Family at the centre of jersey retirement for Prince Albert Raiders great Hodgson – Saskatoon | Globalnews.ca
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The man with the most goals and points in Prince Albert Raiders history now has his number hanging from the rafters of the Art Hauser Centre.
Just over four decades after making his Western Hockey League debut, Dan Hodgson watched as his number 16 jersey was raised Saturday night to sit alongside fellow Raiders greats Mike Modano and Dave Manson.
The evening celebrated the captain who helped bring the Memorial Cup to Prince Albert for the first time.
“Those three great years I had there, for them to recognize it and want to honour me in that way, it really meant a lot,” said Hodgson. “It’s kind of like the icing on the cake for 1983 to 1985.”
Hodgson has gone down as one of the greatest players in WHL history after torching the league between 1983 and 1985 for 188 goals and 493 points in just 204 games, the fifth-most in league history.
That included capturing the 1985 Memorial Cup, in which Hodgson was named tournament MVP after registering 14 points in five games.
It’s a legacy which continues to run throughout the organization according to current Raiders general manager and former defenceman Curtis Hunt, who had Hodgson as his captain during Prince Albert’s championship season.
“You invested in the young players to make us better,” said Hunt during Saturday’s ceremony. “When the stakes were highest, you performed at your best.”
“Whether it was one week between I saw you or a decade, every time we met, ‘Hello, brother.’ The same infectious smile and in an instant, we were laughing about the times that were.”
Several former teammates were either in attendance or sent in video messages for the pre-game ceremony including Hunt, Manson, Dave Pasin, Roydon Gunn, Ken Morrison, Pat Elynuik and former head coach and GM Terry Simpson.
Among the tributes was one of Hodgson’s most fierce rivals in former Saskatoon Blade Wendel Clark, who stood on the other side of the blue line for dozens of intense matchups during the 1980s.
Despite the rivalry, Clark called Hodgson the “best captain I ever had” as the pair won gold together for Team Canada at the 1985 World Juniors in Finland.
“We really bonded quite well with our time in Helsinki over the World Juniors tournament,” said Hodgson. “We carried on our friendship to Toronto, we had lots of fun there together. Right till this day, Clarky and I are good friends. It really shows you the bonds you can make in this game.”
Family was top of mind for Hodgson as he was joined either in-person or virtually by many of those closest to him including his billet family, though he also took time to thank his late parents Sylvia and Dan Sr. for the sacrifices they made in his hockey career.
The Raiders also held a moment of silence Saturday to honour his older brother Wayne, who passed away just three days before his induction ceremony.
A gesture which hit Hodgson deeply, considering the close relationship he had with his eldest sibling.
“I think [the ceremony] was probably going to be the crown jewel in his journey to be able to come to that,” said Hodgson. “We planned on that and we were looking so forward to it, but God had other plans I guess.”
“He was my biggest fan besides mom and dad, but he was a fan in a different way with pictures and memorabilia. I really respected Prince Albert for honouring my brother like that.”
Following his Raiders tenure, Hodgson would go on to play 114 games in the National Hockey League between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks before continuing his career in Europe where he’d play in Austria, Germany and most notably Switzerland where he’d spent 14 seasons.
While hockey took him around the world, Hodgson cites his time in the WHL as some of the most memorable of his career and said it’s an organization which he’s still proud to be a part of.
“Breaking records and winning the Memorial Cup there in Prince Albert were two of the biggest highlights of my career,” said Hodgson. “To be honoured and put up in the rafters with Mike Modano and Dave Manson, it’s something I’ll cherish forever for sure.”
“I am a Raider and I’ll always be a Raider.”
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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