VANCOUVER — Fans and reporters see a goalie who keeps getting hurt. The Vancouver Canucks see someone strong enough to keep coming back.
Thatcher Demko, who has endured six injuries in less than two years, faces another mighty test of resolve and recovery after the Canucks announced Tuesday that the 2024 Vezina Trophy runner-up will undergo hip surgery next week and won’t play again this season.
The 30-year-old came out of the lineup for the third time this season after allowing three goals on six shots to the Maple Leafs in the first period of a 5-0 loss in Toronto on Jan. 10.
Demko has been restricted by injuries — including a rare tear of the popliteus muscle in his knee that caused him to miss the start of last season — to just 43 National Hockey League games since his all-star, 35-win season in 2023-24. So Tuesday’s news was not unexpected.
“You just feel for your teammate and hope that he takes all the time he needs,” Canucks winger Jake DeBrusk said after skating ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the San Jose Sharks. “He has tried to come back a couple times this year, and you just see the work he puts in to keep trying to come back.
“I don’t know if it’s necessarily under-appreciated; I just don’t think it’s understood what goes on in the human mind when you’re injured. You’re trying to come back and you’re going through all these things that are painful. You’re doing all these things every single day. You’re up in the morning, getting ice on, doing all this stuff. Mentally, it takes a toll. And then you finally get back in, you’re all excited, and then next thing you know, you have a setback and you’ve got to do it over again.”
Just as injuries reach a critical mass in the arena, they can reach a critical mass with fans and reporters. Two of the toughest Canucks in history, defencemen Sami Salo and Chris Tanev, became the butt of jokes at times in Vancouver for the frequency of their injuries.
“You know, he’s probably the most well-respected guy on this team,” centre Teddy Blueger said of Demko. “When you see that criticism sometimes in the media (for getting injured), it’s a little bit disappointing to see that kind of reaction because behind the scenes, you see how much time and effort he puts in.
“Demmer’s very, very professional, probably one of the most professional, prepared players I’ve ever played with. And he puts in a ton of work and effort, and he plays through a lot, too. If something’s bugging him, he goes until he can’t move anymore, basically. So, yeah, guys in here respect him a ton.”
“That’s why I think he’s such a big competitor,” DeBrusk added. “Whatever’s thrown at him, it doesn’t really change how he is. As a goaltender, I think you’re so used to just worrying about the next day, the next stop. I think it’s something that’s similar in terms of (overcoming injuries). I don’t know if that’s necessarily appreciated.”
Demko was arguably the best goalie in the NHL in October when he won four of seven starts — the Canucks scored two goals in his three losses — stopped 92.6 per cent of shots and led the league in goals saved above expected.
But his game noticeably began to slip in early November and, after a couple of disconcerting “maintenance days,” Demko came out of the lineup after the first period against the Winnipeg Jets on Remembrance Day.
Demko missed a month with that injury, believed to be related to his groin, and coach Adam Foote later revealed that the American goalie had been battling more than one medical issue.
“Yeah, it’s tough,” Foote said Tuesday. “I mean, to watch him go through what he’s gone through, he’s fought through it for a while now. When I had a long conversation with him, he knows (surgery is) the right thing for him to do, to give us his best and clean up (his injuries).
“You can tell it just gradually got to him where, you know, it jumps from compensating to a sore back to maybe a pulled groin, you’re fighting through. It moves around. The cleanup in that area (around his hip) will take him out of that discomfort and, you know … put him back in a place where he can play more … than he’s been playing the last couple years.”
In a press release Tuesday morning, general manager Patrik Allvin said Demko’s surgery will allow him to be ready for the start of training camp next season, when the goalie will be starting a three-year, $25.5-million (USD) contract extension he signed last summer.
More injury news
Foote confirmed that Canuck winger Brock Boeser is in concussion protocol after being shouldered in the head by Pittsburgh Penguin Bryan Rust at the buzzer of Sunday’s 3-2 Vancouver loss. With no history of supplemental discipline during his 685-game career, Rust, 33, was suspended by the NHL for three games.
Boeser missed seven games and nearly three weeks with a concussion last season after a headshot by former Los Angeles King Tanner Jeannot, a multiple-offender who also was suspended three games.
“I talked to him yesterday,” Foote said of Boeser. “He’s in the protocol for probably a week, but he says he felt a lot better yesterday (than Sunday). He didn’t feel that it affected his neck, which I wasn’t sure. I was worried about his neck, but Brock’s tough. It was good news to hear him speak and say, ‘This isn’t as bad as what I’ve had in the past.’ So that’s a good sign, but who knows, right?”
Foote also revealed that rookie defenceman Zeev Buium, the biggest piece acquired from the Minnesota Wild in last month’s trade of Quinn Hughes, suffered a broken bone when struck by a puck near his cheek in the first period against Pittsburgh.
The 20-year-old finished the game in a full face shield, but will probably not play again until after February’s Olympic break. Foote said surgery is not expected, but a second medical opinion is being sought.
“We just have to do the right thing,” the coach said. “But what I like is his courage to play. It shows great things for the future.”
Raising Kane’s price
You know there are extra scouts in Rogers Arena when the Canucks’ in-house media are being moved in with the general media on the right side of the press row, as is happening on Tuesday.
A lot of the scouting focus will be on Evander Kane, the free-agent eligible winger who moved to the top of Allvin’s trade block with last week’s move of Kiefer Sherwood to the Sharks. The Canucks have given Kane’s agent permission to speak to other teams about the player’s expectations for his next contract, which could increase his trade value.
The Edmonton Oilers made the 34-year-old a contract dump after last season, and the Canucks surrendered only a fourth-round pick to accommodate Kane’s desire to play in his hometown of Vancouver.
The Canucks notified the 31 other NHL clubs in November that their UFA-eligible players were available. These still include Kane, Blueger and David Kampf.
“I think there’s a lot of names that are out there,” Kane told reporters about trade speculation. “And all of a sudden, just because a member of the Vancouver media decided to tweet it out, you know, I’ve got a big scrum today. So, yeah, it’s part of the process. It’s part of the way business is in the NHL.”
Kane has had an uneven, mostly disappointing season, with nine goals and 24 points in 51 games. But he has been more noticeable recently, and what really interests other teams are the left winger’s 97 career playoff games, which included runs to the Stanley Cup Final with the Oilers the last two seasons.
“I don’t think anybody anticipated, from top to bottom, the season going the way it’s gone,” Kane said of his Canucks experience. “I think every single year with the team that’s in last place, changes happen. I think everybody’s disappointed with how the season has gone. Nobody wanted to be in last place.”
Tuesday’s lineup
With Boeser and Buium out, the Canucks have recalled top forward prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki and defenceman Victor Mancini from the American Hockey League.
This is the way Canucks skated this morning:
Forwards
DeBrusk-Pettersson-Karlsson
O’Connor-Chytil-Lekkerimaki
Ohgren-Blueger-Garland
Hoglander-Raty-Kane
Defencemen
M. Pettersson-Willander
E. Pettersson (Jr)-Hronek
Joseph-Myers
Goalies
Lankinen
Tolopilo
Expected scratches
Kampf, Sasson, Mancini
