Ken Hodge

Kenneth Raymond " Ken " Hodge ( born June 25, 1944 in Birmingham, England) is a former Canadian ice hockey player ( center ), who played from 1964 to 1978 for the Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers of the National Hockey League.

Career

During his junior time Hodge played with Phil Esposito and Poul Popiel in the St. Catharines Teepees in the OHA, which then became the St. Catharines Black Hawks.

After the end of his final junior season, he played briefly with the Buffalo Bisons in the AHL and also came to an insert for the Chicago Black Hawks in the NHL. As the squad the Blackhawks were predominantly kleimgewachsene players, they told Hodge, who won in the 1965/66 season in the NHL, to the role of Abräumers. Since he had still runs generic deficits, he resigned himself to this role, even if they did not correspond to his nature and his offensive skills were not used.

For the 1967/68 season he was discharged together with Phil Esposito and Fred Stanfield in one of the most one-sided swaps of NHL history for Pit Martin, Gilles Marotte and the Boston Bruins. Along with Wayne Cashman and Esposito he was the top forward line of the Bruins. Now, freed from the unpopular role as a tough guy, he used his excellent shot and was one of the best scorers in the league. But with the fans this new role came to no good. The more he took a turn to score goals, the more he was booed. The audience had a body hugging gambling attacker expected and he did not want to meet. With his coach Harry Sinden he could handle not good. When he handed the coaching job to Tom Johnson after the Stanley Cup victory in 1970, Hodge reached over 100 points, which was also due to frequent inserts the powerplay for the first time. He put his game on a new bat. Until then, he had played with a strongly curved bat, now with an almost straight stick, he took the backhand shot to his repertoire.

When Don Cherry took over the Bruins as a coach, Hodge had a problem again with the trainer. For the 1976/77 season he moved to the New York Rangers. In return, Rick Middleton came to Boston. After a regular season in New York, he had in the second season mostly in the AHL with the New Haven Nighthawks. In 1980, he finished his career.

His son Ken Hodge Jr. played in the NHL. In 1991, he was All- Rookie Team in the NHL.

NHL stats

Sporting successes

  • Stanley Cup: 1970 and 1972

Personal Awards

Binghamton Dusters Buffalo Bisons (AHL) 1965–66 NHL season 1967–68 NHL season Tom Johnson (ice hockey) 1976–77 NHL season 1969–70 NHL season 1971–72 NHL season NHL All-Star Team
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