Canada golden under captain Hodgson
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Serving as captain of Canada’s world championship under-18 team proved a fitting assignment for Cody Hodgson of the Brampton Battalion.
“It was an honour,” Hodgson said Thursday night after arriving at Pearson International Airport from Frankfurt, Germany. “It wasn’t hard to be the captain of this team. We had a great bunch of guys, and Hockey Canada did a great job putting it together. It was a talented team that had a lot of character.
“It makes it easier when we’re all focused on one goal, and we all wanted it really badly.”
Hodgson and fellow Battalion centre Matt Duchene were among nine Ontario Hockey League players on the 22-man roster that won gold at the World Under-18 Championship at Kazan, Russia, on Wednesday, routing the host team 8-0.
Hodgson, who turned 18 on Feb. 18, had three assists in the title game, finishing as the tournament’s leading scorer with two goals and 10 assists for 12 points in seven games. His points total tied the record for a Canadian at the event, set by Pierre-Marc Bouchard in 2002.
Said Duchene: “Cody’s an unbelievable player and a great leader, and he’ll be that on any team he’s on. He’s a great guy to have in that role. I learned a lot from him.”
Hodgson was named one of the top players on the Canadian team, joining linemate and right winger Jordan Eberle of the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats and goaltender Jake Allen of the St. John’s Fog Devils of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Allen played the entire tournament, reducing partner Chris Carrozzi of the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors to the role of cheerleader.
“I’d heard a lot about Cody from other people,” said Pat Quinn, Canada’s head coach. “You always wonder where your leadership will come from in a tournament like this, so the feeling among our staff was that Cody had the characteristics of a leader, especially for a guy his age.
“He’s a special young man and he had a lot to do with our success. I’ve had a lot of guys a lot older than him who don’t conduct themselves like he does. We played him against the other teams’ top lines and he didn’t leave us short in any area.”
The Canadians beat Germany 9-2 and Denmark 4-1 in their first two group games before falling 4-2 to Russia. Canada completed group play with a 6-0 whitewash of Slovakia and then beat Finland 2-1 in a quarterfinal.
Canada defeated Sweden 3-2 in a semifinal, with Hodgson earning two assists, including on the winning power-play goal by linemate Taylor Hall of the Windsor Spitfires at 16:42 of the third period. The Canadians withstood a furious last-minute assault by the Swedes, who had their goaltender on the bench as Hodgson served a questionable tripping penalty.
“There was a huge emotional swing for me late in that game,” said Hodgson. “I had a chance on a breakaway to put the game away with two minutes left, but the play went the other way and the Swedish guy took a dive over my stick and got up laughing at me as I was going to the box.”
Hodgson said Quinn’s experience came into play in the championship game, which saw Canada take a 5-0 first-period lead.
“It was a unique experience to learn from him. He has a different style and he wanted us applying a lot of pressure when we were on defence, and you saw that in the gold medal game. We kept the Russians to the outside, and they never got a sniff. All of their shots were outside or from the point, and they weren’t going to beat Allen in the slot.
“We weren’t going to give them any chances. Our objective was to keep the hammer down on them.”
Hodgson, left winger Hall and Eberle combined for 10 goals and 21 assists.
“It was a lot of fun to play with those guys,” said Hodgson. “Eberle is a really skilled player, and Hall is one of the top rookies in our league. He really knows how to play.”
Said Hodgson: “It’s special to win a tournament like this, beating the host country on its own turf. It made me proud to be a Canadian, proud to be the captain and proud to be part of this team.”
