VANCOUVER -- Thatcher Demko is back practicing, and though the Vancouver Canucks’ No. 1 goalie still doesn’t have an exact timeline for his first game since the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, recent improvements have him confident it is coming.
Demko spoke to the media Wednesday for the first time since the first day of training camp, which he wasn’t able to take part in because of a lower-body injury, and revealed it was to the popliteus, a small muscle behind his left knee.
“It's obviously been a long road, so it's nice to be back with the guys a little bit, definitely a little more energy, a little pepper in my step coming back and being out with those guys,” Demko said. “Still a lot of work to do, I think, but I feel really good. It's the best I felt, obviously, in 7-8 months, so [I] finally have a little bit of a light at the end of the tunnel, for sure, and have a lot of direction in what we're trying to accomplish and we've gotten some huge progress and big jumps the last probably two, three, four weeks, so we're moving in the right direction.”
Demko sustained the injury late in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round against the Nashville Predators on April 21, which was his third game back after missing 5 1/2 weeks with a different knee injury sustained March 9 against the Winnipeg Jets. He was back skating while the Canucks played the Edmonton Oilers in the second round and said afterward that he expected to return for the Western Conference Final if the Canucks had not been eliminated in Game 7 against the Oilers on May 20.
Six months later, Demko will join Vancouver (9-6-3) on its six-game road trip that begins at the Ottawa Senators on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, SN1, SNP, TVAS2) but is trying not to focus on a return date.
“I'm a day-to-day guy; I think you have to be,” Demko said. “Admittedly through the process, I slipped into the future-seeking mindset, and it never really ended up too well for me, so just sticking with it day by day and I definitely know that I'll be playing here. I can't give you a timeline yet, but I'll definitely be back and just enjoying being where I'm at today and keep making progress tomorrow.”
Demko was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the League’s best goalie last season, finishing second in voting to Connor Hellebuyck of the Jets after setting NHL career bests in wins (35), shutouts (five), goals-against average (2.45) and save percentage (.918) despite being limited to 51 games. The 28-year-old has a 116-81-17 regular-season record with a 2.79 GAA, .912 save percentage and eight shutouts in 219 games (213 starts) over seven seasons with the Canucks, who selected him in the second round (No. 36) of the 2014 NHL Draft.
Demko has been doing goalie drills with new Canucks goaltending coach Marko Torenius since training camp and taking shots for close to a month from assistant coaches, including Daniel and Henrik Sedin. But he said getting back into full team practices over the past 10 days has been another level.
“It's a whole different beast,” Demko said. “I come out here and things are moving really quick, so it's another step up, and I have to get acclimated at this level and then obviously the game is a different piece. So, I know it's not going to be perfect my first or second game back. I have to be able to manage my expectations in that regard but just do everything you can to make sure that transition is smooth.”
The focus now is on pushing himself to the point where he’s confident that once he is back, it’s for the rest of the season.
“I can't feel good and go back into game action and then have a setback two weeks into playing,” Demko said. “I’ve got to put this thing through hell and know that I can sustain that and withstand the pressures of being in the NHL every day and playing games, waking up, practicing, traveling, doing all this stuff. I need to make sure that I'm ready for the long haul and then do everything that I can to make sure that I am, so I think this last -- like I said, I still have a little bit of work to do -- but I think the last stretch of it is going to be just that capacity build and making sure that I can withhold the schedule of the NHL.”
