Just the Gary Lawless thing again. Discussed in the Hodgson injury thread already.
Figured it deserved it's own thread since so many people are drooling over him making the team and that it's a different topic than the injury. I personally don't have the time to wade through a thread for a sub topic (another reason I posted it) as I look at the subjects of the posts when deciding to click on a thread or not.
a 19 year old with big holes in his game? Say it's not so!
Of course he has holes in his game. The question isn't whether he has holes but whether it will be better for him to work on those holes in the NHL or OHL. While I don't think another year in the OHL will be disastrous I do think he will be given, at a minimum, the 9 games to show how close he is.
And really against the best competition in his age group he was NOT a defensive liability so I expect once he adjusts to the speed and strength of the pro game his defensive game will be just fine thank you very much.
I think the article is exaggerating a little bit; however, I'd hope that what it says is true just so that we, as fans, wouldnt put so much pressure and expectation on him. Another year in the minor is only good for his development and he's still YOUNG!!
I'd say, just give the kid the 9 games in the NHL and pre-season games.. unless he is really impressing the team and us, let him stay.. borderline greatness shouldnt cut
Pratt brought up a good point (believe it or not). This guy apparently appraised Hodgson largely in the games he played for the Moose, and that brings up some valid counter points.
Firstly, Hodgson had barely played for the Moose and didn't know the other players all that well as compared to all the other team members. Secondly, Hodgson had already played over 100 hockey games that season! He might have been a little tired or burnt out already.
I thought Pratt actually made good points at any rate.
It's entirely expected since he's so young. The NHL game is a lot faster than anything he's played. He'll learn though. All the guy was saying is that a lot of people are getting their expectations too high and too quick.
I am glad that expectations are getting tempered a bit, but this opinion is kind of odd.
If Hodgson "never had to play defense at the junior level", why did the U20 World Champion Canadian team make him its top penalty killer and have him take most of the key faceoffs late in the game in their own zone?
I never noticed any defensive miscues in those situations by Hodgson.
Having said that, I don't doubt that Hodgson, like any teenage NHLer, needs to learn defensive positioning at the pro level.
This guy makes himself sound bloody retarded (Gary Lawless). He catches 11 games of Hodgson at the tail-end of his massive season and thinks he is in someway qualified to make this statement?
If it came from Arniel or one of our scouts I might be concerned, but Hodgson was getting second line ice-time during the last few Moose playoff outings.
Isn't this the reporter who is always writing anti-Canucks articles when we call up Moose players?
I think his angle is pretty obvious:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lawless
"This is a shame what's going to happen with Cody Hodgson this year, because we got to watch him. He's not good enough to make Vancouver. I know there's lots of guys in your local media who are slobbering over him, but he's got big holes in his game right now. He's clearly going to be a good player down the line, but just like Mason Raymond wasn't ready, Cody Hodgson isn't ready either. He's going to come to camp and they're not going to keep him, and they'll have to send him back to junior, which is a complete waste."
Figured it deserved it's own thread since so many people are drooling over him making the team and that it's a different topic than the injury. I personally don't have the time to wade through a thread for a sub topic (another reason I posted it) as I look at the subjects of the posts when deciding to click on a thread or not.
Opinions only matter when they're legitimate. My impression of Lawless (based mainly after that article when he accused the Canucks of poaching Moose players) is that he's simply trying to hold controversial opinions to get attention (which he has succeeded in doing with Hodgson). It should be fairly obvious to anyone who has seen Hodgson play that this statement "he hasn't had to play that part of the game in junior hockey because he's so good, he's so much better than everybody else" is the complete opposite of the truth. In junior Hodgson was an excellent defensive player.
Will Hodgson need adjustment time to the NHL? Yes. But to think he's a defensive liability is absurd. He was not good in the AHL finals (although he certainly was alone in that regard) because of fatigue. The numerous opinions of hockey people who think Hodgson will be in the NHL next year and be successful should have more stock put into them then Lawless' opinion.
I don't think much of Lawless' opinion or approach - it's pretty poor of him to pass judgment on Hodgson at the end of what had been a pretty long season. The kid would have been pretty worn out, and we was still able to contribute at decent level in his first taste of pro hockey.
