Vancouver Canucks

Taking Your Lumps

Note: For those of you who don’t know yet, Derek Jory has been kind enough to invite me to blog at www.forums.canucks.com and I have accepted. The two blogs will be essentially the same and both will still be updated and accessible to readers. Feel free to comment on either, both, or neither.

It shouldn’t surprise anybody that Cody Hodgson was named to the shortlist for Canada’s World Junior squad. The Brampton Battalion star was a late cut from the Canucks’ training camp this year after suffering a bulging disc (he played more than 100 games last year) and had trouble keeping up with the NHL speed. A favourite to make the team, no one took the demotion harder than Hodgson himself, but as per usual he remained humble and took his lumps.

In my mind, and I’m legitimately putting my Canucks bias here aside, Hodgson should have been the MVP of the tournament last year. No one else on the Canadian roster was counted on as much as he did and he played in all situations, unlike John Tavares who really made his mark on the powerplay and a couple highlight reel goals. Let’s not take anything away from Tavares though - he’s a good (not great… yet) goalscorer and he’s one of the favourites to win the Calder as the league’s top rookie. Purely based on Hodgson’s play last year, including winning the OHL Player of the Year Award, his invite was a no-brainer. That being said, head coach Willie Desjardins still really doesn’t have an idea of how healthy Hodgson is - it’s been a little over two months since he has hit the ice. He’s been cleared for contact at practise but he’ll be playing against CHL players that have already at least 25 games under their belts. Brad Pascall of Hockey Canada believes that Hodgson will be healthy by the start of camp.

Considering that Hodgson isn’t 100% healthy (neither confirmed nor denied, but let’s assume the worst) or played any games for Brampton this year, and despite his immense talent and hockey smarts, it may not be surprising to some if he his left off the team. The World Juniors is an intense tournament and as demonstrated last year in the Canada-USA tilt it can get pretty physical. Hodgson will no doubt be a guy that opposing defensemen will be keeping an eye on, so it should be more than just a hockey decision to include Hodgson. By playing he risks further injury from an already delayed rehab and I can’t help but think that the Brampton Battalion and the Canucks would be a little concerned.

If Hodgson is ultimately cut, something I have my doubts about but wouldn’t completely shock me, it may be a blessing in disguise. As highly touted as Hodgson is, this year has been an ultimate test of his character and drive. Thus far he has impressed everyone with the way he has carried himself, especially compared to the “defection” of Nikita Filatov and the Kostitsyn brothers drama in Montreal. His demotion to Brampton was admittedly hard to take, but he understood the decision and lived with it. As Ottawa 67’s head coach Chris Byrne said to Tyler Cuma, who was not named to the 36-player roster, it doesn’t mean they’re not going to be great players in the NHL. Either way, if Hodgson makes the squad he’s the odds-on favourite to be named captain and play an essential role for Desjardins. If he gets cut and he doesn’t beat himself up too much over it, he is going to get stronger mentally and as any transitioning CHL to NHL player will tell you, that’s as valuable, if not more, than being able to compete at the NHL level skill-wise.