Demko's unfortunate injury could have silver lining for Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are going to have to survive without star goaltender Thatcher Demko.
Head coach Rick Tocchet confirmed today that the starting goalie is out “week-to-week” with a lower-body injury, consistent with the reports that emerged yesterday.
While the Canucks will definitely miss their Vezina Trophy candidate goalie, there could be some positives to take from his absence.
Demko has started the third-most games and faced the fourth-most shots of any NHL goalie so far this season. He’d started 12 of the last 14 games before getting hurt, assuming a heavy workload.
The few weeks off could be a chance for the goalie to get some well-deserved rest and prepare for the upcoming crucial stretch.
“You take the negative with the positive, and I thought of that, because do I want him hurt? No. Do I want him in the net tomorrow? Of course. But how long he’s out, he’s going to definitely get a mental [break] and be fresher for us,” said head coach Tocchet to the media today. “So let’s use it as an advantage for us.”
If you could pick any spot on the calendar for an injury to happen, you might choose these upcoming few weeks.
The team’s schedule is very light over the next month. They play their next eight games at home and there are no back-to-backs. In fact, they have two days of rest in between many of the games.
The Canucks have also been playing some of their best defensive hockey of the season as of late, allowing just three goals over the last four games despite facing some tough Western Conference opponents. That strong play should help ease the transition to Casey DeSmith in net.
“We have a ton of confidence in Case,” said Tyler Myers about the team’s new starting goalie. “He’s been really solid for us as well this year.”
Tocchet said today that he’s not worried about Demko missing the start of the playoffs and that even in a worst-case scenario the goalie should return well before that date.
An injury is never a good thing but the timing of this incident does offer Demko and the Canucks some time to rest before the postseason. With the team’s first home playoff game since 2015 on the horizon, having a rested goalie could prove to be a crucial advantage.