That said, I don't think Cody is as much of a lock to make this team as some do. The Canucks will have 15 or so forwards competing for 13 spots, and Hodgson obviously wouldn't have to clear waivers or anything like that. The fact the Canucks can't send him to the AHL probably helps his cause - he won't learn much in junior.
I also have concerns about how Cody will be used with this particular coach, but I suppose I'll wait to see how that plays out.
I was initially against bringing Hodgson in with the Canucks for a full season, but I've turned around on the issue. Judging by the off-season movement, the Canucks are not going to have a very good season, so we might as well give him some playing time with the big boys and let him take his time to grow.
The only downside, of course, is that many posters here will end up ***** around about his rookie mistakes and will write him off as a bust. But I should be used to this by now.
this guy sounds like an idiot calling him clueless devensivly based on his brief stay with the moose . He played 11 games for a new team in a new league in the middle of an intense playoff run. He was still adjusting when it ended.
this guy sounds like an idiot calling him clueless devensivly based on his brief stay with the moose . He played 11 games for a new team in a new league in the middle of an intense playoff run. He was still adjusting when it ended.
I know +/- isn't entirely indicative of a player's defensive performance, but Hodgson finished a +4 in 11 playoff games against the best teams in the AHL. I'm not too sure, but me thinks that players who are "clueless defensively" don't finish in the positive side of this stat, especially against the top teams.
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Canada goes for double gold in 2010!
I know +/- isn't entirely indicative of a player's defensive performance, but Hodgson finished a +4 in 11 playoff games against the best teams in the AHL. I'm not too sure, but me thinks that players who are "clueless defensively" don't finish in the positive side of this stat, especially against the top teams.
yeah no kidding..
I just listened to the pod cast and it sounds like he is just bitter because he knows Hodgson won't be playing for the Moose regardless of what happens.
Opinions are like ***holes...everyone has one. Gary Lawless is no more an authority than anyone else who watches a good number of hockey games. I've watched plenty of hockey games, and watched a number of Cody Hodgson's games in Manitoba and WJC and he was never a liability defensively. Did he make mistakes? Of course, but not nearly as many as veterans like Nolan Baumgartner and Shawn Heshka made. He's a young player who is still learning the game, but he needs to learn at a higher level than junior right now. So with all due respect to Gary Lawless, he's way off target and wrong about Hodgson.
Opinions are like ***holes...everyone has one. Gary Lawless is no more an authority than anyone else who watches a good number of hockey games. I've watched plenty of hockey games, and watched a number of Cody Hodgson's games in Manitoba and WJC and he was never a liability defensively. Did he make mistakes? Of course, but not nearly as many as veterans like Nolan Baumgartner and Shawn Heshka made. He's a young player who is still learning the game, but he needs to learn at a higher level than junior right now. So with all due respect to Gary Lawless, he's way off target and wrong about Hodgson.
Pretty much sums it up. Does Gary think dominating in junior will help his game defensively? (if it actually was an issue)
Minor league writer with minor league skills. We should send Lawless to Victoria.
All I know is Hodgson sure looked good defensively in the WJC and during the Brampton games Sportsnet televised...
Kind of an aggresive approach from Lawless, really. "clueless defensively"? There are so many more constructive ways to word that. It almost seems like he's just trying to draw attention to himself with some crass writing.
Not saying Hodgson is going to make the roster or anything, but the defensive aspects of his game are part of what makes him such an appealing prospect, so I'm not sure what Lawless is on really. Especially when Gillis, AV, Heisinger and Arniel seem to be quite high on his two way play.
Team 1040 will report absolutely anything as long as it hasn't been said by someone else already, following-up on the story or journalistic integrity be damned.
There is no pressure except from the non educated hockey fan that listens the the Vancouver media who has wood for the kid.
There really does need to be some kind of change in the CBA with regards to players coming up from the junior level that are not ready to make the jump to the NHL but would benefit from a jump to the AHL. Especially in a cap world there needs to be other avenues for your top prospects to grow if your NHL team is being run properly and there is no place for them yet or need to work on certain parts of their game before they are ready.
It's sucks that a player who was just the best player in Junior can't go where he should be this season with the Moose to develop in the best way possible. I guess he can go back to Brampton and continue to work on aspects of his game that need work but the competition level is just so much lower that it seems pointless.
