After an improbable comeback from a mysterious illness, former NHLer Cody Hodgson retires again

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — On the way home after the game, Cody Hodgson called his dad.

It was one of those familiar conversations between a hockey player at any level from peewee to pro and their father. A chat focused on the game.

What did you see on that scoring chance?

What would you do differently here?

How did you feel in that situation?

It was a hard-won slice of normalcy for Cody Hodgson, who we profiled at The Athletic earlier this year.

GO DEEPER

A mysterious illness halted his promising NHL career. Eight years later, hope and a comeback

A one-time top prospect and top-line NHL center, Hodgson's hockey career was cut short by a genetic disorder called malignant hyperthermia. Hodgson's disorder causes muscle tears and organ damage, a direct result of overexertion and heat sensitivity. It abruptly ended his career in 2016 and kept Hodgson out of professional hockey — understandably — for eight years.

Over the course of the past 12 months, however, Hodgson had found a way to manage his dosages of medication and push himself physically again. He dropped 30 pounds. He spent months working out with a top trainer, Brad Wheeler, who trains a constellation of NHL stars. He signed a tryout contract with the Nashville Predators' AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, and then succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams on one of the league's top teams, scoring five goals in his first six games.

CODY HODGSON, ARE YOU SERIOUS!!#MILhockey pic.twitter.com/zarMMzDv6x

— y - Milwaukee Admirals (@mkeadmirals) March 2, 2024

These moments in the car postgame, talking to your dad, these are the sort of moments that Hodgson hadn't been able to savor for the past eight years, when he was away from the game. They're up there with the thrill of bringing the home crowd to its feet, or quieting the road crowd. The greasy postgame pizza after road games. That incomparable rush that comes from competing, riffing on the ice with a linemate and just playing hockey.

On this night, Hodgson was intent on soaking it all in. He'd already made his decision.

Thirteen AHL games into an incredible comeback story eight years in the making, Hodgson had seen what he needed to see. He'd proven what he needed to prove, at least to himself, which is all that mattered.

And the symptoms from his malignant hyperthermia had returned. Away from his normal routine, in the unstructured environment of life on the road as a professional player, the micro tears to muscles in his back and neck had begun to pile up again. The heat sensitivity aggravated all of it. He was back to working through extended absences from the game and from practice. At one point, he returned home from practice only to find that he couldn't get himself out of his car.

All of that was secondary in this moment. In this moment, he was at peace.

"We're talking about the game and I said, 'I'm done,'" Hodgson told The Athletic over lunch this past weekend. "I just knew something was up. I just didn't feel good when I was skating and I'm having all these symptoms.

"So my dad said, 'OK, well … never mind about the advice then!'"

For Hodgson, the improbable extension of his professional career came to an end because his symptoms resurfaced. While consulting closely with specialists at the University of Toronto, Hodgson had devised a narrow pathway to overcoming his illness in the right conditions.

With breathing exercises and ice baths, he was able to maintain an elite level of athletic performance for a period of about eight months. He got himself into the sort of shape that permits an athlete to play high-level professional hockey. He performed well in an exceedingly difficult league, and still had that natural nose for the net as a goal scorer, which at one point, when he was a much younger man, made him a historic player for Canada's U20 national team and a top-10 NHL draft pick.

Hodgson, a first-round pick selected by the Canucks in 2008, was once one of the NHL's brightest young stars. (Jeff Vinnick / NHLI via Getty Images)

More than that, Hodgson has impressed the Admirals organization. On a team loaded with top draft picks and young talent, the Admirals welcomed Hodgson and kept him around in part because he was producing, and in part because of his evident passion for the game.

The club came to value some of the old-school toughness Hodgson demonstrated playing through injury on his return — particularly a broken rib that Hodgson sustained in his first game back. It was an injury sustained in part because Hodgson was playing professional hockey with off-the-shelf gear.

Hodgson was an additive contributor in Milwaukee, but more than that, the team saw him as a good model for their younger players.

In a more controlled environment at home, Hodgson's routine enabled him to stay on this narrow pathway — where he wasn't taking too much medication to have side effects, but was free of the usual debilitating symptoms of malignant hyperthermia — but the symptoms began to return when the Admirals went on the road to the Western Conference, to play against teams in warmer climates like San Diego and Denver.

In the first game of the trip, Hodgson continued his torrid pace, recording a goal and an assist in San Diego. Then the symptoms returned.

