[ballsdeepfreeze]

As a long standing Canuck fan of over 20 years, I have never really payed much attention to our prospect system as I have been this year. Maybe it is the fact that we finally have some promising talent on the farm and in the Juniors -- so it is exciting for once, but I have been checking stats of these youngsters as often as I have been most Canucks.

As for Cody, I have usually checked his game stats after most every game he has played so far this year and from the get go after being assigned to the Battalion, I was content but not overly ecstatic with his play. With all of the talk around the draft table in late June, I was expecting this kid to just completely run away from the pack if he had been sent down to the OHL and he hadn't shown any signs of this until very recently. Last night he posted a 4 goal, 5 point night, and the previous game against Guelph had a Hat-trick. Like I said, there had been a lot of talk about how good Cody was and how he was going to be a real great asset for this team, but I am finally beginning to see that this kid could be one hell of an unreal pick at 10th overall and should silence any Kyle Beech critics still out there.

I really like like a handful of players for us that are not in the NHL right now, so much so that I truly believe that Cory Schneider is going to be our starter over Luongo. Call me crazy, but I know some of you haters will be convinced otherwise in the near future. Needless to say, I am really high on Schneider's talent, development thus far, and potential as a franchise goalie, but I am becoming even more excited about Hodgson. It is great to hear about a good young leader, with a great head on his shoulders, but when you can have that and a kid who is a great point producer all in one, that is something special. I am sure I am not the only one excited about Cody, but it sure will be nice to have a young face around that could be a Joe Sakic, or Steve Yzerman type player for us for the next 20 years, not just point-wise, but as a real character leader that can also score big goals for the team.

EDIT:
Since this thread has turned into a dedicated only Cody thread, a member suggested I add his stats from all of his three years in the OHL up to date (March 15, 2009):

Cody Hodgson's career OHL stats:

-First year: 23 goals, 23 assists for 46 points in 63 games (Brampton/OHL)
1 goal, 3 assists for 4 points in 4 games (Brampton/OHL playoffs)
-Second year: 40 goals, 45 assists for 85 points in 68 games (Brampton/OHL) *39 point increase over previous year, 17th in OHL scoring
1 goal in 1 game (Eastern All-Star/OHL)
5 goals in 5 games (Brampton/OHL playoffs) *1 point increase over previous year
-Third year: 43 goals and 49 assists for 92 points in 53 games (Brampton/OHL) *7 point increase over previous year, missed 15 games, 4th in OHL scoring
3 goals and 1 assists for 4 points in 1 game (Eastern All-Star/OHL) *3 point increase over previous year

This post has been edited by ballsdeepfreeze: 15 March 2009 - 03:58 PM

[cocanuck]

It is a little early but I agree with you that hodgson looks like a very nice player indeed! He is quite a prospect which is definately something to get excited about. He, with Schneider gives the team a couple of very solid building blocks for the future.

[The_Analyst]

The key to this, is that in 2 years time, IF Luongo is not re-signed we have Schnieder
The team's average age is going to drop dramatically almost to the point of Pheonix.

I think Gillis, the Coaching staff and scouts have the formula right, We should be competitive for a long time, and with the young players to do it in the salary cap world.

[JLARO]

Yea he's looking great. Even had a fight!

11G 7A 18 points in only 10 games. Very solid.


-3 worries me, but that could be for a number of reasons.

[TOMapleLaughs]

He's out-performing Tavares in pts/game so far this season. 1.8 to 1.5 Meanwhile, Beach has 1.2

Good to see.

[Puckster]

The -3 i suspect is the direct result of his Penalty minutes. opposition scores while he is cooling his heels in the Box.

[Hodgson19]

TOMapleLaughs, on Nov 7 2008, 10:33 AM, said:

He's out-performing Tavares in pts/game so far this season. 1.8 to 1.5 Meanwhile, Beach has 1.2

Good to see.

I don't follow Tavares or Beach so I don't know how good their linemates are but Hodgson doesn't play with the most offensively gifted wingers so that makes his PPG ratio more impressive so far.

Battalion fans say that their team has serious depth issues once you take away Hodgson, Duchene, Grachev and Foote. So the pressure for Hodgson to perform is huge if the team wants to go anywhere.

[Captain Lecavalier]

Wasn't he suspended for a couple games to?

[TOMapleLaughs]

He's also the only big-name player in junior to have more goals than games played right now. With 11 in 10. He just scored his first junior hat-trick the other day. And then the 4 goal game... (Is he streaky?)

But why was he out so long? I heard he got suspended. But was he hurt as well?

This post has been edited by TOMapleLaughs: 07 November 2008 - 11:41 AM

[Captain Lecavalier]

TOMapleLaughs, on Nov 7 2008, 06:39 PM, said:

He's also the only big-name player in junior to have more goals than games played right now. With 11 in 10. He just scored his first junior hat-trick the other day.

