Here's something you may or not may not know about Cody Hodgson: He was drafted higher in the NHL (10th) than he was in the OHL bantam draft (17th). From the 2008 NHL entry draft until last spring's Stanley Cup playoffs, Hogdson, who turns 22 in a month, was dogged by back, nerve and toe injuries, innuendo and controversy, none of it by his making. Now he's a Calder candidate. Gord McIntyre sat down with the rookie centre three days ago.
Hodgson: A Q&A, hmm, what questions are you going to ask me?
McIntyre: Well, we did this almost exactly a year ago. I might ask you some of the same questions
Hodgson: Last February?
McIntyre: You were sent down to Manitoba between our talk and the publication.
Hodgson: Yeah.
McIntyre: So, a year's gone by, a lot has changed. How are things now?
Hodgson: I feel good, I feel comfortable. It's a good bunch of guys, lots of character in the room, they make you feel like part of the team. It's my first [full] year, I'm confident, playing with confidence.
McIntyre: You played eight regular-season games last season and 12 playoffs games. You didn't dress in the Boston series, but what was it like having that front-row seat to a Stanley Cup final run?
Hodgson: It was a great experience. You get to see hockey played at its highest level. You step right into it, the speed and the intensity. I loved it.
McIntyre: These awards you've won along the way – Red Tilson trophy (OHL most outstanding player), William Hanley (OHL most sportsmanlike), CHL player of the year – which means the most to you?
Hogdson: There are so many great players to have won those awards.
McIntyre: Let's see, Wayne Gretzy, Sidney Crosby, Jordan Eberle come to mind.
Hodgson: Yeah. It's an honour to win the CHL award, to be recognized by the CHL. That year there were a lot of great players in junior hockey. It was a a good team I played on, too [Brampton].
McIntyre: You grew up with Matt Duchene and Jeff Skinner. Those must have been some road-hockey games.
Hodgson: Five minutes from my house there's a pond and there were some pretty good games of shinny on that pond. We played ball hockey all the time. Steven Stamkos I played with every year since I was 11 on summer teams. Grew up shooting pucks and training with Duchene. John Tavares I've known since I was 10. Alex Pietrangelo. I grew up with hockey in my blood.
McIntyre: Do your sisters still play?
Hodgson: They still play. They're 15 and 17. Boy, we're all getting old. They follow hockey really closely, they follow what's going on here.
McIntyre: There was so much written about you since you were drafted in 2008, not all of it nice, some of it controversial. I'm sure they followed that. How'd they take it?
Hodgson: It was tough on them, too. But they really helped me through it.
McIntyre: How tough was it on you?
Hodgson: The whole … that's why it's important to have a good family and friend support system. They helped me feel it wasn't … it was a tough time and they helped me through it.
McIntyre: You're in the running for rookie of the year and it seems like there's less written about you now than there was the last three years.
Hodgson: When I'm written about now, it's about hockey, which is what I like. When we were going through all that stuff, you just wait, bide your time until you can talk about hockey again. You get tired of talking about the same things over and over, and it [injuries] isn't your fault and you can't get back.
Growing up you skate, you pass, you shoot, you take it for granted. It's a real pleasure to play hockey again. I enjoy every day, playing professional hockey, doing it for a living.
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