Hodgson changes agents and ups the ante in the Peg

Haliburton’s adopted son leading Manitoba Moose in scoring

Edmonton - By Terrance gavan - Voice Sports

Haliburton’s adopted son, Cody Hodgson knows how to draw a crowd.

  On and off the ice.

HODGSON may be back in a Canuck jersey sooner than most pundits
figured. The Haliburton cottager is leading the Manitoba Moose in scoring .

   Last weekend, the Vancouver Province reported:  “All of the Vancouver Canuck coaches and most of the team's senior management team were in Abbotsford, BC on Saturday (Nov 27) night to watch the Manitoba Moose beat the Abbotsford Heat 3-1.

   “All eyes figured to be on Cody Hodgson and he didn't disappoint. Hodgson scored the game-winner and also added an empty-netter in what was just the latest in a recent string of impressive performances.”

   Hodgson leads all Moose scorers with 10 goals and is tied for the Moose lead in overall scoring.

   The shinny skinny in Van-City?

   The Canucks are still playing without a full complement of forwards.

   Canucks placed fourth liner Peter Schaefer on waivers last week.

   Rick Rypien, after a recent indiscretion with a fan in the stands, is out with an upper body injury – waaay upper. Rypien is apparently gone indefinitely, taking personal time to deal with a stress-related noggin disorder.

   The shake and jiggle funky blog/pundit factory is rife with speculation regarding Hodgson, a Highlands cottager who got his hockey start here in Haliburton at the Dysart Barn when his dad Chris was a Conservative MLA for the area.

   All this rejuvenated speculation comes not too long after Hodgson’s rather disappointing start with the Moose. Hodgson was scoreless after five games.

   Now?

   Hodgson leads the Moose with 10 goals, and 15 points, tied for the team scoring lead with Sergei Shirokov. The good ship Hodgson is upright, and the magic hands are back.

   Now, Canuck fans want to know not if, but when Hodgson will be called up.

   If Cody continues to find twine, the 2008 first rounder – 10^th overall –might just become mired in the muddled muck of a Nazem Kadri situation.

   Kadri was called up because the Maple Leafs are moribund, and Kadri is a local product, and the Leafs are terrible, Kadri is a likeable guy and oh yeah, the Leafs clunk like an Edsel. Really. Horrible. Fan pressure forced resident genius GM, Brian “Not-Sam-Pollock” Burke to reevaluate the Kadri situation and shortly after declaring that Kadri was exactly where he belonged - down on the farm. That all changed when needy pundits and chagrined fans turned up the heat. The stew simmered and Burkie caved.

   The Hodgson situation is not yet as viral as the Kadri melodrama. But the fever pitch is shaking like a November leaf in the big V.

   It’s lovely prime time AHL/NHL fare, a speculative soap, starring a slow-sizzlin’ Canucks team who blow hot and cold as an outbound Chinook; and a square jawed prodigy – Cody Hodgson - chiseled right outta’ central casting.

   This story has everything.

    And Hodgson is doing and saying all the right things.

    In a recent Hockey News article Hodgson told writer Patrick Williams: “The decision is up to somebody else. All I can do is play my best here. Obviously, I’d like to be up as soon as possible; like any competitive person you want to play at the highest level possible. But I’m having fun here. It’s a great team, great atmosphere, with a bunch of young guys and good mix of older guys.”
   Moose coach Claude Noel, a veteran hard nut, told Hockey News that he is pleased with Hodgson six weeks into the season.
   "He (Hodgson) has been good as of late," Noel said. "I think he is having a good time. He is doing a good job in a lot of areas, but he is getting pucks to the net, making plays and he is getting rewarded for those things."

   Jeff Tambellini and not Hodgson eventually got the call up to replace Schaefer who sailed through waivers.

   But with Hodgson popping pucks at an incredibly precocious pace, can the Canucks afford to keep him ‘down on the farm?’

   The back is healthy, the bulged disk and muscle tear have responded to treatment.

   Hodgson brought in a new agent Rich Winter and dumped his old beancounter Don Meehan.

   He’s comfortable, motivated and feeling more secure about his back.

   I’m guessing that Hodgson will be well-entrenched as a top six forward or third line center long before Christmas.