But why was he out so long? I heard he got suspended. But was he hurt as well?

He got in a fight with some guy thats all i know for his suspension

[Spyderr]

Puckster, on Nov 7 2008, 11:35 AM, said:

The -3 i suspect is the direct result of his Penalty minutes. opposition scores while he is cooling his heels in the Box.

Plus/Minus doesnt get effected when on the pk or pp

[ballsdeepfreeze]

Grabner M40, on Nov 7 2008, 12:37 PM, said:

I don't follow Tavares or Beach so I don't know how good their linemates are but Hodgson doesn't play with the most offensively gifted wingers so that makes his PPG ratio more impressive so far.

Battalion fans say that their team has serious depth issues once you take away Hodgson, Duchene, Grachev and Foote. So the pressure for Hodgson to perform is huge if the team wants to go anywhere.

I think Duchene and Grachev play alot together and Hodgson doesn't play with them unless on the PP. Also, yeah he doesn't really have any good winger to play with unless he plays with them 2 on the PP.

On another note, I think the +/- is not so good because they have had some goaltending problems with Killeen and their initial backup Foote, who may have now taken over as starter. But goaltending has been shaky at best and I think Hodgson has not much to work with on his line, which I must say if he is doing this well with no good wingers then I am REALLY impressed!

This post has been edited by ballsdeepfreeze: 07 November 2008 - 11:48 AM

[LandonAuger]

The_Analyst, on Nov 7 2008, 10:20 AM, said:

The key to this, is that in 2 years time, IF Luongo is not re-signed we have Schnieder
The team's average age is going to drop dramatically almost to the point of Pheonix.

I think Gillis, the Coaching staff and scouts have the formula right, We should be competitive for a long time, and with the young players to do it in the salary cap world.

not sure how Scheider feels about waiting 2 more years in the AHL... the kid seems NHL ready now

[Hodgson19]

ballsdeepfreeze, on Nov 7 2008, 10:45 AM, said:

I think Duchene and Grachev play alot together and Hodgson doesn't play with them unless on the PP. Also, yeah he doesn't really have any good winger to play with unless he plays with them 2 on the PP.

On another note, I think the +/- is not so good because they have had some goaltending problems with Killeen and their initial backup Foote, who may have now taken over as starter. But goaltending has been shaky at best and I think Hodgson has not much to work with on his line, which I must say if he is doing this well with no good wingers then I am REALLY impressed!

Ya I think he plays the point on the 1st unit PP. I wonder what he could do if he used as the PP QB along the halfboards where he probably specializes in. Too bad the depth on the team is too weak to allow him to play up front.

I don't think Schneider will mind waiting 2 years. This year he'll play an entire year in the AHL and be Roberto's back up next season and play 10-12 games.

This post has been edited by Grabner M40: 07 November 2008 - 12:00 PM

[Doctor Canuck]

Hopefully he can not only be offensively gifted at the NHL level but he can continue in Smyl and Linden's footsteps in terms of leadership.

This post has been edited by Doctor Canuck: 07 November 2008 - 12:02 PM

[Hodgson19]

Doctor Canuck, on Nov 7 2008, 11:01 AM, said:

Hopefully he can not only be offensively gifted at the NHL level but he can continue in Smyl and Linden's footsteps in terms of leadership.

No disrespect to Linden and Smyl both who are great leaders but lets hope he turns out to be Yzerman or Sakic in terms of the total package .

[knuckered]

VanIsleNucks, on Nov 7 2008, 11:56 AM, said:

not sure how Scheider feels about waiting 2 more years in the AHL... the kid seems NHL ready now

It is quite possible that Schneider could finish the 08/09 season in the AHL and then start the 09/10 season with the Canucks as Luongo's back-up. That would mean he has less than one year left on the farm team. He also doesn't have much say in the manner so how he feels about it should be inconsequential.

[chassie]

Captain Lecavalier, on Nov 7 2008, 10:41 AM, said:

He got in a fight with some guy thats all i know for his suspension

it does if they score when he has the PP

[elvis15]

Hodgson and Schneider are both very big building blocks on this team's future. It looks like a good one if the current and future supporting cast can stay as solid. Schneider has said he is okay with his development schedule this year but expect him to want to play next year, and I'm sure he'd prefer more than 10-12 games to show he's capable.

[Glory Days]

Yah I concur with most of your thoughts I would like to see CS as our starter as well soon but with Luongo and the C now and the changes made in style of play I believe RL will be signing longterm here and CS will need to be moved.

As for CH I would have loved to see him make the team this year but next year I am sure his NHL career will begin and be a long good one with a few Cups for the Canucks finally if the club keeps heading in the right direction.