He was out of touch and this whole 8-game sequence totally burned him mentally. Horvat was looking for answers and it turned out to be his veteran teammate Luke Schenn that sent him in the right direction.
Now retired, a legend of the NHL's past, whose power play tactics along with his skills development techniques and high-end player development strategist, Adam Oates, got Horvat back on track.
Schenn had previously used Oates' services to retrieve his groove when he was demoted to the AHL just a few years back and spoke highly of him to his team's captain.
The rest is history, the two immediately connected, and Horvat then grew into the prolific scorer he is today. His offensive game perpetually grew and made him one of the league's most efficient ''bumper'' on the man advantage. Horvat has now mastered the ability to identify the soft spots in the opposing's team coverage.
With Oates' help, Horvat could've reached the 40-goal barrier in the 2021-2022 campaign had he not missed 12 games due to COVID-19 protocol and an injury.
The question that remains up to this point: is Horvat going to keep finding the back of the net as much once he signs his new contract?
SOURCE: The Athletic
POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 26 | 181 ANSWERS WOW: Story on how an NHL legend helped Horvat fix his game Can Horvat hit the 40-goal mark? | ||
Yes | 165 | 91.2 % |
No | 16 | 8.8 % |
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