Canucks’ Bo Horvat nominated for King Clancy trophy

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Bo Horvat has been nominated by the Vancouver Canucks for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, in recognition of his community work.

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The trophy, named in honor of Clancy, who played in the NHL from 1921 until 1937, then worked around the league until 1986 as referee, coach, manager and ambassador, has been presented since 1988 “to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”

Players are nominated by their teams. The winner is chosen by a committee of NHL executives, headed by Commission Gary Bettman. The winner is based on an assessment of engaging and influencing others in making a clear and measurable positive impact on the community, investing time and resources, being committed to a particular cause or community as well as the league’s own community initiatives and being creative in doing all this.

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The first-place finisher will receive a $25,000 donation to benefit a charity or charities of his choice. The two runners-up each will receive a $5,000 donation to benefit a charity or charities of their choice.

Horvat has become quite outspoken in recent years about social justice issues. He was a big driving force in the NHL players’ protest in support of Black Lives Matter in the summer of 2020. Last year he expressed support more than once for the Every Child Matters movement, acknowledging the damage that Canada’s residential school system inflicted on Indigenous communities.

Horvat told Postmedia last fall that he believed it was vital that he keeps talking about injustice, to lend the power of his voice as a community leader to important social causes. The world won’t get better without doing so, he said.

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“I think it’s important for me as the face of the Canucks, I have a following and to get the message out there,” Horvat said about addressing difficult issues. “It’s been tough to talk about. You have to be very careful and you have to say the right things and say it in a manner to get your point across, but you can’t be rude about it or anything like that. So I mean it’s been challenging that way, but I’ve just been learning.”

Last fall, North Vancouver teacher Brad Baker commended Horvat for his willingness to speak out. Baker is a member of the Squamish nation and worked for the North Vancouver school district for many years as director of Indigenous education. He’s currently seconded to the Ministry of Education as executive director of Indigenous education.

“That is showing vulnerability and humility,” Baker said. “That is so important as we move forward. It means so much to me and my father, a residential school survivor, to hear individuals like Bo speak about the importance of Vancouverites gaining knowledge of our shared difficult history regarding residential schools.”

Last summer Horvat spoke out against hate crimes after a terrible and deadly attack against a Muslim family in his hometown of London, Ont.

And this spring, I have joined an initiative to end hateful anti-LGBTQ2+ language in hockey as well as support for a local LGBTQ2+ hockey team.

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Three Canucks have been recognized with the award: Trevor Linden in 1997, Henrik Sedin in 2016, and then Henrik along with his brother Daniel in 2018.