The Grabner/Hodgson Combination thread

[Potatoe1]

Vanek..15 pts
Pominville..12pts

Hodgson...6 pts

One thing is not like the others. And as pointed out he is offensive at both ends of the ice.

The even strength numbers look fairly normal.

Vanek..9 pts
Pominville..8 pts
Hodgson...6 pts

[tantalum]

They could be but it's clear that he is a passenger on the line which should be expected. And his horrid defensive play is costing them a lot of goals. And not just as part of the problem on a broken down coverage but THE problem on the play.

My only real intent is to troll RD right back.

Hodgson is a good young player. But a young player that has the sort of deficiencies that cause coaches and organizations to look critically at once the luster of the fine vision and offensive play wears off. Bad defensive centers simply don't stick around on good teams unless they are true blue super star and even then they have to tend to be competent on the defensive end of things for the team to be successful. Especially undersized ones who have a bit of trouble skating. Right now he simply isn't very good defensively and is getting directly victimized on a routine basis. A lot of it doesn't have to do with how he thinks the game defensively but rather the inability to get to where he needs to be. His acceleration remains an issue and he has a tendency to get caught standing still which exacerbates his problem with getting up to speed (See the Ward goal in the Caps-Sabres game for example).

I agree with the assessment that it really doesn't matter, if Kassian develops then the canucks got what they needed and they got it by using something they didn't.

[Potatoe1]

Hodgson is a good young player. But a young player that has the sort of deficiencies that cause coaches and organizations to look critically at once the luster of the fine vision and offensive play wears off. Bad defensive centers simply don't stick around on good teams unless they are true blue super star and even then they have to tend to be competent on the defensive end of things for the team to be successful. Especially undersized ones who have a bit of trouble skating. Right now he simply isn't very good defensively and is getting directly victimized on a routine basis. A lot of it doesn't have to do with how he thinks the game defensively but rather the inability to get to where he needs to be. His acceleration remains an issue and he has a tendency to get caught standing still which exacerbates his problem with getting up to speed (See the Ward goal in the Caps-Sabres game for example).

I don't disagree. Anyone who saw him play last year would know that he's not ready for the first line duty that he's getting. Not surprised at all that he's getting lit up.

That said his largest detractors do seem to be bitter Canuck fans (most of whom have only seen bits and pieces of his games) piling on a player traded from their favorite team. Sabers fans and more importantly the sabers coaching staff seem to be quite happy with what they got.

On a side note Hodgson is still a regular on the Sabers Pk and his numbers seem fine, though the sample size is still quite small.

[coco_canuck]

I suggested the Canucks trade Hodgson before last season began, mostly because I didn't think he would be good enough defensively to play on the 3rd line and not good enough to displace the top two centres on the team.

Having watched a few Sabres games closely, I've yet to see any improvement from Cody in his own end.

He's often tentative, soft on puck battles, weak stick checks and slow to loose pucks. It's still early to read too much into face-off stats but so far he's regressed in the circle.

Hodgson will score points but he has a long way to go before he's considered a two-way player.

It'll be interesting to see how high his offensive ceiling is because he has to score at a considerable clip to justify playing big minutes and in all three zones unless he makes big strides defensively.

[Strangelove]

He's often tentative, soft on puck battles, weak stick checks and slow to loose pucks. It's still early to read too much into face-off stats but so far he's regressed in the circle.

Yes but if folks are gonna rave about his points thus far, these things should be pointed out.

Thus far this season Cody has been milking the red-hot Vanek.

Coho was minus-3 in today's game, hmmmm....

[Topper]

[CrzyCanuck]

Dude is going to get an orgasm today with Hodgson's 3 point +3 performance against Florida.

[JelloPuddingPop]

Yup, if he were still a Canuck - he'd be leading us in scoring... and would be the only player at a point-per-game clip. Doing all this with a better plus/minus than one of our best D - Dan Hamhuis.

[rats19]

Yup, if he were still a Canuck - he'd be leading us in scoring... and would be the only player at a point-per-game clip. Doing all this with a better plus/minus than one of our best D - Dan Hamhuis.

he looked too funny skating...legs were missing about 3 inches though!

the milk has been spilled fellas. I would make that trade again today.

[Zamboni Driver]

I don't disagree. Anyone who saw him play last year would know that he's not ready for the first line duty that he's getting. Not surprised at all that he's getting lit up.

That said his largest detractors do seem to be bitter Canuck fans (most of whom have only seen bits and pieces of his games) piling on a player traded from their favorite team. Sabers fans and more importantly the sabers coaching staff seem to be quite happy with what they got.

On a side note Hodgson is still a regular on the Sabers Pk and his numbers seem fine, though the sample size is still quite small.

There are folks who want to carp about trading CoHo, especially now that Kes is still out.

But realistically, there was no other good option for GMMG, and he got a good strong winger for him.

Had we kept CoHo, he would be playing 3rd line (when Sedin & Kes are playing) and be squeezed for minutes.
There would likely be no place for Schroeder, he would still be stifled in the AHL.

Gillis figured that by trading CoHo, he would open up a spot for J.S., and probably felt that Schroeder had better 2-way potential than CoHo.
Throw in the extra drama from CoHo's dad & agent, and it becomes pretty easy to see why it happened as it did.

[Strangelove]

Yup, if he were still a Canuck - he'd be leading us in scoring... and would be the only player at a point-per-game clip.

Ummm if he were still a Canuck he'd be playing with Raymond and Burrows.

So yeah, no.

On Buffalo:

Vanek = 8 goals + 11 assists = 19 points

Pominville = 6 goals + 8 assists = 14 points

Hodgson = 5 goals + 5 assists = 10 points


On Canucks:

Raymond = 3 goals + 1 assists = 4 points

Burrows = 2 goals + 1 assists = 3 points

Hodgson = 1 goals+ 1 assist = 2 points

[JelloPuddingPop]

Yup, if he were still a Canuck - he'd be leading us in scoring... and would be the only player at a point-per-game clip.

Inane drivel

It was a joke. Just an off the 'cuff remark to add fuel to the fire. Nothing more.

[Jovocop]

Yup, if he were still a Canuck - he'd be leading us in scoring... and would be the only player at a point-per-game clip.

Inane drivel

It was a joke. Just an off the 'cuff remark to add fuel to the fire. Nothing more.

The only player who wishes that trade never happened is Ben Eager.

[Cookie La Rue]

The only player who wishes that trade never happened is Ben Eager.

I hope he recovers quickly because i'm looking forward to his reaction. Talk - Action = Zero

[Strangelove]

Yup, if he were still a Canuck - he'd be leading us in scoring... and would be the only player at a point-per-game clip.

Inane drivel

It was a joke. Just an off the 'cuff remark to add fuel to the fire. Nothing more.

Ummm both of our posts would qualify as "inane drivel for humour's sake".

If one is going to make jokes, one must get jokes amirite Mr Cosby?

Make a silly post, get a silly response AMIRITE?

"A word to the wise ain't necessary, it's the stupid ones that need the advice." - Bill Cosby