MILWAUKEE — Around Christmas, Terry Crisp glanced at his caller ID and pressed “pick up.”
He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
The number belonged to former Nashville Predators forward Cody Hodgson, who was seeking advice from the team's former broadcaster, who has three Stanley Cup rings.
After being forced to retire from hockey eight years ago after being diagnosed with malignant hypoglycemia, a rare muscle disease, Hodgson, 34, decided he wanted to play professionally again.
“I said, 'What do you want?'” Crisp said. “He said, 'I want to go back to pro hockey.' I said, 'Okay, I think that's a great attitude.'
“He said, 'I've been playing with some big boys and I feel good.'
Hodgson recalled his side of the conversation: “He said, 'You haven't played for a while, so I don't think you'll get an offer anytime soon.''
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But Crisp thought, “Why not?” He called Predators assistant general manager and Admirals GM Scott Nichol, who in turn got a call from Hodgson, who signed him to a professional tryout contract with the Milwaukee Admirals just over two weeks later.
“He said, 'I just want you to give me a chance,'” Nichol said. “I was surprised, but it was a really good story.”
The story begins on June 28, 2008 in Ottawa, Ontario. Hodgson was selected that day by the Vancouver Canucks with the 10th overall pick in the NHL Draft. On January 12, 2016, after Hodgson played the final 10 minutes and 28 seconds of his NHL career in Chicago, the story appeared to be over.
Carl Taylor on Cody Hodgson: 'Very brave move'
Exactly 2,166 days later, on January 24, Hodgson took the ice for the Predators' AHL affiliate, the Admirals, where he played his final 14 professional games after being reassigned to the Predators in 2016.
Hodgson broke a rib and bruised his lung during the first period.
Not enough to keep him away for long. It's been a long time since he left.
He scored in his return game against the Chicago Wolves on February 22nd, and again two days later. And again the next day. And there are two more games left in the next game.
Since returning to the Admirals, he has recorded six goals and two assists in 12 games.
Admirals manager Carl Taylor said Hodgson's return was “a very brave move”. “He's a high (draft) pick. He played a lot of games in the NHL and got a big contract.
“He really put himself out there.”
but why? But how?
“At least it wasn't terminal cancer.”
The reason is simple. Because Cody Hodgson loves hockey.
He loves hockey so much that he tried to keep playing for years, even though his lungs weren't working properly and he sometimes inexplicably had trouble breathing. Even though his muscles felt like they were on fire and his heart felt like it was going to burn out.
No one could understand why.
The Predators booked him a hotel room and scheduled interviews with several experts in his hometown of Toronto. His liver was tested for cancer. Both the lungs and the brain.
Hodgson waited several months for some of those test results. he was worried. he wondered.
It was “textbook MH,” he said.
He was unable to play contact sports. He had to avoid prolonged physical activity. He was told to avoid high-stress environments. Basically, this is the job description of a hockey player.
“People ask me, 'What did I think when I was told I couldn't play hockey?'” Hodgson said. “I thought, 'At least I don't have terminal cancer (or) liver cancer or lung cancer.'”
“It could kill me.”
How. It's a little more complicated.
After eventually being diagnosed with malignant hypoglycemia, Hockey quickly slipped down the priority ladder.
“The doctors told me I couldn't play. I might die,” said Hodgson, who had just finished practicing at Panther Arena in early March.
Some of the drugs he was taking made him “crazy” and didn't mix well with hockey.
He began tapering off a drug called dantrolene, a muscle relaxant. That ultimately allowed me to reduce my dosage.
Then his mood began to improve. He then went back to the doctors and “asked them to examine all the damaged areas.”
He then received a medical certificate. A comeback has begun.
Hodgson did not hire an agent. Instead, he began making cruel phone calls to people like the general manager and Crisp.
“Nobody wanted to do (BS),” said Hodgson, who had 64 goals and 78 assists in 328 NHL games over six seasons. “You can't look back.”
Return to the future and focus on the present
He has similar feelings when it comes to looking ahead.
He never said a return to the NHL was his ultimate goal. He feels he has to live in the moment.
And for now, Hodgson is a hockey player again. He has an ear and eye for young players like road roommate Phillip Tomasino, who watched some of his junior league games as a kid.
“It's something he's been through in his life, whether it's in hockey or off the rink,” Tomasino said. “A lot of people on our team can ask him for advice.”
Just like the kids Hodgson helped coach with the Junior Predators.
“If I hadn't stopped playing, I would have died,” Hodgson said.
He wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if he hadn't at least tried to go back.
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