Bo Horvat causes another John Scott controversy at All-Star Game

The National Hockey League has confirmed that, despite being traded by the Vancouver Canucks to the New York Islanders in return for Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Raty and a protected 2023 first-round draft pick, Bo Horvat will till be going to the All-Star Game.

But he will look out of place, especially with NHL Bill Daly’s latest statement:

“[Horvat] will be representing the Pacific Division,” said Daly in an email. “All club identifiers and intellectual property will reflect his current affiliation with the NY Islanders.”

This has John Scott written all over. You may remember back at the 2016 All-Star Game after winning a fan vote, Scott was traded from the Arizona Coyotes to the Montreal Canadiens and only public pressure forced the NHL to put him back in the game, where he still represented the Pacific Division. Scott ended up taking part in the Skills Competition wearing a generic All-Star jersey with no patch indicating team affiliation.

Horvat has yet to play a game with the Islanders who were already on a break when the trade took place Monday. He will be wearing an Islanders jersey at All-Star Weekend before ever playing a single game for New York. He will be putting his new number 14, that he will wear as an Islander instead of his familiar number 53.

Only in the NHL you get that kind of weird situation… To make things possibly more heartbreaking for Horvat, he and his wife Holly recently told Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre that they had custom All-Star Game jean jackets made for their two kids with the Canucks logo on them.

“The whole family is going, mom and dad and in-laws too and my kids,” Horvat said. “So, we’ll have a fun weekend.”

And then it’ll be back to busy in a new uniform. A real one that is, the Islanders in the Metropolitan Division.

Recommended articles:

• Bruins’ trade plans fall through, force new strategy in Boston
• Another trade already in the works in Vancouver?
• Trade fell through before Bo Horvat was moved to Islanders
• Report: Islanders negotiating long-term deal with Horvat
• Report: Canucks could have gotten more for Horvat, failed to listen to all offers