Kammala jumla mai zuwa: Hodgson ya fara wasan hockey a shekara hudu a Haliburton. Yin wasa don Ƙungiyar Hockey na Ƙananan Ƙungiyar Ontario (OMHA) ta Haliburton Huskies, ya kasance abokan aiki tare da Matt Duchene. Su biyun sun kasance abokai na yara kuma sun yi wasa tare a duk lokacin da suke ƙarami da ƙaramin aiki, gami da Brampton Battalion da kuma ƙungiyar ƙasa ta Kanada ta ƙasa da 18 da ƙasa da 20. Iyalinsa kuma sun kasance abokai da dangin Jeff Skinner suna girma a Markham. Hodgson ya buga wasan hockey na bantam tare da Toronto Jr. Canadiens na Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL), ya jagoranci tawagar da ta hada da wasu 'yan wasa hudu.
'Yan wasan NHL na 2008 <unk> Alex Pietrangelo, Tyler Cuma, Josh Brittain da Stefan Della Rovere. Zamaninsa tare da ƙungiyar ya haɗa da gasar zakarun lardi. Daga nan sai Hodgson ya shiga kungiyar Markham Waxers ta OMHA, inda ya yi gasa tare da kungiyarsu ta bantam a 2004 <unk> 05, sannan a matakin tsakar gida a 2005 <unk> 06. Ya yi rikodin kamfen na maki 51 sama da wasanni 30 a kakar wasan sa, yayin da kuma ya yi rikodin taimako daya a wasanni biyu tare da kungiyar ta Junior A. A lokacin da yake aiki tare da shirin Waxers, ya taka leda tare da 'yan wasan NHL na gaba Steven Stamkos da Michael Del Zotto. Hodgson ya kuma taka leda tare da Stamkos a kungiyoyin bazara na shekara-shekara, tun yana da shekaru 11.