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Cody Hodgson has been telling his story for the better part of half an hour, reliving the pain and confusion, reliving the fear and the darkness, when asked if he’s ever bitter about the way his hockey career ended.

There’s a pause at the end of the telephone line.

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“I can’t look at it like that,” Hodgson finally says. “I got six years in the NHL and, to be honest, I was lucky. I see some of the people that deal with this on a regular basis; not being able to play hockey is such a tiny thing.

“I think I’ve lived a blessed life.”

Blessed, he says. As we’ll see, that’s an interesting perspective; but if you think you know Hodgson based on his time with the Vancouver Canucks, we invite you to think again.

This story was originally supposed to be a couple paragraphs in another piece for our Canucks at 50 series. That yarn highlighted Game 8, the infamous regular-season meeting in January of 2012 between the Canucks and Bruins in Boston that followed the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, a game in which Hodgson scored the game-winning goal, drew another assist and was among the best players on the ice.