Bo Horvat responds to the jersey throwing controversy.

The Vancouver Canucks fan base expressed their displeasure at the team's rather poor start to the 2022-23 National Hockey League regular season on Saturday night at Rogers Arena, during the Canucks' very first home game of the season. Not only were the Canucks treated to a chorus of boos during what would prove to be their 6th straight loss to start the season, but there were several incidents of fans throwing their jerseys onto the ice during the course of the game.

The morale from the Canucks' players themselves did not appear to be much better either, with the team seemingly breaking down right in front of their home crowd. At the end of the second period teammates Luke Schenn and J.T. Miller could be seen engaging in a heated argument, one that was intense enough that Conor Garland felt it best to seperate the two men before things went too far.

It was an ugly situation all around for the Canucks, but much to the credit of Canucks captain Bo Horvat he tackled the issue head on when he was asked about the jersey throwing following the game. Although Horvat admitted that he has been hurt at times by the gesture, he found it impossible to blame fans given the current state of the team.

"My jersey got thrown on the ice last year and I'll never forget that for as long as I play," admitted Horvat as per Sportsnet. "It's something that hits home, and when you see it again happening this year, it definitely sucks. But I understand their frustration."

While taking ownership of a situation like this is exactly what you would expect of an NHL captain, Horvat would go even further than that with his comments. The Canucks captain went on to reveal just how desperate the feeling is currently in the Canucks locker room just 6 games into the season.

"We haven't really given them much to cheer about," said Horvat. "It's been a lot of years in the rebuild stage and. . . at this point in the season, it just feels like it's never going to happen, like we’re never going to win again."