The Vancouver Canucks might be getting some reinforcements back sooner rather than later.
Donnie & Dhali’s Rick Dhaliwal gave an update on the status of goaltender Thatcher Demko on his hit Tuesday morning:
“Thatcher Demko [was] out there this morning. You know, he’s getting closer. I’m not sure that Demko is days away, but if everything goes according to plan, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s back next week. There’s reports he’s getting closer – I can confirm those. He’s taken more and more shots, tons of side to side movement. Hopefully, next week, next Tuesday in Boston would make sense if he does. Hopefully, he returns soon, but he is getting closer. That we know.”
And that remains true as the Canucks goaltender participated in Wednesday’s practice. Afterwards, Demko met with the media ahead of their six-game Eastern road trip:
“It’s obviously been a long road,” Demko said. “It’s nice to be back with the guys a little bit. Definitely [have] a little more energy, pep in my step coming back and being out with those guys. There’s still a lot of work to do, I think, but I feel really good. This is the best I’ve felt in seven-eight months. Finally have a light at the end of the tunnel and have a lot of direction in what we’re trying to accomplish.
“We’ve gotten some huge progress and big jumps in the last two-three-four weeks, so we’re moving in the right direction for sure.”
The American netminder also highlighted how his practices are going:
“I’m seeing pucks from the twins [Daniel and Henrik Sedin] and Sergei [Gonchar] was out there a little bit with me. Then I come out here and things are moving really quick compared to those guys. So, 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 it’s not going to be perfect the first or second game back. I have to be able to manage my expectations in that regard. Just do everything you can to make that transition easier.”
The 6’4″ goalie gave some insight into the process and when he was finally able to understand what was happening after such a mysterious injury:
“Shortly after Penticton, we really nailed down what the issue was specifically, which was nice to finally understand what was going on. And that gave us a clear picture of different options that we had moving forward. It was kind of just trial and error at that point, and we ended up finding something that worked really well for me.”
Demko, 28, has been out of the lineup since Game 2 against the Nashville Predators in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Before that, he was having a career year, boasting a 35-14-2 record with a 2.45 goals against average (GAA) and a .918 save percentage (S%). These efforts earned him the runner-up for the Vezina trophy as the leagues best goaltender.
While Kevin Lankinen has done an admirable job in Demko’s absence (8-3-2 record with a 2.71 GAA and a .902 S%), the club will receive a massive boost once he’s able to return to the lineup. There is no date pinpointed for his return; the club is hoping it will be at some point on their upcoming road trip.
