Thatcher Demko | #35 | G

[N4ZZY]

I think we need to leave Demko alone. continue to give him AHL minutes as a starter and for him to continue to refine his game. he will be better than Markström and Nilsson if the organisation would just be patient with his development. no need to rush him. Markström and Nilsson in a season that's basically lost is fine. 

[Boudrias]

14 hours ago, UticaHockey said:

What is the possible upside to this idea of shortcuting Demko's development?

Typical gambling that goes on here. Not happening so not to worry. 

[CanuckinEdm]

On 12/18/2017 at 7:32 PM, UticaHockey said:

What is the possible upside to this idea of shortcuting Demko's development?

I don't think that every player needs to ripen in the minors sometimes they are just ready he had shown that he is a very capable AHL starter and our current goaltending tendem has a .906 save % I think we need to give him a game or 2 to see what hes got. Everyone always compares how we handled Schneider but the only reason we took our sweet time with Schneider is we had god mode Luongo. If our goaltending tandem was still  Alex Auld and 1 hipped Dan Cloutier, Schneider would have been in the NHL after his first year in the AHL.   

 

[UticaHockey]

40 minutes ago, CanuckinEdm said:

I don't think that every player needs to ripen in the minors sometimes they are just ready he had shown that he is a very capable AHL starter and our current goaltending tendem has a .906 save % I think we need to give him a game or 2 to see what hes got. Everyone always compares how we handled Schneider but the only reason we took our sweet time with Schneider is we had god mode Luongo. If our goaltending tandem was still  Alex Auld and 1 hipped Dan Cloutier, Schneider would have been in the NHL after his first year in the AHL.   

 

Demko has played well for the Comets but he has had some real clunkers recently with a 7 goal game against Bridgeport and a 5 goal game against Toronto (I am betting tonight's rematch against Toronto could be a problem too).  Vancouver with the injuries is not a good team right now which is the same story as the Comets.  Goaltending has been inconsistent in both Vancouver and Utica but is not the root of the problem with either team,  Thatcher Demko is not going to make the Vancouver Canucks a better team in 2017-18 because he still has holes in his game that are being exploited by AHL shooters.  Those holes need to be worked on in the AHL where he is the number one and starting about 2/3 of the games.  If he takes those same holes to Vancouver against NHL shooters while playing in front of a struggling team it won't go well.  The last thing his development needs is to get lit up in the NHL and then ride the bench for an extended period instead of playing consistently in the AHL.

 

A question for the impatient fans in Vancouver who just need to see with their own eyes what Demko could do for a game or two how do you propose the Canucks do this?  Do they call him up for a week or two and run with three goalies on the roster for a while or do you place Nilsson or Markstrom on waivers and risk losing one of them for a "looksee" at Demko.  Thatcher's time will come soon enough either this season if called up as an injury replacement or in another year when his development warrants a permanent call up and trading or demotion of one of their existing goalies.  

[Boudrias]

2 minutes ago, UticaHockey said:

Demko has played well for the Comets but he has had some real clunkers recently with a 7 goal game against Bridgeport and a 5 goal game against Toronto (I am betting tonight's rematch against Toronto could be a problem too).  Vancouver with the injuries is not a good team right now which is the same story as the Comets.  Goaltending has been inconsistent in both Vancouver and Utica but is not the root of the problem with either team,  Thatcher Demko is not going to make the Vancouver Canucks a better team in 2017-18 because he still has holes in his game that are being exploited by AHL shooters.  Those holes need to be worked on in the AHL where he is the number one and starting about 2/3 of the games.  If he takes those same holes to Vancouver against NHL shooters while playing in front of a struggling team it won't go well.  The last thing his development needs is to get lit up in the NHL and then ride the bench for an extended period instead of playing consistently in the AHL.

 

A question for the impatient fans in Vancouver who just need to see with their own eyes what Demko could do for a game or two how do you propose the Canucks do this?  Do they call him up for a week or two and run with three goalies on the roster for a while or do you place Nilsson or Markstrom on waivers and risk losing one of them for a "looksee" at Demko.  Thatcher's time will come soon enough either this season if called up as an injury replacement or in another year when his development warrants a permanent call up and trading or demotion of one of their existing goalies.  

Calls for Demko in Vancouver are not well thought out IMHO. Fans point at a weak goal or two and assume that is the big problem. Quite simply Van does not have a strong roster but does have a pretty decent work ethic. They had that with Desjardin last year and Green is fine tuning their effort. Canucks a re another 3 seasons away from icing the team that might eventually be a contender. Many years to go. Comets will start to see a lot more young prospects next year. Considering the development time line there is not hurry to rush prospects like Demko.  

[CanuckinEdm]

1 hour ago, UticaHockey said:

Demko has played well for the Comets but he has had some real clunkers recently with a 7 goal game against Bridgeport and a 5 goal game against Toronto (I am betting tonight's rematch against Toronto could be a problem too).  Vancouver with the injuries is not a good team right now which is the same story as the Comets.  Goaltending has been inconsistent in both Vancouver and Utica but is not the root of the problem with either team,  Thatcher Demko is not going to make the Vancouver Canucks a better team in 2017-18 because he still has holes in his game that are being exploited by AHL shooters.  Those holes need to be worked on in the AHL where he is the number one and starting about 2/3 of the games.  If he takes those same holes to Vancouver against NHL shooters while playing in front of a struggling team it won't go well.  The last thing his development needs is to get lit up in the NHL and then ride the bench for an extended period instead of playing consistently in the AHL.

