taking the leadership role, there is no question Bo is the guy next to Hank and Dank who makes this team go.

It's time Bo Horvat is given an 'A'... he has shown all season, even when he was no producing offensively, that he was willing to step up, put himself on the line, take on the weight of the team on his shoulders, and inspire by example.

Time to do it Willie.

Why did you wait until the point streak to make this post...if you really believed that he has been doing an impeccable job all season, then you should've made this thread while he was struggling.