Photo Credit: Kirby Lee / USA TODAY Sports

With just four games remaining on
their 2015-16 schedule, the end is near for the Vancouver Canucks. Bo
Horvat, however, isn’t ready to call it a season just yet. 

For a while now the Canucks
have been resigned to the fact they won’t be part of the Stanley Cup playoffs this
spring, but Horvat is holding out hope there is hockey to be played
and he’s prepared to answer the call of his country should he be selected for
Team Canada at the upcoming World Hockey Championship in Russia.

Horvat hasn’t been contacted by
Hockey Canada, but invitations will be going out shortly and the Canucks centre
would love the chance to extend his season and wear his country’s colours. This
year’s tournament runs May 6th to 22nd in both Moscow and
St. Petersburg and Canada has an intriguing opening match-up against Auston
Matthews and Team USA.

“Oh for sure,” Horvat says when
asked about his interest in stepping onto the world stage for the first time at
this level. “Anytime you get an opportunity to play as much hockey as you can,
especially when you’re not making the playoffs, that’s an invitation you can’t
refuse.”

While his second tour of duty in
the NHL has been a disappointing one from a team perspective, Horvat has had
his moments offensively in the second half of the season and seems to be
finding his scoring touch with the finish line in sight. He scored similar looking
goals on back to back nights in San Jose and Anaheim getting in behind the
defense and flashing the finish needed to collect his 13th and 14th
goals of the season – the second of the two eclipsing his rookie total. A
continued push over the final week of the season could bolster his chances for
a spot on the Team Canada roster.

Due to injuries further up the Canucks lineup, Horvat, who turns
21 on Tuesday, has been overmatched on most nights this season playing a more expansive and difficult role than he ought to have. It has led to a lot of long nights
defensively. That shouldn’t be an issue on the national team where he would almost
certainly be utilized as a bottom six forward who could take face-offs and potentially
see some penalty killing duty.

In a World Cup year where big
name National Hockey League stars are likely to take a pass on next month’s
tournament to save themselves for September, it may open spots for younger players
like Horvat. Then again, players not named to the preliminary lists for the World
Cup may elect to use the World Championship to bolster their chances for
inclusion in the fall event. Either way, the decision is out of Horvat’s hands. The fact that he has a solid history with Hockey Canada’s program of excellence
can only help his chances though.

“Any time you get to represent
your country and put on that Canadian jersey it’s definitely an honour and
something I love doing,” he says. “I played the U-18 and World Juniors, so
playing in the World Championships would be a lot of fun.”

Horvat, who has never been to
Russia, knows co-general managers Brad Treliving and George McPhee will have
plenty of options when selecting the roster of players to defend the gold medal
Team Canada won last year in the Czech Republic. He may be a longshot at this
point, but he hopes he’s on their radar and is keeping his fingers crossed and his
phone handy in case he gets the call.

 “I’m not sure when they start approaching guys
or asking guys to go, but right now I haven’t been told anything,” he says. “If
I do get the opportunity it should be a lot of fun.”

Two of Horvat’s Canucks teammates
merit consideration for Team Canada’s roster, too. Defensemen Dan Hamhuis, who
was part of the group that struck gold at last year’s Worlds (and at the 2014
Sochi Olympics), and Chris Tanev should certainly get a look from the Hockey
Canada brass. The first wave of players should be named to the roster in the next week to 10 days.