"The heat sensitivity overloaded me, especially without access to my regular routine," Hodgson said, grabbing demonstratively at the back of his neck in the humidity of a 90-degree day in Nashville. "I can tell even now with the heat, I can feel my neck tighten up."

On the flight back to Milwaukee following the road trip, Hodgson could tell that something wasn't right. He was in discomfort, and could feel some of the familiar symptoms that had sapped his ability to perform eight years prior. It was mid-March, and Hodgson wouldn't appear in another professional game with the Admirals until four weeks later.

In the first period of his next game, Hodgson made the decision.

"I knew in the first period that it was going to be my last game," Hodgson said. "I had heat pads all over my body and all over my hands. It was too much. I knew I was done. I knew I wasn't going to be able to continue.

"I actually told my winger Egor Afanasyev, and we have lots of chemistry, I like playing with him. He set me up a couple times, I set him up a couple times. So then he starts saying, 'Don't stop!' to me between shifts," Hodgson said with a laugh. "It was nice to have a good game, but my back was tightening up and I was super hot, my neck was tight, I was getting loopy. It's just not a recipe to play professional hockey."

There was finality for Hodgson that night, and he soaked it up. He spent time taking in the crowd throughout the game.

"You don't get to play in front of thousands of people in men's league," he said.

Despite sticking to a strict diet, he enjoyed a slice of postgame pizza. He thanked Admirals general manager Scott Nichol for the opportunity on the bus back to Milwaukee. And he called his dad to discuss the game on his way home.

"I was just trying to enjoy it," Hodgson said. "Because I didn't get that the first time.

"A lot of guys go into their last game knowing it's their last game, and I didn't get that. I didn't have that feeling of really being able to enjoy playing professional hockey.

"The last time I had to stop, I had to stop abruptly. I didn't know what was going on at the time. I had a lot more stress, the pressure you put on yourself, the pressure from the fans and the coaches. This time I knew, and I could really take it in."

While Hodgson's malignant hyperthermia triggered, and cut his comeback attempt short for personal safety reasons, his effort to get back to this point was remarkable. He'd returned to pro hockey, and was successful, until his disorder reasserted itself.

"If I'd come back and I couldn't touch the puck, I mean, it would've been fine, a lot of people expected that," Hodgson said.

"A lot of my close friends, especially those that play professional hockey — I mean, taking six months off is a long time in this sport. Taking a year off is extremely difficult. Taking eight years? My friends were worried about me. Their reaction was, 'Don't hurt yourself!' So I think a lot of them didn't think I'd be able to play more than a couple games, never mind producing at the level that I was able to when I was feeling well."

There's some closure for Hodgson that he was able to perform. That ultimately his fate was sealed by a disorder outside of his control, as opposed to being about his will or skill level or abilities as a hockey player.

"I promised myself that if I ever felt (healthy) enough I would try it, no matter when it happened, even if it was eight years later," Hodgson said. "Now I know. I'm just not able to do it, so I'm good. I'm at peace, more than I ever was in the last eight years.

"I answered the question that I could play again. Maybe someone else would look at it objectively and conclude something different, but I thought I could keep up with the kids!"

When The Athletic caught up with Hodgson, he was in Nashville to close out some affairs in preparation for a move full-time back to Toronto to be closer to family. As he considers what's next, he's at peace with the end of his hockey career. And he's excited by what he learned in launching his comeback attempt and how it will shape his lifestyle going forward.

"It allows me to not be afraid," Hodgson said. "When I first finished they told me not to go for a run, avoid strenuous prolonged activity, high heat. Now I know that I can do those things and still be OK.

"My lifestyle is so much better now. I have a routine where I can wake up in the morning and do the breathing exercises, have a cold tub, do some pilates and go for a run. Before, I would be terrified of that. So I was trying to stay as healthy as possible, but I didn't think it would be in the cards for me to be in shape and enjoy physical activity the way that I could as a kid."

Hodgson is also proud of the reaction from families and other people managing their malignant hyperthermia or RYR-1 disorder, whom he's heard from as coverage of his comeback attempt spread awareness about the disorder.

"I came back because I wanted to play," Hodgson said, "but it was nice that when I got the story out, I got tons of calls from families asking about how I was able to function with the disorder and keep it under control. I see that as a real positive.

"When people call me and ask me for advice, I just say, 'Don't stop thinking it's possible to get back to a normal routine.' It might not be exactly how I do it, with the breathing exercises and the ice baths or different types of medication, but find what works for you and don't resign yourself to thinking it has to be this way forever. Keep working until you find a solution."

(Photo: Morry Gash / AP Photo)