Canucks send centre Cody Hodgson back to Brampton Battalion of OHL

VANCOUVER, B.C. - The Vancouver Canucks returned centre Cody Hodgson to the Brampton Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League on Tuesday, putting on ice the former first-round draft pick's hopes of starting the season with the NHL club.

There were high hopes that Hodgson, the Canadian Hockey League's top player last year, would earn a spot with the Canucks.

However, the 19-year-old from Markham, Ont., suffered a bulging disc during summer training, an injury which kept him out of any contact drills for the first part of training camp. Once healthy, Hodgson failed to impress with his play.

The Canucks picked Hodgson with the 10th overall selection in the 2008 draft. He is too young to play in the American Hockey League until the season is over for his junior team.

Hodgson had 92 points (43 goals, 49 assists) in 53 regular season games with Brampton last year. He added 31 points in the playoffs as Brampton advanced to the OHL final.

When his junior season was over, Hodgson joined the Manitoba Moose, Vancouver's AHL farm team, and had four points (2-2) as Manitoba lost in the Calder Cup final.

Hodgson also was part of the Canadian team that won the gold medal at the world junior championship. He led the tournament with 16 points (5-11) in six games.