Former Vancouver Canucks defenceman Frankie Corrado knows a thing or two about NHL injuries, and he’s concerned about the news surfacing regarding Thatcher Demko’s health.
CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reported last week that the Canucks will be without Demko for training camp, preseason, and potentially even into the regular season. The goalie has still not fully recovered from an injury suffered during the playoffs.
The now-analyst Corrado spoke on the goalie’s health status and the nature of nagging injuries on a recent episode of the Sekeres & Price podcast.
“You never want to miss training camp, and when it comes to having an injury leading up to the season, something that’s nagging you going into the season, it feels like you’re always chasing it, and that’s not something I want for my starting goaltender.”
“There has to be a fairly significant level of concern.”
Missing training camp is a bigger deal than some people think, and @frankcorrado22 has some concerns for Thatcher Demko’s season if he’s not ready by the beginning of camp.
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— Sekeres and Price (@sekeresandprice) August 26, 2024
Corrado suffered ankle, hip, and knee issues throughout his playing career.
Both of Demko’s two most recent campaigns ended due to injury. Last year, he missed a significant amount of time during the regular season but managed to make his way back for the playoffs. He then injured himself again in the first game of the postseason, ending his season for good.
“As someone who’s kind of been through the whole injury process like a million times,” continued Corrado, speaking about his personal experience. “And always had to rehab things in the summer, it’s generally not great news when you’re not ready to start training camp.”
When healthy, Demko is among the best goalies in the league. He finished second in Vezina Trophy voting last season despite missing a significant number of games due to injury. The Canucks are looking into new approaches to ensure he stays healthy, but if the star misses training camp, that’ll force him to play catch-up from the start.