TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joined the guys and reacted to the breaking news around Thatcher Demko, what the Canucks did to win game 1 and more.
Obviously losing Demko for any length of time in the playoffs is brutal, but think about it this way: The Avs look like they could be toast with Georgiev. I'd rather have DeSmith and Silovs than Georgiev. Those 2 will keep the team in games and after that, whatever happens is up to them. Clearly, losing Demko for an entire series or more is probably too much to overcome, but I think they can survive a game or 2 without him. If he's out for 2 games and they win 1 of 2, they're up 2-1 in the series and they're fine. But hey, this is how legends are born. Ken Dryden became a hall of famer because a goalie got hurt and he took the Habs to the finals. Cam Ward has a Cup ring because of the same scenario. You have to find a way.
Do they have to report if he is in concussion protocol? He did headbutt a couple pucks in Game 1. Wouldnt surprise me if he woke up and wasnt feeling right and he does have a history.
De Smith has been big at times like vs edmonton but he's super inconsistent I just hope petty gets going to produce more offense to take more pressure off of desmith
This is what it's all about folks; ADVERSITY. DeSmith is a Vet that has had the late Season experience, so I am not too worried. We just keep playing aggressive and let's end this in 5. As Rick stated : "Stayouddadabox!"
It wouldn’t be the Canucks if this didn’t happen The Canucks have had to deal with the loss of the their starting goalies in their last three playoff appearances: Jacob Markstrom in the 2020 Edmonton bubble, Ryan Miller in a 2015 first-round loss to the Calgary Flames and Cory Schneider in a 2013 sweep by the San Jose Shark
Demko had to make 20 saves in game 1. If we can keep shots down and/or from outside then this series might be more a defensive battle than a goalie battle.
I don't want to think what a 30+ year old Demko is like. He's 29 in December......I would seriously consider a trade going forward. He's a great goalie, but he can't be a #1 star goalie and stay healthy. This might be an injury where he doesn't get back to 100%. I know it sounds crazy, but I think the Canucks would be insane to keep him and extend him in his 30s for term. It looks like his career could be him getting injured every year, and when he gets older, he will not recover as well. I think you make the move and trade him if you can get something significant in return.
Canucks only hope now is for Silovs or DeSmith to pull a Bubble playoffs Demko. Or if we find out that DeSmith has this whole other gear in playoff mode (we'll find out very soon).
Plus without our top players scoring we are done. I said they should've traded Petey for a scoring grinder and top picks. But we are going to have him with no one will touch his contact do to him disappearing in the playoffs.
