Location: Bobby Ryan + 1st rounder for Clarkson, ON Joined: 08.30.2007
Aug 25 @ 1:28 PM ET
thanks for stopping by. i will be in Toronto in a few weeks, we should meet at the loose moose and talk about how good the Leafs are going to be this year. - dshiddy
I figured you as more of a Remington's kind of guy.
if you noticed i never once denied there are alot of leaf fans off base... but the fact that a canuck fan is bringing it up... especially someone like you is very ironic - nightmare3020
I imagine if Toronto made the finals in this era there would be a big riot. Montreal has had thier's as well. Isnt there one or two a year at the CNE anyways? Seriously, Leafs fans pointing the finger at the out of control parties other canadian cities are having in the finals is pretty funny to watch when Leafs fans never have any idea how out of control it can get....things have changed since the 60's. You'll never get to show the world how your fans are the most civiized in Canada.
Toronto only needs a catalyst for it to happen. Lucky for you that catalyst is playoff success.
anyways, I feel badly for Kadri and Hodgson. Even though on site's like this the fans of the team seem to support the player, in the cities themselves them media and the fans are far too harsh on these young players and have no patience. It's neither player's fault that these teams haven't won, had either of them been drafted by New Jersey or Detroit they would both be afterthoughts and only make headlines if and when they made progress.
I think both coach V and Wilson have been unfair to them and sometimes players need to be allowed to just play and improve. Hopefully that happens a bit this year and we can see what they have.
It's better for everyone when there are more star players in the league. Better for viewing pleasure.story lines and hockey pools.
Until any Canadian team wins this century watching their fans try and smack talk each other is like watching Nasville and Florida fans do it. Pointless.
Healthier Cody Hodgson getting personal coaching from Claude Lemieux Prospect says he's 'as ready as I can be' ahead of Canucks training camp
By Tony Gallagher, The Province
Given what Cody Hodgson means to both the present and the future of the Vancouver Canucks, there was a good deal of talk and thought this summer put towards turning around the rough start this terrific NHL prospect has experienced so far.
The Canucks coaches and management have held several conversations with the Hodgson camp — which now includes his personal coach Claude Lemieux, if you can call him that — and whether or not the club agrees 100 per cent with this new initiative and all it might one day involve, it certainly has the player stoked and ready to try to have his best training camp ever.
“I am really excited to be completely healthy again, strong and really looking forward to camp,” said Hodgson, who will come into town right after Labour Day.
“It's been the best summer in a long time for me and I'm coming in as ready as I can be to help regardless of the roster, what positions are open or not or what the coach is thinking. It's his job to make those decisions and my job to be the best player I can be no matter where I'm used.”
Hodgson said those words like he truly meant them.
Whether this personal-coach approach is a one-off or an idea that may catch on with a lot of young players around the league remains to be seen, but there's no question it has really given Hodgson a mental lift, which is one of the areas he and Lemieux have been working on.
“I've been through a lot of different situations in my career and I think I'm going to be able to help the players I work with both on and off the ice with both mental and physical preparation,” says Lemieux, who now lives in Toronto, given his own son is an aspiring hockey player.
“I remember a situation in New Jersey about two months into the season I was at rock bottom and thinking 'I need to get out of here, I want a different start in a new organization.' But Lou Lamoriello [Devils GM] and I talked and he expressed faith in me, and a few months later I was the MVP of the playoffs. A fresh start in another city wasn't what I needed at all. I needed to make some adjustments in my attitude and look at the team around me differently.
“Vancouver is one of the best organizations in the game; why would you want to go to another team? You have to look at your surroundings in the right way and I think Cody's definitely doing that.”
Lemieux is involved with a company called 4Star which works with and represents athletes, and they've established a working arrangement with Hodgson's agent, Ritch Winter's Sports Corporation, to help their hockey clients. Hodgson is one of the higher-profile players to have this type of help.
“We've had a number of discussions with the coaches and management in Vancouver and we expect to talk from time to time,” said Lemieux, who is really looking forward to the new role as a substitute for playing. “Being able to help another player, to me it's the next best thing to playing yourself and that's something I can't do anymore.”
“He's helped me with quite a few things,” says Hodgson. “We've worked on mental preparation, footwork, shooting and places to shoot and different ways of scoring. It's been really interesting.”
