Last year’s amazing run, which saw the New Westminster Salmonbellies turn a fourth-place finish into a Mann Cup march, proved to be an elixir for many, fans and players alike.
The thrill of the win and the sting of defeat – falling 4-2 to Peterborough in the national championship, after winning the first two games – stoked the fires of many, and proved to be a swan song for some.
Chalk New West captain Curtis Hodgson down for the former.
“I am pumped and excited to be able to play another year with the ‘Bellies,” Hodgson told the Record. “I think all of us feel there’s something to finish, that we were on the cusp of doing something really special and want to give it another try.”
He gets that opportunity tonight (Thursday) as the team launches the new season 7:30 p.m. at Queen's Park Arena against the Maple Ridge Burrards -- the same Burrards who the 'Bellies battled in a seven-game marathon in last year's Western Lacrosse Association semifinal.
Since his first game in the WLA in 2002, playing one game each for Burnaby and Coquitlam as a junior call-up, Hodgson has jumped onto the floor with a passion of teenager driving his first nice car. He’s put the pedal to the metal ever since, and since joining New West in 2010 missed only six regular season games.
The longtime ‘Bellies defender caused some alarm bells to ring last fall when he announced he was retiring from the Vancouver Stealth of the National Lacrosse League. He noted that decision was always independent from his views on playing again in New West.
“I think there were a number of reasons (to retire), but I just reached a point where I couldn’t do everything that was required to maintain and play at the pro level, with the practice and travel that involves,” he noted.
The past few years have also seen him move from a classroom role, teaching at Burnaby Central, to an administrative job at Burnaby South Secondary.
In his day job as vice-principal at Burnaby South, Hodgson juggles the various tasks of an educator and administrator. It’s his sporting hobby where he gets to let it all hang out, wrangling opposing players from the shooting alley and battling for loose balls. Priorities are still family and career first, but lacrosse has played such a large role in his life that he doesn’t want to leave it until he’s ready.
He’s not ready yet.
For a guy entering his 15th season of senior lacrosse and fresh off a Mann Cup run, the dog days of summer are never a concern.
“I’m definitely excited to play lacrosse, and last year was a great experience, despite the outcome,” Hodgson noted. “I think the biggest thing I got from it was experience – you gain a lot of experience playing a second season like that.”
New West GM/president Dan Richardson was just as excited as his captain when Hodgson signed up for another season.
“He’s absolutely back, and he’s our leader. He’s looked good at training camp and it’s like he has almost renewed energy because he didn’t play with the Stealth this year. He looks hungry. Our camp has been a very upbeat, fast-paced camp and the coaches are getting to know our players and vice versa. (First-year head coach Rory McDade) is very much wanting that fast pace coming out of the backend, and so far we like what we see.”
A first team all-star with Burnaby in 2005, 2007 and 2008 as well as the league’s top defender in both 2007 and ’08, Hodgson has experienced numerous ups and downs on the senior A circuit.
The first six seasons were spent anchoring his hometown Lakers’ lineup, making the post-season four times.
At the NLL level, he was a prominent player with the Washington and now Vancouver Stealth franchise for 13 seasons, enjoying the spoils of a league crown in 2010 when the club was based in Everett. Since relocating to Langley in 2014, the club has struggled on both the floor and gate.
Hodgson sat out the 2009 WLA season and signed with New West, where he settled in beside fellow top defender Ian Hawksbee to make a formidable, veteran backline. When Hawksbee decided to retire following last September’s Mann Cup, many people assumed Hodgson would follow suit.
It isn’t a case of tempting Dorian Gray, as the ‘Bellies captain said the timing wasn’t right because the desire was still there.
“Our strength as a group just made us grow and come together as it would getting to a Mann Cup,” he noted. “Once you get a taste of getting that close, you want to get back there.”
It’s a good thing for New West, which continues to transition youth into the lineup while ensuring veteran leaders like Hodgson and Brett Mydske bring hard-edged experience. There’s no substitute for a love for the game, either.
