Canucks' Demko opens up on injury recovery, hasn't ruled out Oilers game
Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko is getting incredibly close to making his return. The star netminder hasn’t played since early March when he left a game against the Winnipeg Jets early.
Demko spoke to the media today for the first time in a few weeks and confirmed it was a knee injury he suffered. The American goalie said that he’s felt “great” in the two practices he’s participated in over the past few days.
“I appreciate that the staff has been around me, kind of matching my focus level and my determination to get back. Obviously it takes a village,” said Demko after today’s session on the ice. “We’re in a great spot right now and I feel very fortunate to be in the position that I am right now. I’m excited to get back and see what games I can play.”
With a huge game against the Edmonton Oilers looming this weekend, the Canucks will surely want their starting goalie available. However, his current recovery plan has a game next week set as the big date.
“I’ve talked to the coaching staff, and our goal since pretty much close to day one was to get back for the Calgary game,” explained the goalie, who characterized his recovery process as aggressive.”Obviously, I do feel good right now. I think the timeline that we’ve been trying to follow and pushing for has been that Calgary game.”
The Calgary Flames game in question is next Tuesday at Rogers Arena. This would mean that the Canucks would need to start Casey DeSmith or Arturs Silovs — neither of whom have inspired much confidence lately — against the high-octane Oilers.
“At this point, I honestly don’t know, but we’ll talk,” said Rick Tocchet when asked if Demko will start on Saturday. “We’re going to kind of go day-by-day.”
When Demko returns to the lineup, he has no concerns about his ability to get up to speed quickly.
“I’ve played close to 50 games this year and that was just a month ago,” he said today. “It’s not like coming off the offseason when you haven’t played a game in three, four months and then you’re trying to get it back. I feel great, I feel pretty much right where I was when I went down.”
“Super confident,” continued Demko when asked about the state of his timing. “Like I said we’ve been working around the clock a lot of these few days. Last four weeks have been double sessions.”
The goalie isn’t the only one who is confident about his play upon return. Tocchet is also happy with what he’s seeing in practice.
“Really good, I think he’s ahead of schedule. He’s looking really good so another great step for us,” said the head coach. “When he does come back obviously it instills confidence… Thatch is our rock.”
Demko has a 34-13-2 record so far this season, a .917% save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average, and five shutouts. He was widely considered a Vezina Trophy candidate before his injury.
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