Demko gives update on Canucks return: "Light at end of the tunnel"
Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko spoke to the media today for the first time in months.
The netminder gave an update on his return from a mysterious knee injury that’s kept him out of action since last year’s playoffs.
“It’s still a lot of work to do, I think, but I feel really good. That’s that’s the best I’ve felt in seven, eight months,” explained Demko.
“Finally have a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel and have a lot of direction in what we’re trying to accomplish.”
The goalie has made some massive strides over the past few weeks. He’s been practicing with the main group and taking live shots from teammates. He even participated in the team’s bag skate today.
Demko moving as #Canucks end practice with a skate. pic.twitter.com/oA4Wb3l9zd
— Noah Strang (@noahstrang_) November 20, 2024
Demko has been on a long road to this point. He suffered the knee injury in Game 1 of the first round last season. It took a long time to receive the proper diagnosis, but he eventually found a recovery program that is providing results.
The 28-year-old addressed the media at training camp back in August and explained it was such a rare injury that they’d never found another hockey player with the same thing. Since then, it appears lots of progress has been made.
“Shortly after Penticton, we really nailed down what the issue was specifically,” continued Demko. “Was nice to finally understand what was going on. That gave us a clear picture of different options that we had moving forward.”
“It was just trial and error at that point, and we ended up finding something that worked really well for me.”
The Canucks got incredible goaltending from Kevin Lankinen at the start of the season, affording Demko the time he needed to recover. Now that the team has faltered lately, there’s some pressure mounting.
“You want to be out there for your teammates,” said Demko. “I’m not really doing this for me. I think that’s what the basis of playing sports is, trying to be there for other people and help your team succeed and do whatever it takes to do that.”
The Canucks are about to embark on a six-game Eastern Conference road trip. Demko is travelling with the club, but he’s not putting any targets on a return date.
“It’s a whole different beast,” said the goalie about playing in a game compared to practicing. “That’s the stages of rehab… It’s another step up, and I have to get acclimated at this level, and then obviously, the game is a different beast.”
“I know that it’s not going to be perfect the first or second game back.”
“I don’t know when he’s going to play, the timeline, but obviously it’s a lot closer than it was two months ago, let’s put it that way,” said head coach Rick Tocchet today.
Tocchet continued on to say that he’s hopeful it could be on this upcoming road trip.
When healthy, Demko is one of the best goalies in the league. He finished second in Vezina Trophy voting last season despite missing time with another injury. He’ll be massive for the Canucks upon his return and should help boost the team significantly once he finds his game.