Hodgson’s trip to ‘the show’ makes for exciting week back home

By Mark Ribble

LEAMINGTON — It was a whirlwind week in the Hodgson household last week.

What began as a regular day on Monday, March 21, got a little more exciting when Hayden Hodgson called his parents to tell them he had signed his first NHL contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.

That news delighted the family back home in Leamington, but the best was yet to come.

On Wednesday, Hayden texted his parents that he’d been called up from the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms to the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers had instructed him to meet the team in St. Louis and expect to suit up for their Thursday game against the Blues. It gets better…. Shortly after Hayden’s text, Todd got a text from a number he didn’t recognize, which turned out to be a Flyers team official informing him that the team was flying he and his wife Christine to Thursday’s game.

Todd asked about their daughter Kennedy, who eagerly wanted to see her brother’s debut and the Flyers didn’t hesitate to include Kennedy too.

The trio got to St. Louis in plenty of time to settle in at the Four Seasons, where their room overlooked the famous St. Louis Arch.

“It all happened so fast,” said Christine from their Leamington home on Sunday. “All of a sudden we were in St. Louis watching him take warm ups.”

Hayden Hodgson takes warmups at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis as his Philadelphia Flyers were getting set to take on the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, March 24.

Photo courtesy of the Hodgson family

Hayden has plied his trade in the East Coast Hockey League for half a dozen seasons before catching on with Lehigh this season. It was a big step up into the American Hockey League but it turned out to be the most important step of his entire hockey career.

He started scoring goals for the Phantoms and soon became coach Ian Laperriere’s go-to guy.

Laperriere said in January that he thought Hayden had what it took to go even higher and get a shot at playing in the NHL.

As warm-ups concluded, Todd, Christine and Kennedy had to pinch themselves watching Hayden shoot the puck around with such NHL stars as James Van Riemsdyk and Travis Konecny.

They were extra thrilled when the starting lineup was announced and Hayden was the right winger on the starting line.

It gets even better …

Just like it was written in a novel and meant to be, Hayden Hodgson grabbed an assist on Konecny’s goal just barely six minutes into the game. The cherry on top of the sundae for Hayden Hodgson —and his family and friends — came in the third period when he slammed a rebound home for his first NHL goal.

Dozens of friends and family watched from Leamington, including his grandparents — Roger and Lorraine Hodgson and Sharon Loop — who were all super excited to see his debut and ecstatic at his first goal.

Christine’s father, the late Ken Loop, was one of Hayden’s biggest fans, but passed away a year ago before seeing Hayden realize his dream.

But Christine thinks Ken was there in spirit.

“The day we got the call about the trip, a huge rainbow appeared over my dad’s truck parked in our driveway,” she said. “That was definitely a sign.”

Whatever the future holds for Hayden Hodgson, one thing is for sure.

His parents are very proud of the hard work he’s done to get to that level.

“His work ethic got him there,” says Todd. “It would be great if it kept him there too.”

They know there are no guarantees, but if Hayden’s first game is any indication of what’s to come, the Flyers will have a hard time sending him back down.

As for Hayden, he’s very grateful to the fans back home who have supported his long and unconventional journey to the NHL.

“He told me to make sure I thanked everyone on his behalf for all of their support,” says Todd.

Hodgson joins an elite group of Floyd Hillman, Brad Selwood, Randy Manery, Kirk Bowman, Pat Ribble, Kris Manery, Tim Hrynewich and Darren McCarty as Leamington hockey players to make it to the NHL.