Great Pitb Article Regarding "the Trade"

[Vancanwincup]

I am happy with Pahlsson, but we didn't need to replace Hodgson with anyone.

Sedin - Sedin - Burrows

Higgins - Kesler- Booth

Hansen - Hodgson - Raymond

Malhotra - Pahlsson - Lapierre

Bitz

That is a perfectly fine lineup without this stupid trade. Kassian has done little to nothing for our team so far, he really hasn't been a top-6 forward or even a good fit on our 3rd line and Gragnani has been IMO our worst defenceman positionally and in his own zone. Some lovely passes and a great 1st goal, but he was the sole reason for 2 of the goals Luongo gave up last game and didn't get enough of the blame for a pathetic effort to block a cross-crease pass.

[pimpcurtly]

Well done W&S

My belief is if you don't understand what happened at the trade deadline you are too stupid to have a discussion with.

[Cody9]

WOW! Lots said and I still can't believe the TRADE even happened.

Lets see now - Hodgson was injured, diagnosed incorrectly here, was sent to Manitoba to "get better", then had to have surgery and finally had his first real year in Vancouver. Was the first star one week and then put on the fourth line the next. He was never really given a chance here so if he wanted out, I certainly don't blame him.

AND I will certainly miss what just might have been. I hope he sooner rather than later becomes a SUPER STAR that I think he can be. Good Luck Cody but just keep the comparisons coming and we shall see . . .

[Canuck Surfer]

I read the article. It was addressed earlier when, and you can quote me, I said "Bull Cookies," Hodgson is not a defensive liability.

Calling him a liability is bagging him to try and win support for a bad trade. Nothing more! He was a plus player here, and is considered a two way center.

Look, I have not watched all of Buffalo's games, its hard to comment. But trading him has not addressed our needs. It was billed as providing a big fast body to counter act physical match ups we may have difficulty with, plus someone who can be an enforcer. Ok, it could be that. But Kassian has not been as good as Bitz, so what was the point? Maybe next year Kass will succeed Bitz, but who cares right now!

What we really needed was that match up equalizer as a big physical right side D guy, and MAG is not that, nor has he been impressive either. Our right side depth chart is Bieksa, Salo, Tanev & then we play any combination of left side guys out of position; Alberts, Ballard, MAG, Rome. None of them look comfortable on that side, so we become very vulnerable slotting a guy in as soon as Salo or another guy goes down. Also consider our physical play. Only Edler throws big checks, but he does not move bodies in front of the net. Only Hamhuis (who is mid sized) seems to be able to battle guys & only Rome amongst our depth guys offers a little of both. We are neither a physically punishing defensive team nor do we have the right guy for right side depth. Add it up; and game plan A should be to send waves of big fast fore-checkers to hammer our D, and park a Byflugien style guy in front of our net on the PP. We have seen it in the past 3 years, it has been our down fall each of the past three years, and we have not addressed it yet.

So if we did not address any of our most critical needs; what was the point of giving up our best young asset?

These Posts that insult our intelligence by calling us bad fans for not kissing Kassian's tail are what's annoying. I am cheering for him now that he is a Canuck. But call a spade a spade; the trade sulks!

So... nobody read the article?

I'm not seeing anyone comment in defense of Cody being on the ice for 41% of the Sabres goals against. People are claiming he was good defensively without addressing this.

[nuck nit]

Hodson was made expedient by the availability of Pahlsson.

Hodson was traded for Kassian.

The Canucks gave up Sulzer for Gragnani.

THere are some very confused posters here.

I agree with TO,the Nucks had Pahlsson,why not let Cody ride the pine as scoring depth?

Giving up Sulzer for Gragani looks wacky right now.

Zach has a lot of upside so I guess the trade for Cody was ok on paper.

Cody was far more developed than Zach is so the timing was bizarre.

I guess they project Zach as a sure fire top six power forward down the road a few years.

[Ray_Cathode]

No doubt Hodgson has defensive issues. Pahlsson will show his worth in the playoffs, I think this trade is better than I originally thought.

[Brockbuster]

I agree, but Hodgson should of got us more than Kassian.

[Slegr]

What I find disturbing is Kassian's injury. If it's a shoulder problem, like dislocation, that kind of thing always comes back. If he's supposed to be some feared power forward who hits hard, but his shoulder is messed, where does that leave things?

[uber_pwnzor]

Why do some people keep posting kassian is not NHL ready, he as NHL ready as he ever going to get he just needs NHL experience. Sending him down to the minors is not going to make him anymore NHL ready. How hard is it to see the difference between NHL readiness and lack of experience at the NHL level and team experience.

Everyone is sad to see Cody go. The trade was more than just a team needs trade, it was also a chance to give both Cody and Kassian a better chance at success. Cody goes to a team that will give him the ice time he deserves at the position he is natural at. kassian goes to a team in need of a young powerforward that will develope him into the player they want.

Unlike the players before him, like Pyatt and Bernier, kassian come with very little NHL experience and can be developed the way the team wants and not some other teams developement of him.

[Pride]

WOW! Lots said and I still can't believe the TRADE even happened.

Lets see now - Hodgson was injured, diagnosed incorrectly here, was sent to Manitoba to "get better", then had to have surgery and finally had his first real year in Vancouver. Was the first star one week and then put on the fourth line the next. He was never really given a chance here so if he wanted out, I certainly don't blame him.

AND I will certainly miss what just might have been. I hope he sooner rather than later becomes a SUPER STAR that I think he can be. Good Luck Cody but just keep the comparisons coming and we shall see . . .

[ice orca]

WOW!  Lots said and I still can't believe the TRADE even happened.  