In many ways this makes a lot of sense for the coaches. For instance, on just a straight personal experiential level, what can Alain Vigneault and Rick Bowness, both career defencemen, tell a young forward about the game? They can teach him a lot about what they expect and explain the reasoning of their decisions, but helping 25 different guys in individual areas where they would like to improve is a tall order. Teammates are a help, of course, and the skills coach the Canucks introduced last year was another great step. But it would seem a personal coach can do nothing but help if he isn't too overbearing or interfering. Why should goalies be the only players with an individual or personal coach?
How Hodgson plays from here on in isn't going to be the ultimate test of the personal-coach concept in the NHL, of course, but it may be fun to examine the effects in this one situation at least.
Guys save your breath until Dec 1st when Hodgson is making an impact on one of the deepest teams in the league. If Hodgson were drafted by the Leafs he'd centering Kessel this season.
Location: Bobby Ryan + 1st rounder for Clarkson, ON Joined: 08.30.2007
Sep 2 @ 10:28 AM ET
Guys save your breath until Dec 1st when Hodgson is making an impact on one of the deepest teams in the league. If Hodgson were drafted by the Leafs he'd centering Kessel this season. - Boinker
Do you really think Grabovski, Connolly, Lombardi, Bozak, Zigomanis, Kadri, and Colborne will all be injured?
Location: Bobby Ryan + 1st rounder for Clarkson, ON Joined: 08.30.2007
Sep 2 @ 1:30 PM ET
Bozak...
wait a second, one more time...Bozak...
Connolly and Lombardi won't make it out of training camp. Zigowho???
This is hilarious, you guys make me laugh. - dshiddy
Zigomanis.... He's the Marlie who's stats last year destroy Hodgson's. Along with Kadri. I guess we ditched Christian Hanson though, who put up very similar stats (but is bigger, among other things), so Hodgson would jump up one more rung on the Leafs depth chart.
Do you really think Grabovski, Connolly, Lombardi, Bozak, Zigomanis, Kadri, and Colborne will all be injured? - prock
I'm guessing you've never played hockey? Your just a typical sports nerd who only looks at stats. I'm embarrassed for you. Hodgson was the best player on the team last season with a weak offensive group. It was his first year back from a year off injury/missed development and his first year playing pro hockey. Let that resonate for a second. The best player in his rookie season. The kid is extremely skilled and his vision is off the charts better than any leaf on the whole team. The only thing holding this kid back from being an NHL superstar is his skating. Eventually the game will slow down for him and he'll get stronger and I dont think itll be that much of a problem. He has intangibles that a leaf fan wouldn't understand. It isn't always about points. I played for a long time and there was a kid by the name of Brandon McMillan who I played with for seven years. He never put up nearly the amount of points as some half the players on my team but he was our best player. He won games for us just by being on the ice and he found his was onto Getzlafs line last year. I think your going to be in for a rude awakening this season. Hodgson future Canucks captain. Kadri future suitcase.
Location: Bobby Ryan + 1st rounder for Clarkson, ON Joined: 08.30.2007
Sep 2 @ 3:00 PM ET
I'm guessing you've never played hockey? Your just a typical sports nerd who only looks at stats. I'm embarrassed for you. Hodgson was the best player on the team last season with a weak offensive group. It was his first year back from a year off injury/missed development and his first year playing pro hockey. Let that resonate for a second. The best player in his rookie season. The kid is extremely skilled and his vision is off the charts better than any leaf on the whole team. The only thing holding this kid back from being an NHL superstar is his skating. Eventually the game will slow down for him and he'll get stronger and I dont think itll be that much of a problem. He has intangibles that a leaf fan wouldn't understand. It isn't always about points. I played for a long time and there was a kid by the name of Brandon McMillan who I played with for seven years. He never put up nearly the amount of points as some half the players on my team but he was our best player. He won games for us just by being on the ice and he found his was onto Getzlafs line last year. I think your going to be in for a rude awakening this season. Hodgson future Canucks captain. Kadri future suitcase. - Boinker
1st line centre.... Guys that are supposed to produce offense. I just listed 7 guys that produce more offense. A few of which are just as good defensively. Hodgson wouldn't make the Leafs. Last year, he'd be behind Kadri (who is better), and at least one or two others in line for callup. Now, maybe he'd be first in line for call up. But, he's just not that good. That's why he's with your AHL team, and that's why he would be with ours.
