Cody Hodgson on his first night in the bigs:

Vancouver has owned the Stars this year, beating them three times by a combined 15-3 score. Schneider has won the last two games against them.

Overall, the Canucks jump back into sole possession of #1 overall (73 points) and a rather ridiculous +47 goal differential (for comparison, Edmonton has -46 on the season). They have a seven point lead on second-place Detroit and a 16 point lead over Colorado Minnesota in the Northwest.

Daniel Sedin's two points ties him with Sidney Crosby at 66, two behind Steven Stamkos for the league lead in points. Mikael Samuelsson's goal pushes him into the double digits, the sixth Canuck to notch ten or more goals with about ten weeks left in the season. Ryan Kesler's 28th goal is one better than Daniel for best on the team.

Canucks are back at it tomorrow night in Phoenix.

The coach indicated that Hodgson should be good to go after a couple more practices, but awaits the final word from Hodgson. He also talked about making cuts before the next game, trimming the Camp roster to 45 or less players, Shirokov and Rick Rypien's face. Notice how he seemed hesitant to talk about Shirokov's defensive play?

Alain Vigneault Interview

Cody Hodgson talks about his back, and hopefully making a comeback by the weekend. He now needs to work on his conditioning, which he said was about 85-90%.

Tip to the folks at CDC for finding the story at the Team 1040 website. Gagner, the Canucks' Director of Player Development said:

"In my opinion, he is.  He's proven everything he can at the Canadian hockey league level - Player of the year.  It was the type of year that he was able to experience everything, which is very unique.  At the World Junior Championships, he led that in scoring and played a big part in a gold-medal win.  At the end of the season, he helped get his team in the OHL final and after that played in the Calder Cup final (with Manitoba). In terms of the experience he gained this year, we couldn't have asked for anything more. I believe he's ready - Cody's going to have to come in and prove that to everyone on the coaching staff - but in my opinion, he is ready."

Don't expect Hodgson to be a lock (or do..whatever gets you up in the morning), but this is exciting to hear Gagner say that. Hodgson will have to haul ass at training camp, which you can be assured he will. There is no way in hell he wants to go back to the OHL.

This is where it must be a bit nerve-wracking for Mike Gillis. If Hodgson steps in and performs masterfully, where does Kyle Wellwood go? The same applies with Michael Grabner.  In the end we may have more depth or commodities than we think.

UPDATE: Via the Province, Hodgson's slot on the team is his to lose.

That is what a "veteran" hockey person told the media recently flat out. Of course, being compared to a great like Hawerchuk is no small pot of potatoes. And, many times these comparisons are both unrealistic and completely shied away upon by the young prospect when mentioned to him. Hodgson's favorite player who he emulates at times is Sidney Crosby. I suppose I can forgive him for that.

Regardless, here are clips of both Hawerchuk and Hodgson. You can draw your own conclusions.

HAWERCHUK GETS INDUCTED INTO THE HALL OF FAME

QUICK HODGSON PROFILE

Anyone remember how Dale Hawerchuk's career ended? I do. He got run over by a Russian train.