Despite impressive start, Canucks' Demko not taking victory lap just yet

VANCOUVER — On the first day of the new year, Thatcher Demko went to the dentist.

Not the real dentist, which would probably have been less painful with, you know, freezing and all. The Vancouver Canucks goalie subjected himself to interview dentistry, where the questions felt like a drill boring through a tooth in search of a nerve.

If you ever saw Marathon Man with Dustin Hoffman, with Laurence Olivier as semi-retired dentist Dr Szell, you know what we mean. (And if you haven’t seen the film, for goodness sakes, Netflix it).

Anyway, Demko was in the chair – actually, his locker stall at Rogers Arena – for about seven minutes Monday as we pressed him about his terrific season so far and the Canucks’ impressive start. No wonder the 28-year-old was uncomfortable.

“I struggle to have these conversations because, you know, in my mind, we’ve only played 36 games,” Demko explained a couple of questions in. “I think sometimes the narrative is either we're the best team in the world or the worst. I'm proud of what we've been able to do, 100 per cent. I think this has been the expectation for this core coming into each season, and we just hadn't been able to do it.

“(But) if I were to say something in the dressing room for our group, it's that we haven't done anything. If we're not careful or we don't respect the work that we’ve put in and realize that we have to continue doing that, we're going to lose what we've accomplished in a hurry.”

What the Canucks have accomplished is a 23-10-3 record that had them atop of the National Hockey League on Christmas Day. And what Demko has accomplished is 17 wins, a save percentage of .917, top-10 goaltending metrics and some buzz about Vezina Trophy consideration.

Given the challenges and unevenness of his season last year, when Demko struggled upon his return from surgery, then suffered a groin tear that cost the San Diegan three months in the middle of winter, the way he finished 2023 was extraordinary.

The biggest problem to overcome, still fresh to Demko and the Canucks who survived the last three seasons, is all the losing the team did while failing to earn a single playoff game after what appeared to be a breakthrough in the Stanley Cup bubble in 2020.

That’s why none of the Canucks’ core players, who all excelled in the opening 2 ½ months of this season, is taking a victory lap.

“I just ... I think I can do a lot better,” Demko said. “You know me well enough — and I've kind of internalized a lot of stuff — I'm always trying to get better.

“Obviously, it would be an honour to be in a conversation (for the Vezina Trophy). But I think in order for me to get into that conversation, I've got to be better. Like I said, there's so much hockey left.”

After playing one game in nine days, a disappointing 4-1 home loss last Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Canucks restart their schedule Tuesday night against the Ottawa Senators before leaving for a seven-game trip that is their longest of the season.

Demko hasn’t played since Dec. 23, and in three starts since a 4-0 shutout of the Florida Panthers on Roberto Luongo Night, he has allowed 11 goals on 89 shots while still helping the Canucks take five out of six points.

“He has set his standard and bar (so high), we all have that expectation for Thatch,” Canuck coach Rick Tocchet said. “I mean, you know, he thinks he can stop every shot. I love that mentality. But I also think that he has to understand, too, that he's been in position on some of those goals and there's nothing he could have done. So you've just got to be careful that he doesn't put too much pressure on himself. But I do like the fact that he's such a competitor. It's a high bar for him, and we rely on him. I just don't want him to put too much pressure on himself.”

Demko said it was vital for the Canucks not only to start this season well but to change their mindset and shed the negativity of recent years.

“We obviously got off to a very good start,” he said. “But I remember there was a span there where we lost two in a row early on, which is very normal. Like, that's super normal for a team to do. But we were 2-2 after four games, you know, and I kind of had that sense in the room like, 'Oh, here we go again.’ It's just breaking those thought patterns and just continuing to build the confidence that we deserve to have at this point.

“I think having Toc come in at the end of last year and kind of implementing his systems. . . and then obviously having a full training camp with him and having him hammer home those principles that he's preaching, I think it was great. The guys really bought in, and I think that's the biggest part. You can have different systems, and coaches have success with different systems all over the league. But I think it's about buying in. When you get 20 guys or whatever playing the same system cohesively, that's when you start getting results. And I think that's kind of the difference this year.

“Obviously, when you're winning, life is better. We've all been through those seasons of not performing and not having success. To be in the position that we're at now, we're not going to get complacent or do anything that's going to put us at risk of going back to where we were and being in that situation again. It's been good. But we still have a lot of hockey left.”