Ex-Raiders Hodgson reflects on Manson’s ceremony; own career

“That’s probably one of the best things I remember about Dave—he always had a smile on his face,” said former teammate Dan Hodgson. “He was always pretty much in good spirits. He was always willing to help out a friend, let alone teammates, just like that. He’s all around just a great guy.”

“He was good to have around as a person and he was great to have around the ice as a teammate for sure. He was always there for you, he never let you down,” Hodgson continued.

It is because of this and his undeniable toughness, that the Raiders are retiring Manson’s No. 4 in the wooden rafters of the Art Hauser Centre on Friday, Feb. 12, before the Raiders face the Regina Pats.

“I was very happy for Dave,” said Hodgson upon hearing the news about Manson’s jersey retirement. “It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. I was very, very happy and thrilled for him and his family.”

Manson played in the Raiders’ golden years from 1983 to 1986, including the 1985 Memorial Cup. Hodgson was the skipper that year the Raiders sailed as far as you could.

The Raiders had one of the best Memorial Cup appearances in history. They scored 29 goals in just five tournament games. Hodgson himself had 13 assists in the tournament, and five in one game. All of those still hold up today as tournament records.

When asked whether those records could be broken, Hodgson said he actually hoped they would, to see the game of hockey itself continue to improve, but thought it unlikely with how the game has changed since then, with more emphasis but on systems and attention to defensive detail.

“You’ve got to have a great game and a great tournament to break those records,” chuckled Hodgson.

Along with captaining the Raiders to Memorial Cup glory, Hodgson also captained Team Canada to win the World Junior Championships in 1985 in Sweden.

“To be on the only player in history to do it, that’s very special to me,” said Hodgson, who was awarded with the Canadian Major Junior Hockey Player of the Year award.

The Raiders’ road to those Memorial Cup feats, had a humble beginning.

After dominating the SJHL ranks, the Raiders won just 16 games when they made the jump up to major junior. But just two short seasons later, the Raiders were crowned as the best major junior team in the nation. Hodgson was around for all three of those seasons.

“It’s all a big life lesson in there. You go through hardships to finally believe in a goal and finally to reach a goal,” said Hodgson. “That was our goal from day one, was to get to the cup and eventually win it.”

“It just goes to show that when you believe in something and you stick to a game plan, which we did for all those years with the core group we had, you accomplish something that special. It was a special group of men, that whole team.”

Hodgson and the ‘Flyers list’

How Hodgson ended up on the Raiders is an interesting story.

As a 16-year-old, Hodgson made the Spokane Flyers out of camp in the 1981-1982 season, but instead decided to play his second year of Junior A with the Cowichan Valley Capitals. Although he had no way of realizing it at the time, that decision allowed him to become a Raider.

The Flyers then folded and its active roster players went out in the dispersal draft. Their protected list was then purchased by the Raiders as they prepared for their inaugural season in 1982-1983.

Had Hodgson played with the Flyers that year, he in all likelihood would not have ended in Prince Albert.

“That was a huge move without knowing it being a huge move,” said Hodgson. “That allowed me to stay on that list.

“[Current Raiders president] Dale McFee, Dave Goertz, Dave Pasin, myself and a few others—the big core of that [Memorial Cup] team was on that list. It was kind of destiny taking shape,” he explained.

Hodgson personally had a historic WHL career with the Raiders. Despite just playing 202 games, Hodgson is sixth all time, in both WHL career points (493) and assists (305).

In Raiders franchise history, Hodgson has set the records for goals, assists and points in both the career and single season categories.

Although he hasn’t suited up for the Raiders in three decades, he still feels very connected to the team and Prince Albert.

“People ask me that all the time, but I believe I will always be a Raider. Once a Raider, always a Raider,” said Hodgson. “I feel that Raider pride as much as any team I played for.”

Big Day Friday

The Raiders will honour Manson before Friday’s game against the Regina Pats, then on Saturday at the “Roast of Dave Manson.”

Manson will become the second player in Raiders franchise history to be honoured with a jersey retirement. The first was Mike Modano, whose No. 9 was lifted to the rafters on Nov. 1, 2013. The Raiders also played the Pats that day, beating them 7-1.

When that No. 4 banner slowly ascends up to the rafters, be sure to look over at Manson for that trademark smile.

jdandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea

by Jeff D'Andrea

Ex-Raiders Hodgson reflects on Manson’s ceremony; own career

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