Official 2008/2009 Canucks Thread
 

Because it's time to look to the new season!

Well, Gillis said he wanted SMART players... and TSN is saying Hodgson is considered THE "smartest" player in this draft, so...

chicago picks beach .. good pick for them

Cody Hodgson

PROFILE
Pos: Centre
Shoots: R Height: 5'11"
Weight: 185 lbs.
Born: 02/18/1990
From: Markham, ON
Team: Brampton (OHL)

2007-2008 Brampton (OHL) 68 40 45 85 36
2008 Playoffs Brampton 5 5 0 5 2

Comparable: Chris Drury

From TSN: One scout dubs the Brampton Battalion forward as the sleeper of this year's draft, a complete package forward who maybe isn't as big or as fast or as purely skilled as some, but one who puts all elements of his game together as well as just about anybody in this draft class. "He's really not that far off Stamkos," the scout said. The folks at Hockey Canada would concur. Hodgson was the best Canadian at the recent Under-18 world tourney and displayed terrific leadership and character, plus an ability to score big goals and be the team's defensive conscience up front. He might be hurt by the tag of being an average skater and sub-six feet tall, but some scouts figure he has a lot of Chris Drury in him.

From NHL Central Scouting: He is a very skilled centerman who's hockey sense has him quarterbacking the power-play from down at the half boards. He knows when to shoot and when to pass – his point total reflects that. He's also a good face-off guy; he can take face-offs with the best of them and win them at the OHL level.

Looks like a good pick on paper...

So did Alexander Daigle. :)

I'm happy with the pick looks like the best player available when they were up which is always safe.

LOL alexander daigle .... i lmao everytime i hear that name.

i remember being in a comic/card shop back in like elementary and guys were buying hockey card packs for alex daigle rookie card. i ended up getting one.. i wonder what happened to that card lol

some big players already traded
most notable... jokinen to phx which is not good news for us, rj umberger to columbus, camalleri to calgary and tanguay to mtl. i wished we got camalleri, he's a finisher which we sorely needed

^that would of been awesome if we got cammellari

thank god the canucks took hodgson. playing in U18 tournament really bumped his scouting rating up. lets hope he can translate that into the nhl. but camalleri going to flames is definitely not good news for canucks. him and iginla is gonna be canuck killers. lets hope they have absolutely no chemistry whatsoever..haha

cammellari to the flames works horrible to our advantage...
Jokinen..we see him more..aahaaa...oh wow
but phx did give up two gifted young players in ballard and forgot the other dude for him

^^ nick boyton

gave up jokinen for nothing

heres a video on stamkos vs hodgson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuO8mYZSdC4

I'm surprised that was all it took to get Jokinen.

well, it is florida we're talking about here. that team is heading towards shit creek, which will probably lead to another city. a ploy perhaps to move the team out? they must hold the record for the most lopsided trades in the league:haha:

Don't forget, Jokinen wanted out of Florida, in a BIG way. He wasn't all that valuable to the Panthers, which pretty much everyone and his dog knew, so it wasn't hard for Phoenix to get him relatively cheap.

those are both top 4 defenseman, i think it was pretty good either way

i think either boynton or ballard coulda gotten them cole or williams
if the carolina need defence is true

wasnt there a roomer that gilis is gunna trade away the sedins???

http://www.seattlethunderbirds.com/r...?player_id=288

5th round pick . local boy from surrey..good stuff

there will always be rumors

lol haha thats mean

:haha::haha::haha:

yeah canucks had a solid pick

10char.....

looks like we didnt even make a pitch for jokinen

Hodgson's leadership good fit for 'Nucks
Iain MacIntyre, Canwest News Service
Published: Saturday, June 21, 2008

Mike Gillis got his man. It just wasn't the one everyone in hockey seemed to think it would be.

A little smaller and better behaved than people expected, Cody Hodgson was drafted by Gillis with the Vancouver Canucks' first pick in Friday's National Hockey League draft.

Scouts and executives from other teams had indicated the Canucks would take Everett Silvertips power-forward Kyle Beach of Kelowna with the 10th pick, but Gillis chose leadership over size and went for Hodgson, who captained Team Canada's under-18 team and finished with 85 points in 68 games for the Brampton Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League this season.


Beach, the top-rated player from British Columbia, was snatched up by the Chicago Blackhawks with the next pick. But the biggest one who got away was Florida Panthers centre Olli Jokinen.

On a night marked by a flurry of trades as the draft began, the Phoenix Coyotes acquired Jokinen for what appeared to be a modest price in defencemen Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton, and a second-round pick.

That trade drew gasps from the lively crowd at Scotiabank Place when it was announced by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. But Gillis made it clear he wasn't interested in Jokinen, whom previous Canuck GM Dave Nonis inquired about at last February's trading deadline.

"We didn't think he was the player we wanted to fit in with our team," Gillis said of Jokinen, an established star. "The reports that we had were problematic for me and I don't really want to expand on it."

Gillis said he did make a bid on Los Angeles Kings centre Mike Cammalleri, who was traded to the Calgary Flames for draft picks, and listened to the Philadelphia Flyers' demands for winger R.J. Umberger before he was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for picks.

It was character issues that made Hodgson so attractive to the Canucks.

"There was a group of players that were very similar; none of them had his (leadership)," Gillis said. "We just thought those features were so strong, combined with his ability, that it was the fit we were looking for."

I dont know how he would not be interested in jokinen.