TRADE DEADLINE 2012 - The Canucks End "The Hodgson Era" Early

It's really hard to put my thoughts into words right now. I'm sure you all know why. Cody Hodgson was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in this years Trade Deadline at approximately 12:40 Pacific. He is/was my favourite player. It's really hard seeing a guy you've cheered for and supported since his draft day to be snapped away from you just like that. Before I bounce from point to point let's look at the other acquisitions the Canucks made today and come back to CoHo.

TRADE #1

                                                                       
To Vancouver:                                                             

Samuel Pahlsson (C)

To Columbus:
Taylor Ellington (D)
4th Round Pick (2012)
4th Round Pick (2012)

This trade was the first of the three the Canucks made today and really was the only trade I thought was necessary. Samuel Pahlsson isn't a goal scorer nor a playmaker, he is a grinder. We saw what he could do winning a Stanley Cup in Anaheim and that is valuable experience that can only help the team. He fits in well as a fourth and/or third line guy. Smart and relatively cheap pickup by Mike Gillis.

At this point in the trade deadline I'm satisfied. I took the day off of school (which I had prepared for two weeks in advance) and "I got what I paid for". I think Gillis did well to address the slight absence of grit in our bottom 6. Fast forward to after the noon trade deadline. There were only a couple trades to be confirmed after noon and the Canucks were rumoured to be submitting a trade. I was anxious...I was excited...the best possible scenarios were running through my mind. Then this happened...

TRADE #2

To Vancouver:

Zack Kassian (RW)

Marc-Andre Gragnani (D)

To Buffalo:

Cody Hodgson (C)

Alexander Sulzer (D)

You all know I just recently officially announced my first ever player collection. That player was of my favourite player on the Canucks roster and in the league - Cody Hodgson. The hype around Cody was huge, especially after the fantastic performance he had at the World Juniors. I loved watching him develop, through the hard times and easy I was always there to back up Cody. I truly believed he was going to develop into the eventual captain of the Vancouver Canucks and maybe even lead us to a Stanley Cup. A kind of Trevor Linden type story (dare I say it). But Mike Gillis threw the hockey world a curveball and delt Cody out of the blue to the Sabres.

Now I get what Gillis was thinking. Maybe Kassian isn't currently ready to make a consistent impact in the NHL like Cody Hodgson is doing right now BUT he supplies huge upside in the future. He's a big boy (6'4" / 230 lbs.) he's mean, aggressive and plays with a lot of heart. These are all aspects I love in players but it just feels like we sold away our future that we had already invested so much in. 

Who knows though, maybe Kassian will end up being my new favourite player (even though Cody still holds that title...I think). It's hard having your favourite player wearing another teams colours, but I do wish Cody well and future success in his professional career (as long as it's not against the Canucks). 

As for Buffalo fans that want to know more about Cody (Marko) he has exceptional hockey sense and he sees the game very well. He's creative and has recently had the knack to score big goals at big times. Thus, the nickname was created - "Clutch Cody". His weakness is his physicality, he get's bumped around a bit in the Western Conference but what I like is that he's still not scared to get into those corners and the dirty areas. His speed was also critiqued but quickly taken back as he proved he can keep up with the NHL's best. He's a great leader and a franchise player. He's a keeper!

I know a limited amount about Kassian. I only really have watched him in the WJ's and other than that just highlight reel's on YouTube. If anyone has any really in depth info about him I'd love to learn more. From what the scouts and so called "experts" say he is a Milan Lucic/Todd Bertuzzi type player. I like both of them so if he turns out like any of those two I will be happy.

The second half of this deal was a swap of two d-men. Alex Sulzer who is now heading to Buffalo is a solid young defenseman who get's the job done. I think the Canucks really got the better d-man in return though as Gragnani is a skilled young man with good hands and has already some impressive stats. Consider that he is 2nd on the Sabres in both plus/minus as well as minutes on the PP and that is a player I'll take any day of the week.

Probably the most important question hockey card wise is do I keep on collecting Cody Hodgson card as a player collection? What do you think? I'm no fair-weather fan of Cody but I'm not sure I'd love to collect other team's cards as a player collection.

I guess hockey is a business, and business' can be brutal. I learned that today the heard way.

TRADE #3

To Vancouver:

Andrew Gordon (RW)

To Anaheim:

Sebastien Erixon (D)

This was more of a minor trade but as far as I'm concerned we got a compact and speedy winger that has struggled to break into the NHL even though he was drafted almost 8 years ago. He has 12 NHL games under his belt and has produced 2 points in that time.

So that's it trade wise for the Canucks. What did you guys think of the deadline? There were 15 trades (1 lower than last year) and how did you enjoy the coverage of the deadline whether it be TSN, Sportsnet and/or Score? Do you have info on Kassien? Were you ever in my position where your favourite player got moved from your favourite team? 

GO NUCKS GO!