The past 12 months have been filled with massive peaks and valleys for Thatcher Demko.
In January 2024, he was a leading candidate for the Vezina Trophy and one of the league’s best goalies. Since then he’s suffered multiple injuries which have sidelined his career and kept him out of action for more than seven months, only returning just recently in December.
Demko’s return to the ice hasn’t gone perfectly according to plan. He’s started 11 games and won just three of them, recording an .873 save percentage and a 3.23 goals-against-average, far below his usual standard.
“I don’t think I’ve been good enough this year so far,” he said. “I’ve got to keep working to find that level that I know I can get to. I’ll be the first guy working on my game, day in, day out.”
Last night, Demko got the start against the lowly Buffalo Sabres. He made 23 saves but the Sabres got two third period goals to complete a late comeback. While the goals weren’t the result of brutal goaltending mistakes, he regretted them post-game.
“I’ve just got to try and get a piece of one of those in the third you know? Got a piece of the first one and it snuck through so it’s disappointing.”
JJ Peterka, 3-2 #sabrehood #canucks pic.twitter.com/rozqBva2vh
— Buffalo Hockey Moments (@SabresPlays) January 22, 2025
“Sometimes you fall out of touch with the game a bit, just your natural reads and things like that. Obviously you can’t manufacture confidence, you have to work for it and keep grabbing it. Focus on the little things and making sure that the work ethic and the attention to details is there.”
The struggles since returning to play haven’t just been on the ice. Demko also missed some time with a back injury, adding to a lengthy list of injury issues he’s dealt with over the past few seasons.
The 29-year-old has gone through a ton of adversity. He admits there’s been some difficult times, especially over the past couple of months.
“It’s been a challenging year dating back to the summer. Obviously it’s been a lot of soul-searching for me over the last few months. I don’t know how else to put it: I just haven’t been good enough so far.”
Demko and the Canucks still have some runway to find their game. They have 36 games before the end of the regular season, but they’re currently outside the second Wild Card spot and will need to gain on other teams to reach the playoffs for the second year in a row.