Thatcher Demko departed midway through the second period of the Canucks’ 5-0 over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night. With Vancouver already up 4-0 at that point, Casey DeSmith replaced the Canucks’ star goaltender and saw the shutout victory through. It was one of the Canucks’ most complete efforts of the season, and Demko was a key part of it early on.
But it was hard for Canucks fans to enjoy the victory when they weren’t sure what was going on with Demko. A long term injury to Demko could certainly be enough to kill the Canucks’ hopes of making noise in the playoffs. Hopefully, we won’t need to find out if that’s true or not.
After his team’s win tonight, Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet shared that he didn’t think Thatcher Demko’s injury was too serious.
“I haven’t talked to the doctor, I don’t think it’s too serious, but I don’t know, I can’t speculate, I haven’t talked to the doctor,” said Tocchet.
Further, Casey DeSmith shared post game that Demko gave him a heads up that he should be prepared to enter the game, so Demko seems to have known something was wrong and chose not to risk making it worse by staying in a game his team was winning so convincingly.
The Hockey Night in Canada panel broke down a video package of Demko tonight looking like he was in some discomfort after a couple of saves.
Demko suffered a serious groin injury that limited him to just 32 games last season, effectively derailing the Canucks’ season. Canucks fans will certainly be hoping that whatever’s ailing him tonight doesn’t last nearly as long, and seeing him walk off under his own power feels like a good sign.
The coaching staff has chosen to give their players a well-deserved two days off, so we likely won’t get an update on Demko until after Tuesday’s practice. The Canucks will look to make it five straight wins when they face the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night in game two of their nine game homestand.
More must-reads: