Rob The Hockey Guy

The Vancouver Canucks have announced that their golden boy, Cody Hodgson, will not be sticking around with the big club and instead be sent back to junior this season. I applaud the move, as he simply doesn’t belong in the NHL… yet. No need to rush him, especially with the depth they have. He’ll be extremely disappointed, but you shouldn’t make the NHL based on reputation or hype. Three years ago Dave Nonis did this with the late Luc Bourdon, keeping him for 9 games and then sent him back to junior. It was a mistake then, because Bourdon was out of his element.

Hodgson will get a chance to get healthier (it’s entirely clear his back isn’t 100%) and dominate once again in junior. He’ll also be the leading candidate to captain Canada’s world junior team. If you ask me, that’s a better way to develop than sitting in the press box or struggling on the 3rd line in the NHL.

In other news, Brad Lukowich is on waivers. This is a mistake in my opinion. They have room to keep him on their roster, and keeping an experienced, stay-at-home defenceman that owns a Stanley Cup ring can’t be a bad thing. Maybe they figure that other teams will be scared off by his contract, but nobody will if he’s on recallable waivers. The news with Lukowich means that Aaron Rome will start the year with the Canucks.

***UPDATE***

Team 1040 is reporting that Pavol Demitra is not on the long term injury list, so this helps explain why they got rid of Lukowich (make room for Demitra on the 23 man roster and make room for his $4 million salary). This suggests that Demitra won’t be gone for long.