MONTREAL – After missing nearly eight months due to a confounding knee problem, missing six days with back spasms doesn’t even qualify as an injury for Thatcher Demko.
Of course, the scope of problems the Vancouver Canucks have encountered in the first half of the National Hockey League season has recalibrated the scale of what constitutes a challenge.
In his seventh start after returning from a torn popliteus muscle in his knee, Demko took himself out of Thursday’s 4-3 win in Seattle after his back, which he felt was tight before the game, worsened in the second period.
“I wouldn’t even say I was injured or anything,” Demko told Sportsnet after fully practising here Tuesday. “A back spasm just flared up. I mean, you guys wouldn’t believe the stuff that we play through. A lot of times, you’ll feel something that you don’t feel you can play through, and then kind of adrenaline kicks in and the meds kick in and it kind of goes away. But in this case, unfortunately, it just kept getting worse. If I’m in pain, but I can do everything I need to do (to make saves), it doesn’t matter. But in this case, I felt (coming out) was a better option than trying to finish the game.”
The Canucks have been playing through an ocean of “stuff.”
How much better might everything have gone had Demko not popped his popliteus in Vancouver’s playoff opener last April, and been Vezina-calibre Demko from the start of this season?
Instead, he has watched the team reel on the ice and get mired in the vortex of news coverage about alleged dysfunction in the dressing room, especially regarding the relationship between the Canucks’ best two forwards, Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller.
“I want to tread lightly here,” Demko said, thinking carefully about the words he would speak next. “The media can be hard to deal with at times. You know, people probably wouldn’t be talking about all the — quote, unquote — issues in the room if we were winning. So really, it’s a winning and losing issue, not an issue of what’s going on in the room. I know it’s part of the job and we’ve got to deal with that stuff, and that it comes with the territory. But, I mean, it’s been frustrating.
“When you are losing games, you know, it feels heavier than it normally would. But it’s our job to figure it out. We’re doing that every day. You know, sometimes when there’s a funk going around, you’ve kind of just got to put your head down and get through it. There’s no easy answers. You can’t just snap your fingers. If we knew exactly what we had to do, then we would do it. But, you know, it’s kind of a nuanced thing. The guys in the room are committed to finding a solution, and we’re doing what we can.”
The Canucks have been scuffling in the standings for nearly two months, scrambling to salvage loser points in some games while giving away winner points in others, like they did Monday by squandering a 3-1 lead before losing 5-4 in overtime to the Montreal Canadiens.
The return of superstar defenceman Quinn Hughes, even restricted by a brace on his injured hand, helped the Canucks on Monday. Pettersson’s return from an upper-body injury should help either Wednesday against the Washington Capitals or Friday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
And Demko, surely, will help if he can work his way back to the form that had him finish second in Vezina Trophy balloting last season.
The Canucks are 4-5-5 since Dec. 7, 11-10-6 since Nov. 7.
In his 6.5 games, Demko is 2-1-3 with a sub-par save percentage of .881. Last season, he was 35-14-2 with a .918 save rate.
The American is expected to at least back up Kevin Lankinen in Washington.
“I thought the first couple (of games) were a little rusty, for sure, like I was expecting them to be,” Demko said of his return from the most serious injury of his career. “And then there were stretches in games where I felt like I was on top of my game. And we’ve been getting some weird bounces, man. Even last night, Lanks has two goals in the third period that go in off our own guys. It feels like it’s kind of been trending that way, so, yeah, it’s been a challenge.
“This is something I haven’t really done before. It’s a new path, a new challenge, I think. In some ways it’s difficult to kind of put into words. It’s certainly not like a tangible thing where you can kind of pinpoint it. (But) it feels like all the pieces are there. I’m ready to kind of get back to how I was last year. I don’t have a doubt that I’ll be able to do that.”
Demko in top form would help immensely. But even slightly off form, Demko should still boost teammates. With his experience, seniority, professionalism and mental strength, the 29-year-old goalie is a leader by example on the Canucks.
Canucks coach Rick Tocchet predicted Tuesday that Demko will find his game.
“Yeah, I do, because he’s a grinder,” Tocchet said. “He’s meticulous, he’s a hard worker. He’ll do whatever it takes to get his game, and that’s why you always feel that he’s going to be back. It’s the guys that feel sorry for themselves . . . they’re not engaged all the time. That’s not Thatcher.”
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This is a critical road trip for the Canucks. With 43 games remaining, it would be ridiculous to call their season over if they struggle. But things really start to get difficult if Vancouver loses against a quartet of formidable opponents lined up like Murderers’ Row.
“We’ve seen what it can look like (to be successful),” Demko said. “We’ve been there, a few months ago. And, you know, that’s not gone. You see a guy maybe go through a stretch of 20 games where he doesn’t look like himself, but it doesn’t mean that he’s not that player still. And the same goes for a team.
“I think part of getting through this is just tapping into that feeling of (when) . . . we were getting points in seven or eight games out of 10. That feeling builds and builds and builds, and then that becomes the standard. You always expect to win that next game. And that feeling is something that you have to conjure up sometimes when it doesn’t occur naturally. You have to find it and work for it.
“I think with just how things have gone this year, maybe the confidence of the group might be a little bit down. We’ve got to start stringing some games together, for sure. I think everyone knows that. I think we’re one good road trip away or one good stretch of games away from really finding that feeling again. And then we’re a dangerous group.”