{"id":451766,"date":"2024-09-24T10:00:26","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T14:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=451766"},"modified":"2024-09-24T09:40:25","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T13:40:25","slug":"canucks-goaltending-situation-demko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/09\/24\/canucks-goaltending-situation-demko\/","title":{"rendered":"The Canucks goaltending situation in Thatcher Demko’s absence"},"content":{"rendered":"

The <\/span>Vancouver Canucks<\/span> will begin their preseason on Tuesday. Fans, players, and staff are excited after <\/span>training camp<\/span><\/a>, and meaningful games will soon be played. All the Canucks star players will be (hopefully) ready by opening night. However, there will be one that won’t. One of the big stories is that Thatcher Demko<\/a> will not be <\/span>ready<\/span> by the season opener on October 9 against the Calgary Flames<\/a>. That is because he is still dealing with that nagging injury from last spring. That begs the question: What will the Canucks goaltending situation be like without Demko?<\/span><\/p>\n

What in the World is Demko Hurting From?<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Canucks goaltending was a huge reason for their success last season. Demko was a Vezina trophy nominee and Casey DeSmith<\/a> and later Arturs Silovs<\/a> held the fort as backups.<\/span><\/p>\n

Demko hurt his knee on March 9 in a win over the Winnipeg Jets<\/a>. He did not return until game one of the first round against the Nashville Predators<\/a>. However, it seemed he injured that same knee, did not play for the rest of the playoffs, and was still dealing with the injury in the summer. The Canucks goaltending situation got weird.<\/span><\/p>\n

Demko spoke to the media at training camp after some on-ice sessions. He <\/span>spoke<\/span> about <\/span>how strange his injury was and how there isn’t another player suffering from it <\/span>and<\/span> is<\/span> not sure exactly when he’ll be close to returning.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

On Monday morning, <\/span>Kevin Woodley of NHL.Com and InGoal Magazine was on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650 and talked about Demko’s injury.<\/span><\/a> He reported that Demko was dealing with an injury in the “Popliteus.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f"I can clear up one thing here. There's no longer uncertainty about what Demko's injury actually is. Get your WebMD out and look up…'Popliteus'."<\/p>\n

\u25b6\ufe0f @KevinisInGoal<\/a> gives @MikeHalford604<\/a> & @SadClubCommish<\/a> specifics on Thatcher Demko's injury.<\/p>\n

— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) September 23, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n