**Comparing Cody Hodgson to Claude Giroux**

[Guest Dasein]

Obviously its a best case scenario projection for Cody Hodgson but is it me or are there alot of similarities between the 2 players. Lets also get it straight. I'm NOT comparing Hodgson NOW to Giroux NOW...im saying that Hodgson in a best case scenario is on the same path as Giroux was.

[...]

p.s. just to add a little irony in my rant, Giroux's first ever NHL points came against the Canucks when he assisted on a Jeff Carter Goal.

Jesus Christ...Claude Giroux are you serious...I knew CDC would go delusional (even for its standards) eventually with Cody playing pretty well.

First of all, you're not adding a "little irony" to your rant in your postscript--you're entire post is irony in itself. You reach so far with trying to make a connection between Cody and Giroux that the fact that you call your postscript ironic is itself, ironic.

To be fair, NOBODY, and I mean NOBODY, predicted that Giroux would be as good as he is. So obviously, in that sense, there is a slight chance that Hodgson could have a Giroux-esque development and become a superstar. But for every one Claude Giroux's there are millions of NOT-Claude Giroux's (for example--Sam Gagner, Jeff Tambellini, Brendan Morrison). Cody has a significantly higher chance of not becoming anything close to Claude than the other possibility.

However, Cody certainly has the pedigree--the mentorship and the work ethic--to become a superstar in Giroux's mold. 1st--Just like Giroux, Cody plays under the tutelage of superstar players and is given time to develop his game. 2nd--Just like Giroux, Cody has incredible work ethic and to become a better player.

But we're talking about the leading scorer in the NHL here, and perhaps the best hockey player in the world right now (Crosby needs to sit his ass down--he's not even the best Penguin [Malkin] at the moment even if he was healthy). Can Cody become that? Certainly--but so can Dale Weise. Everybody has a chance, no matter how slim. That's why I hate to say it, but Cody won't become Claude Giroux.

I'd love it if he could prove me wrong, but Cody won't be as good as Claude. I see his ceiling being a PPG guy, with maybe one or two seasons above PPG. I'd be happy with a Paul Stastny-type career.

[4thlineplug]

hopefully the OP isn't seriously thinking hodgson will be as good as giroux. hodgson is a slower version of sam gagner- fair comparision IMO

[Champions of Nothing]

hopefully the OP isn't seriously thinking hodgson will be as good as giroux. hodgson is a slower version of sam gagner- fair comparision IMO

I'd say Cody is better than Sam Gagner, right now.

[carlweezer]

hopefully the OP isn't seriously thinking hodgson will be as good as giroux. hodgson is a slower version of sam gagner- fair comparision IMO

Sam Gagner??

Sam Gagner's career high is 16 goals in the 4 previous years he played...Like I said Cody is one pace for 17 goals in his ROOKIE year. Doesnt Gagner have like 3 goals in 26 games this year?

Cody Hodgson is a better player than Gagner.

[DreamHerO]

Cody Hodgson is the next hockey god. He's nicknamed "Godson" for a reason.

[B-town Canuck]

Then you are delusional and have no concept of how draft picks turn out historically. Beyond the lottery picks you are basically looking at a crap shoot as to who turns out or not.

A #10 pick historically has almost no chance to be a franchise player and would be expected to fall in the fringe NHLer to Regular (bottom of the roster) player.

Here is a story that I have posted several times before that explains it. Of course, as a delusional person I would assume that your answer would be "but Hodgson is an exception and is better than his draft position indicates!" I have heard that about every Canucks 1st rounder in the past 20 years and it doesn't tend to turn out to be true.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=282241

I have seen this story play out over and over... people have ridiculous expectations, then when reality hits they blame the player, coach, management. linemates.... pretty much anyone in the organization. Instead they should be blaming their expectations that are based on nothing but fantasy.

You are dead on. I remember thinking we were going to win the cup after Petr Nedved was drafted!

[bossram]

It's a nice timeline and there are similarities. Obviously we're all hoping in 2-3 years Cody can break out like Giroux, but I see his upside at more of a 60-70 point scoring center. He's also realistically still going to be pigeon-holed as a 3rd line center here and won't be receiving top line minutes.

That being said, we've only just scratched the surface of Hodgson's ability. He was a 10th overall pick. Giroux was selected 22nd overall so there is potential for way more. We can only wait and see what happens, but I think Cody will be a great player. So far I've liked what I've seen from Hodgson. He's not trying to do too much, is chipping in offensively and defensively and has proven to be a regular NHL player. Right now he only has to be a support player and he will grow and continue to develop.

[Provost]

You are dead on. I remember thinking we were going to win the cup after Petr Nedved was drafted!

The crazy thing is that people think I am bashing Hodgson to say that he is likely to be a 3rd line centre, or a 2nd line centre on a team that is not as stacked at the position as we are.

If he exceeds that, then great... but don't impose those unrealistic expectations on him and then, as the poster who disagreed with me stated, "consider him a bust if he does not do better:. I do not consider any non-lottery pick who makes it as an NHL regular a bust, they have done remarkably well and gone against the odds to make it that far.

He is getting a lot more quality minutes than any 3rd line centre has a right to because of us using our two top centres on the 1st unit. Anyone who gets PP minutes is going to put up some points. He sits at 8th in team scoring largely because of that (lower if you take a PPG average).

As a comparison, Hansen has zero of his points on the PP as he spends his minutes on 5 on 5 or even short-handed and he is above Hodgson in team scoring.

I am only pointing all that out to try to include facts in the conversation. Hodgson is doing fine, better than expected even... but he is not a hockey God, nor is he showing any signs of that bursting out.

[4thlineplug]

Sam Gagner??

Sam Gagner's career high is 16 goals in the 4 previous years he played...Like I said Cody is one pace for 17 goals in his ROOKIE year. Doesnt Gagner have like 3 goals in 26 games this year?

Cody Hodgson is a better player than Gagner.

umm look at point totals, gagner had a higher point total than hodgson is on pace for

[SergioMomesso]

i remember watching Giroux light it up in vancouver at the 07 Memorial Cup with the Lewiston Maniacs. I knew then he was going to be a star. Big ups to the Flyers management team to see the same thing last summer and deal away 2 key pieces in their lineup to make Giroux the "go to guy".

[Champions of Nothing]

umm look at point totals, gagner had a higher point total than hodgson is on pace for

Gagner is in his 5th year, playing a top 6 role and playing 3 more minutes a game than Hodgson. Hodgson still has more points than him right now.

Not to mention Gagner's development has pretty been stunted after a somewhat promising 1st season, which is still his career high. He has 3 goals on the year.

Cody is already a far more complete player than Gagner will ever be. Much stronger on the puck and better in his own end.

[Stizz19]

Jesus Christ...Claude Giroux are you serious...I knew CDC would go delusional (even for its standards) eventually with Cody playing pretty well.

First of all, you're not adding a "little irony" to your rant in your postscript--you're entire post is irony in itself. You reach so far with trying to make a connection between Cody and Giroux that the fact that you call your postscript ironic is itself, ironic.

To be fair, NOBODY, and I mean NOBODY, predicted that Giroux would be as good as he is. So obviously, in that sense, there is a slight chance that Hodgson could have a Giroux-esque development and become a superstar. But for every one Claude Giroux's there are millions of NOT-Claude Giroux's (for example--Sam Gagner, Jeff Tambellini, Brendan Morrison). Cody has a significantly higher chance of not becoming anything close to Claude than the other possibility.

However, Cody certainly has the pedigree--the mentorship and the work ethic--to become a superstar in Giroux's mold. 1st--Just like Giroux, Cody plays under the tutelage of superstar players and is given time to develop his game. 2nd--Just like Giroux, Cody has incredible work ethic and to become a better player.

But we're talking about the leading scorer in the NHL here, and perhaps the best hockey player in the world right now (Crosby needs to sit his ass down--he's not even the best Penguin [Malkin] at the moment even if he was healthy). Can Cody become that? Certainly--but so can Dale Weise. Everybody has a chance, no matter how slim. That's why I hate to say it, but Cody won't become Claude Giroux.

I'd love it if he could prove me wrong, but Cody won't be as good as Claude. I see his ceiling being a PPG guy, with maybe one or two seasons above PPG. I'd be happy with a Paul Stastny-type career.

You're absolutely stupid if you think Giroux is better than Crosby. Wow, just wow.

[flinty48]

Then you are delusional and have no concept of how draft picks turn out historically. Beyond the lottery picks you are basically looking at a crap shoot as to who turns out or not.

A #10 pick historically has almost no chance to be a franchise player and would be expected to fall in the fringe NHLer to Regular (bottom of the roster) player.

Here is a story that I have posted several times before that explains it. Of course, as a delusional person I would assume that your answer would be "but Hodgson is an exception and is better than his draft position indicates!" I have heard that about every Canucks 1st rounder in the past 20 years and it doesn't tend to turn out to be true.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=282241

I have seen this story play out over and over... people have ridiculous expectations, then when reality hits they blame the player, coach, management. linemates.... pretty much anyone in the organization. Instead they should be blaming their expectations that are based on nothing but fantasy.

When Hodgson was drafted the knock on him was his skating ability. I remember the "experts" on the panel saying if his skating was better he would be a top 3 pick. FYI his skating has drastically improved. I think it was Bob Mackenzie who said the Canucks got a steal getting Hodgson at 10 and the only reason he wasnt number 1 was because of his skating. No i don't have a link... but i have a memory. It was much talked about on draft day.

[Mr X]

Few things, Crosby is the best hockey player in the world. If you've ever seen him play live, you'll know what I mean. He dominates the entire game when he plays (especially in the NHL). You can tell he's the best player on either team, no matter who is in the lineup. Malkin is like Ovechkin, where he has spurts where sheer talent overwhelms the other team, but doesn't assert themselves the same way for 60 minutes. Dunno about Giroux, never seen him live, so I can't make any significant comparisons.

Okay. Back on the Hodgson bandwagon. He looks very good this season. It's not mind-boggling that he's not playing much, it's because this team is VERY deep, but he's a difference maker. His hands are outstanding, and I would argue only the Sedins are better in tight than Hodgson. He's got very good vision and is very clever with the puck. He has the tools to be a star. The Sedins and Kesler all took a few years to become legitimate superstars, but the stuff you can't teach is certainly all there for Hodgson.

[Erik Karlsson]

He reminds me of Wellwood but he's going to be a lot better.

[UFCanuck]

Hodgson's got work ethic like Kesler and the Sedins.

That alone tells me he's going to reach an elite level with the natural skill he has.

[Edler's Mind Tricks]

For the people who say that Cody can't do what Giroux is doing because of his ice time and position on the depth chart... I think you are think too far in the box.

Let's say two years down the line the sedins are 85-90 point players and Kesler is a 80 point player and because Hodgson has had a few extended stints (10 games or so) on the second/first line we know he is around a point per game player... Wouldn't it make sense to load up the first line with Sedin-Sedin-Kesler and have Hodgson center the second line? 20 minutes for the first line and 17-18 for the second line. If Hodgson is ready to be a first or second line center in the NHL it would make sense to do so; especially when your best three forwards have immense potential for chemistry.

[OncebeforeIdie]

If you watch Giroux skate you will see the difference. Not saying Hodgson doesn't have the opportunity to become a good player but watch Giroux on the powerplay and you'll see he is able to easily skate the puck into the zone like Kesler

When it comes to his skating...Cody is no Mason Raymond...that's for sure. That being said, it was not that long ago people were on the Sendins for not being that great in the skating department.

Will Cody get better with experience and confidence...sure. Will he ever develop the skill set of the Sendins...not likely. The point is that he does possess incredible vision and has already shown that he has the ability to be an amazing play maker. Good skater or not, the best is still to come.

The thing that will hurt his development is that he plays for the Canucks and won't see the top two lines as a center for many years to come (outside of an injury that is). I am glad we have him, but he is on the wrong team (or at least the right team at the wrong time) if he is to develop into a Giroux. I hope he proves me wrong!

[Champions of Nothing]

For the people who say that Cody can't do what Giroux is doing because of his ice time and position on the depth chart... I think you are think too far in the box.

Let's say two years down the line the sedins are 85-90 point players and Kesler is a 80 point player and because Hodgson has had a few extended stints (10 games or so) on the second/first line we know he is around a point per game player... Wouldn't it make sense to load up the first line with Sedin-Sedin-Kesler and have Hodgson center the second line? 20 minutes for the first line and 17-18 for the second line. If Hodgson is ready to be a first or second line center in the NHL it would make sense to do so; especially when your best three forwards have immense potential for chemistry.

It's hard to predict what things are going to be like 2-3 years from now, but in the scenario you suggested, if Burrows is still around and still a capable player, I'd rather have Hodgson play the wing with Kesler and Booth/Raymond/Hansen/Higgins/whoever is the best option at the time.

[Sedinry]

1324599363' post=10257438']

While I would love to see Hodgson be like Giroux, I just don't ever see it happening.

I can see him becoming a solid 60-70 point guy, where Giroux is going to be a perennial Art Ross contender.

Haha you guys are all amateurs. Let me ask you something genius, in the Sedins rookie year, hell within their first 5 years, did you think they wold be putting up 90-110+ PTs per year? (Going on 4 years post-lockout) and winning Art Ross' (I'm going for a Sedin to win this year too.)

My guess is going to be you would've said a fat NO.

Cody can do what he wants if he puts the work into it like he is now. He has amazing skill and hands, just like the Sedins, and has ever chance to be an Art Ross candidate.