Lets see now - Hodgson was injured, diagnosed incorrectly here, was sent to Manitoba to "get better", then had to have surgery and finally had his first real year in Vancouver.  Was the first star one week and then put on the fourth line the next.  He was never really given a chance here so if he wanted out, I certainly don't blame him.

AND I will certainly miss what just might have been.  I hope he sooner rather than later becomes a SUPER STAR that I think he can be.  Good Luck Cody but just keep the comparisons coming and we shall see . . .

[SimplyHockey]

<p>

Why do some people keep posting kassian is not NHL ready, he as NHL ready as he ever going to get he just needs NHL experience. Sending him down to the minors is not going to make him anymore NHL ready. How hard is it to see the difference between NHL readiness and lack of experience at the NHL level and team experience.

Everyone is sad to see Cody go. The trade was more than just a team needs trade, it was also a chance to give both Cody and Kassian a better chance at success. Cody goes to a team that will give him the ice time he deserves at the position he is natural at. kassian goes to a team in need of a young powerforward that will develope him into the player they want.

Unlike the players before him, like Pyatt and Bernier, kassian come with very little NHL experience and can be developed the way the team wants and not some other teams developement of him.

[TotesMagotes]

I think once the playoffs start and Pahlsson is that steady defensive bull we all know he can be, people will understand why he replaced Hodgson on the 3rd line.

He is like the Hamhuis of our forward group.

[Millerdraft]

Lets start here: Calling Hodgson a defensive liability is absolute BULL COOKIES. He is sound positionally, patrols the passing lanes (remember him stealing the puck to create the game winning goal in Detroit) and has a knack for positive puck possession. Teams dont score when you have the puck. In junior, including at the WJC's, Hodgson (not Tavares, not Stamkos) was the guy who took defensive draws, killed penalties & played the two way role. And he won that role, they gave him a crack because Tavares was going to be the lead offensive center. From that role, he outplayed other teams top lines, and still led the WJC's in scoring! He was also the OHL player voted by coaches as the best penalty killer. Name calling, and justification needs to be removed from the argument because its not true.

[Uller34]

bottome line....cody was the best player on the ice most nights for the last month before the trade....after the trade....our pk really began ti stink it up...good trade yes..but a before the draft dont mess with the chemistry before run trade.....all things are still possibel with stanley...but any numbnut realizes on paper and productivity..we better before the trade

[Cristalinastar]

Well done W&S

My belief is if you don't understand what happened at the trade deadline you are too

stupid to have a discussion with.

[Edler's Mind Tricks]

People on here are so confident in their knowledge; and sometimes they are hilariously wrong. So AV doesnt like rookies... That's why he gave Hodgson so little ice time! Not cause there are only so many protected minutes and because Hodgson couldn't defend against top lines... Nah... Wouldn't the dream scenario to develop an offensive prospect be to keep the pressure off (not top six) but still give him decent line mates, give him matchups that he can win which will instill in him the confidence that he can perform at a high level in this league (which he did), and to not give him tough or too many minutes which would tire him out and increase the chance of him hitting the "wall" later in the season? Nah...

The fact that he left here at +8 and went -8 (up until yesterday) couldn't prove any of that.

And none of the same principals could apply to Kassian who is obviously less fit then the rest of the Canucks (the norm when traded mid-season, the Canucks have some of the highest fitness levels in the league; even Welly slimmed down!).

Have fun coaching your sons team!

[Amish Rake Fighter]

It's funny that you bring up the game in Detroit (February 23rd, 2012) as an example of Cody's good defensive play because that was the game when my fear of his defensive coverage was solidified in my mind and you either have mistakenly identified the wrong game or you have selective memory with a revisionist history.

Let me bring to your attention one Cody Hodgson getting absolutely schooled by Detroit 4th liner Justin Abdelkader twice in the span of eight minutes during the critical 3rd period of the game that directly led to two go ahead goals by Detroit:

(1st goal @ 3:15, 2nd goal @ 4:36).

Cody finished the game a -1 and he did not set up the game winning goal in Detroit. Burrows got the gwg in the shootout. Cody got a lucky bounce off Kronwall's skate to tie the game 2-2, but what good was that when he got completely outmuscled by Abdelkader in front of Luongo just barely 20 seconds later? On the first goal by Quincey (primary assist to Abdelkader) he got burned twice by Abdelkader on the cycle because: A ) he wasn't/isn't fast enough to cut off the cycle and, B ) he's not strong enough to pin guys to the boards. If he couldn't handle Detroit's 4th liners on the road when Babcock had last change, how much worse would Datsyuk have made him look? Actually, forget last change. Cody was -2 vs Detroit in 13mins in Vancouver three weeks earlier!

You may not believe it but AV had to cherry pick Cody's shifts in order to get him to a +8 during his time here. He was a -11 in Buffalo's last 16gp when they were fighting for their playoff lives. During those 16gp, Buffalo was 11-4-1. To put Hodgson's Sabre +/- in perspective, Derek Roy is their worst minus forward and he's only a -8 in 79gp! Hodgson managed to match Roy's entire season of minuses in only 19gp!

Like soulucidor wrote, people simply jumped over the part where PITB says the stats show that Hodgson was on the ice for 41% of all the goals against in the last 19gp. One day Hodgson will be a solid defensive player but that day is not today, it is more like years from now...

[Amish Rake Fighter]

So... nobody read the article?

I'm not seeing anyone comment in defense of Cody being on the ice for 41% of the Sabres goals against. People are claiming he was good defensively without addressing this.

[Honky Cat]

It's still amazes me how many cdc'ers are in complete denial that Hodgson was a 'defensive liability'(In fact,Marc Creawford labelled Cody as such on TSN the other night)..I am a big fan of his passing and shooting skills,but in his own end..more often than not,he got owned.