Bo Horvat's former teammate encourages Canucks fans to boo him in his return

A former teammate of Bo Horvat hopes Vancouver Canucks fans give their ex-captain a hard time in his return to Vancouver on Wednesday night.

Jannik Hansen, Horvat’s teammate with the Canucks from 2014-15 to 2016-17, spoke in solidarity with Canucks faithful during a hit on The People’s Show on Sportsnet 650 Tuesday evening.

“I hope they give him the best of both worlds. You boo him when they touch the puck and you make the building phenomenally loud when things go your way. And then you can kind of shove it in his face, right back at him, if you will,” Hansen said.

Horvat, 28, spent the first nine years of his career with Vancouver before being traded to the New York Islanders ahead of last year's trade deadline.

While Horvat, the team's captain before his departure, was beloved during his time with the organization, he irked Canucks fans with a post-game quip he had after a win with the Islanders in April.

“It’s a lot better than Vancouver, I’ll tell you that for free,” Horvat said.

Hansen had some strong feelings about those comments.

“It was a slap in the face to Vancouver faithful, that’s for sure,” Hansen said.

Horvat, who walked back the comments a few days after initially making them, made it clear in an interview with Newsday that his remarks were not directed at Vancouver fans.

“I was just more upset how everything went down last year.”

Canucks captain Quinn Hughes told reporters after practice Tuesday that he believes Horvat should be celebrated on Wednesday night.

“He put in nine really good years here and was really solid and never complained,” Hughes said. “He was a great leader. He put in his work and was someone that everyone could go to if they needed to talk to someone. It wasn’t always easy, but he always stepped right in front of it.”