VANCOUVER – You know it is a good-news morning for the Vancouver Canucks when it’s difficult to decide which is the lesser story: The return to the ice of top centre J.T. Miller after his leave of absence, or the return to play of star goalie Thatcher Demko.
Demko’s start tonight against the St. Louis Blues is the result of nearly eight months of relentless medical assessment, rehab and practise since last season’s Vezina Trophy runner-up tore the popliteus muscle in his knee in the Canucks’ playoff opener in April.
Miller’s return to the ice for Tuesday’s morning skate comes three weeks after the National Hockey League team’s 103-point power forward and emotional leader began a personal leave for mental health reasons.
Neither player spoke to the media this morning, and only Demko is playing Tuesday. But the return of two NHL All-Stars should give the Canucks a significant lift.
“I mean, I think when you look at the way Demmer has worked hard to get back. . . a lot of lonely places, times by himself,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “It should give guys juice that you want to play well in front of him. I mean, you’d be crazy not to. Maybe there’d be a lot of extra-shot blocking (motivation). Get the puck in deep when we’re tired, maybe give him a break. Things like that. I think we need to do that tonight for him.”
Demko has been practising with teammates for more than a month, ramping up his involvement and comfort level to the point where the 29-year-old was able to back up Kevin Lankinen the last two games.
“Lanks and Arty (Arturs Silovs) did a great job for us,” veteran centre Teddy Blueger said. “But Demmer is Demmer, one of the best goalies in the league, and such an elite talent. Even in practice, some of the saves he’s been making are pretty incredible. I think he’s the same as J.T. — guys respect him. Demmer’s probably one of the most professional and committed and dedicated players that I’ve ever played with.
“Obviously, Millsy is a big part of the group. He’s one of our leaders. So just having him around the room, he’s a big presence, a big voice. He seems to be in good spirits, which is great. Hopefully, that tough stuff’s kind of behind him and he can come back and everything is good. I’ve missed hanging out with him and spending time together. And as a player, too, we obviously missed him. Getting some of these key guys back in the fold is good for us, for sure.”
Tocchet was non-committal about when Miller might play. It may be impossible to know until the 31-year-old gets back into the daily, highly-visible grind of being an NHL player in Vancouver. The Florida Panthers visit the Canucks on Thursday.
“I don’t know about Thursday,” Tocchet said. “I don’t know. I know he’s going to practise with the full team tomorrow, so we’ll get him with a line and get him cooking. I’ll talk to him (about) how he feels. But he’s been skating and, like I said, he’s anxious to get going. But on his terms.”
Winger Conor Garland, one of Miller’s closest friends on the team, said his leave of absence is a reminder that professional athletes are still just people.
“You can’t say our stress that we deal with is not equal to (other people’s),” Garland said. “What we make is public, but we’ve got the same worries everybody else does. I’ve gone through some stuff, and people have gone through stuff on our team that doesn’t become public. This became public, and J.T.’s got a great support system here. I know firsthand how great this team is and the people at the top are when stuff happens and how much they support you. Hopefully when he’s back, he feels good again.”
Further good news for the Canucks was the participation in the morning skate by Derek Forbort, who suffered a lower-leg injury in practice five weeks ago. The physical defenceman, a free-agent signing in July, has played just four games this season due to his injury and a six-game leave of absence in October due to the death of his father in Minnesota.
Tocchet said Forbort won’t play Tuesday against the Blues but should be available for Thursday’s game.