Face it, he's just an AHLer right now. With your team... with the Leafs.... With most teams in the NHL. I don't give a shyt about injuries. All your doing is spewing excuses about WHY he's an AHLer. That doesn't change the fact that he's an AHLer. I don't care, speculate all you want about how he wouldn't be an AHLer, and how great he would be.
The fact is... right now, he's not very good. Just an AHLer. End of story.
ps - yes, I've played hockey for over 30 years. Still do.
1st line centre.... Guys that are supposed to produce offense. I just listed 7 guys that produce more offense. A few of which are just as good defensively. Hodgson wouldn't make the Leafs. Last year, he'd be behind Kadri (who is better), and at least one or two others in line for callup. Now, maybe he'd be first in line for call up. But, he's just not that good. That's why he's with your AHL team, and that's why he would be with ours.
Face it, he's just an AHLer right now. With your team... with the Leafs.... With most teams in the NHL. I don't give a shyt about injuries. All your doing is spewing excuses about WHY he's an AHLer. That doesn't change the fact that he's an AHLer. I don't care, speculate all you want about how he wouldn't be an AHLer, and how great he would be.
The fact is... right now, he's not very good. Just an AHLer. End of story.
ps - yes, I've played hockey for over 30 years. Still do. - prock
Clearly you haven't watched him play much. The guy is only 21. He missed a year of development so he's actually 20 in hockey standards. To put that in perspective Ryan Kesler was that age when it was his first AHL pro season and he scored 3 goals and 8 assists, 11 points in 33 games.. Cody has been recognized in many circles as one of the hardest working players off the ice on the planet. Me thinks he will become a star. Ask Gary Roberts. I'll take his word and my assessments over yours.
Location: Bobby Ryan + 1st rounder for Clarkson, ON Joined: 08.30.2007
Sep 2 @ 5:58 PM ET
Clearly you haven't watched him play much. The guy is only 21. He missed a year of development so he's actually 20 in hockey standards. To put that in perspective Ryan Kesler was that age when it was his first AHL pro season and he scored 3 goals and 8 assists, 11 points in 33 games.. Cody has been recognized in many circles as one of the hardest working players off the ice on the planet. Me thinks he will become a star. Ask Gary Roberts. I'll take his word and my assessments over yours. - Boinker
I'll take him crapping the bed in the AHL over what you think.
Location: Canucks blogger in disguise., BC Joined: 06.23.2008
Sep 2 @ 7:19 PM ET
1st line centre.... Guys that are supposed to produce offense. I just listed 7 guys that produce more offense. A few of which are just as good defensively. Hodgson wouldn't make the Leafs. Last year, he'd be behind Kadri (who is better), and at least one or two others in line for callup. Now, maybe he'd be first in line for call up. But, he's just not that good. That's why he's with your AHL team, and that's why he would be with ours.
Face it, he's just an AHLer right now. With your team... with the Leafs.... With most teams in the NHL. I don't give a shyt about injuries. All your doing is spewing excuses about WHY he's an AHLer. That doesn't change the fact that he's an AHLer. I don't care, speculate all you want about how he wouldn't be an AHLer, and how great he would be.
The fact is... right now, he's not very good. Just an AHLer. End of story.
ps - yes, I've played hockey for over 30 years. Still do. - prock
Poor guy eh. I feel sorry for him. He's so embarrassed that he has to hide his team. The worst ran franchise in sport history....God I actually don't blame him.
Location: Leaf fans still waiting for a , BC Joined: 02.15.2007
Sep 3 @ 12:25 AM ET
Poor guy eh. I feel sorry for him. He's so embarrassed that he has to hide his team. The worst ran franchise in sport history....God I actually don't blame him. - Boinker
bet he doesnt even remember the last game his team was in the playoffs.
Location: Bobby Ryan + 1st rounder for Clarkson, ON Joined: 08.30.2007
Sep 3 @ 10:41 AM ET
Poor guy eh. I feel sorry for him. He's so embarrassed that he has to hide his team. The worst ran franchise in sport history....God I actually don't blame him. - Boinker
Does it bother you that your franchise has missed the playoffs more times in it's existence than the "worst run franchise is sport history", in the same timeframe?
