“Is jealous the right word?” I asked.

“Definitely,” he replied.

Bo Horvat gets jealous and he’s not too cool to admit it.

The NHL playoffs begin April 13th and the Canucks won’t be taking part. You’re not happy about that and neither are the players. But will you still watch as 16 teams fight for the honour of hoisting the Stanley Cup?

Horvat won’t.

Last season at this time the Canucks were heading to the playoffs and the only thing to be decided was who they’d face. Horvat came down with a severe case of Scoreboarditis [skore-board-it-is], a condition featuring acute or chronic inflammation of the inquisitive lining of the mind.

Sufferers lack focus due to excessive time spent on their phones and other devices updating NHL scores. It got so bad for Horvat, he was checking scores of other on-going games between periods of his own games. He wanted to know every goal scored by every team, as it happened.

This season, not so much.

Horvat said unless the playoffs happen to be on where is, say at a restaurant or at a friend’s house, he won’t tune in. Watching others compete for hockey’s ultimate prize, while he’s on the sidelines, doesn’t make for appointment viewing.

“I’m getting angry just thinking about it,” he said, following morning skate in San Jose Thursday. “I’m definitely jealous of everyone who makes the playoffs. It’s such a different experience. I got a taste of it last year, so this is tough.”

It’s difficult for youngsters and veterans alike.

For the first time since 1970, all seven Canadian NHL teams will miss the Stanley Cup playoffs. For Alex Burrows, this means there will be no extended run for the Montreal Canadiens when he returns home to Montreal this summer.

He’s okay with that.

“My buddies always get all over me when I’m home and the Habs start looking like they could win it all,” laughed Burrows. “It sucks for Canadian hockey fans that there’s no Canadian teams in, but it makes no difference to me. I’ll watch it if it’s on, but I’m not putting any games on.

“When the Cup is handed out, 28 other teams are going to feel like we do. This wasn’t the best season for us, but if you’re not first, there’s not much you can say.”

Chris Higgins was blunt about his plans for watching the playoffs.

“I won’t be,” he said, matter-of-factly. “Hockey is all we do, so if we’re not competing for the Cup, I don’t care.”

Basketball? Baseball? Soccer? Fuller House?!

“I’ll be outdoors, enjoying Vancouver as much as possible.”

Can’t argue with that.

*****

Will you be watching the NHL playoffs? If so, how do you choose who to cheer for if the Canucks are out and there’s no Canadian team to fall back on?

I won’t be. I actually cancel my cable in the summer and do anything but watch hockey.

That being said, if I had to lend my support to anyone it would be the Florida Panthers. The image of Jagr and Luongo hoisting the Cup together would be something.

Or maybe no one wins it this year and it carries over to next year and the Canucks win it and they are awarded two Cups?

Here’s to wishful thinking!

Derek (@NoJoryous)

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