Team Canada's silver medal in Milan fuels Islanders forward Bo Horvat's drive. He calls the Olympics his "coolest experience," now bringing that Olympic fire to his team.
New York Islanders forward Bo Horvat had dreamed of representing Team Canada at the Winter Olympics since he was a young kid.
At the age of 30, the London, Ontario native got to live out that dream, coming away with a silver medal with Canada at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan.
It was an experience he will never forget.
All quotes were courtesy of the New York Islanders.
“I mean, it was by far the coolest experience I've ever had in my life, in my career," Horvat told reporters in Montreal. I'm just so grateful to be able to say that I was there and be a part of that team, and that experience was just something I'll never forget. I'm happy that my family and everybody were there with me to experience it as well. But you know, it's good to be back here and get back on the swing of things.”
Horvat recorded two goals in six Olympic games, skating on the fourth line.
How much will the gold-medal loss impact him from a desire to win standpoint?
“For sure. I mean, being a part of that is right up there with wearing a Stanley Cup and being a part of that," Horvat said. "Obviously, it's not the outcome we wanted and it's those things and but just to be there and to represent your country at that big of a stage was a dream come true for me, and it just makes you want to win and come back here and push for Stanley Cup."
Horvat certainly felt the support.
“Yeah, pretty much everybody reached out at some point," Horvat said. "I felt the support from teammates, from family members, from everybody. You don't realize how big an impact the Olympics, being on Team Canada, and everything else have back home. Then you see, like, the bars opening at 6 am and people going to watch parties and stuff like that, so it's really cool to see."
When we spoke with head coach Patrick Roy on Long Island, he told us how hard it was for him when he and Team Canada failed to medal. He reiterated that after speaking with Horvat.
"When I came back from Nagano, I should have taken care of my mental side a little more," Roy said. "I said, we'll be there for you & we'll help you. If you need a break here & there from practices & stuff like this, we'll be more than happy to support him on that."
Now, back with the Islanders, Horvat is looking to use what he learned from his Olympic experience to help his team remain in a playoff spot with 24 games to go.
"I'm super happy and super proud of what we accomplished there, not only as a team, but personally. We would love to come home with a gold medal. And I think everybody in that room is so proud of how we played and how we represented that obviously. It stings, for sure, at this moment, but at the same time, I think we should be proud of how we handled ourselves and how we played. I'm going to take that back coming here for the Islanders, play with confidence, maybe have a little chip on my shoulder for the rest of the year, and try to help this team win and get to the playoffs, and ultimately, fight for a Stanley Cup."