Former NHLer Cody Hodgson retires after making pro hockey comeback

A former NHL scoring threat is calling it a day after making a surprising comeback.

On Thursday, in a piece by Thomas Drance of The Athletic, forward Cody Hodgson revealed he is retiring from professional hockey for a second time.

Hodgson had to step away from the game at the end of 2015-16 due to malignant hyperthermia, a rare muscle disorder. He came into the NHL as a prospect who could become a legitimate goal-scoring machine, so it came as a shock that Hodgson had to retire at the age of 26.

However, after eight years, the 34-year-old was able to get himself into a good bill of health, getting in shape with Brad Wheeler, a trainer who has worked with a plethora of NHLers. In January, Hodgson signed a tryout deal with the Milwaukee Admirals, the Nashville Predators’ American Hockey League affiliate.

No one could have predicted what would happen next.

The Admirals, who were already one of the best teams in the AHL, were bolstered when they inserted the Toronto native into the lineup. After getting his feet under him after two games, Hodgson went on a run of scoring five goals over the next four games, scoring his first almost eight years to the day of his last goal in professional hockey.

Despite playing well in his return, the illness that forced him to retire returned, and the small tears to the muscles in his neck and back had started to become a regular occurrence again, having to sit out nearly a month. After a game against the Rockford IceHogs on April 14, Hodgson determined it was time to hang up his skates for good.

“I knew in the first period that it was going to be my last game,” Hodgson told Drance in the interview. “I had heat pads all over my body and all over my hands. It was too much. I knew I was done. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to continue.”

In 13 games with the Admirals, he totaled six games and eight assists. Hodgson admitted that it was a peaceful feeling getting to go out on his own terms this time around.

“I was just trying to enjoy it because I didn’t get that the first time. A lot of guys go into their last game knowing it’s their last game, and I didn’t get that.”

In 328 NHL games over six years between the Canucks, Buffalo Sabres and Predators, Hodgson had 64 goals and 142 points.