 

A question for the impatient fans in Vancouver who just need to see with their own eyes what Demko could do for a game or two how do you propose the Canucks do this?  Do they call him up for a week or two and run with three goalies on the roster for a while or do you place Nilsson or Markstrom on waivers and risk losing one of them for a "looksee" at Demko.  Thatcher's time will come soon enough either this season if called up as an injury replacement or in another year when his development warrants a permanent call up and trading or demotion of one of their existing goalies.  

 

You can carry 3 goalies short term without placing someone on waivers. I'm not saying that they need name him the starter but giving him a game or 2 could be used for 2 things letting Markstrom and Nilsson know that their play is unacceptable (maybe lighting a fire under them) and gauging where Demko is.

[UticaHockey]

2 minutes ago, CanuckinEdm said:

 

You can carry 3 goalies short term without placing someone on waivers. I'm not saying that they need name him the starter but giving him a game or 2 could be used for 2 things letting Markstrom and Nilsson know that their play is unacceptable (maybe lighting a fire under them) and gauging where Demko is.

And if Demko comes up and struggles half of the CDC, HF Boards and Canucks media Twitter will be questioning how good of a prospect Demko really is.  Kick him aside and start counting the days before DiPietro plays in Vancouver.  

[CanuckinEdm]

11 minutes ago, UticaHockey said:

And if Demko comes up and struggles half of the CDC, HF Boards and Canucks media Twitter will be questioning how good of a prospect Demko really is.  Kick him aside and start counting the days before DiPietro plays in Vancouver.  

probably but if we call him up and he plays well they will probably say the same thing.

[UticaHockey]

My thoughts exactly.  "You could crush him"

 

http://ckstam.streamon.fm/listen-pl-5547?smc=10

 

https://twitter.com/TSN1040/status/943649757041393664

 

[higgyfan]

No need to rush Demko.  The Canucks are clinging to a year laden with injuries to prominent players and the overall defensive game is not good enough to support a rookie goalie; especially not in the 2nd half of the season.

 

It is not likely that this team makes the playoff this year and if they do, it will be because the current pair of goalies helped get them there.

[Outsiders]

... I'll just leave that here

 

 

Rick Dhaliwal‏ @DhaliwalSports 11m11 minutes ago

More

Markstrom struggling, would not b surprised if Demko gets a look sometime in Febuary.

[RetroCanuck]

5 minutes ago, Outsiders said:

... I'll just leave that here

 

 

Rick Dhaliwal‏ @DhaliwalSports 11m11 minutes ago

More

Markstrom struggling, would not b surprised if Demko gets a look sometime in Febuary.

I doubt it unless we trade one of these guys at the deadline. Even then I doubt he comes up

Edited December 24, 2017 by RetroCanuck

[Wilbur]

55 minutes ago, RetroCanuck said:

I doubt it unless we trade one of these guys at the deadline. Even then I doubt he comes up

Well, if he's still struggling by February, sure.  I'm still chalking it up to the ebb and flow of a season and Demko can continue to hone is game in Utica.

[RetroCanuck]

2 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Well, if he's still struggling by February, sure.  I'm still chalking it up to the ebb and flow of a season and Demko can continue to hone is game in Utica.

To clarify I highly doubt Demko gets the call as it would be better to not rush him at all. But, wouldn't be surprised if he does unfortunately.

[Wilbur]

1 minute ago, RetroCanuck said:

To clarify I highly doubt Demko gets the call as it would be better to not rush him at all. But, wouldn't be surprised if he does unfortunately.

Here's to hopefully being surprised and Markstrom turning it around.  I'm thinking this break over Christmas may due Markstrom well.

[canuckledraggin]

If Demko got a chance in the crease for the Canucks this season and heaven forbid he lost a couple games or got shelled and even pulled, he wouldn't be "crushed" "ruined" or any other such nonsense. Demko kinda sucked as a rookie in the AHL for the 1st quarter of last season. But then he started to figure out the game and the shooters at that level and went on a crazy stretch where he was playing 3 games in 3 nights and had a nice shutout streak going for a few games as well. The point being is he got better and there's no evidence to suggest that it wouldn't be the same stepping up to the next level also.

 

As a Canucks fan it is painful to watch the team struggle the way they are currently, but now that we are clearly out of a playoff spot, it's a good time to develop the young players who you could see becoming NHL players for the club in the future.

 

As far as goalies go the numbers don't lie. I'm looking forward to seeing Demko in a Canucks jersey whenever he gets his chance and this year is as good as any to work out his game at the NHL level. He is going to struggle in the NHL, because unfortunately he's not Matt Murray stepping into a job with an amazing team in front of him. He will make the team in front of him better though, and it would be a wasted opportunity to wait just because you think his feelings might get hurt.

 

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=155248

[Rob_Zepp]

OK, so while every goalie is different I can say with some confidence on the matter that the team in front of the goalie matters less to a goalie than people think.   Your job is to stop pucks.   You like the challenge, LOVE the challenge, and and the more pucks sometimes the better.   No one likes losing and no one likes a constant barrage of odd man rushes that make you wonder where your jock is after each but it does not "crush" young goalies to get 40 plus shots and give up a handful of goals because the team in front of him were not up to the task.   What crushes goalies is when a team quits on him or, worse, you get pulled while in your own head did everything humanly possible and still wanted to compete that night.

 

If Demko is a typical goalie, he will not be "crushed" if he comes in and has a less than stellar first go at it.  Patrick Roy's first season in NHL was 0.875 SV% over nearly 50 games with a pretty bad team in front of him.   Marty Brodeur had a 0.882 in his first four games, went back to Utica (ironically) and put up similar sub .900 for an AHL season before becoming the NHL goalie he became.   Chicago basically gave away Hasek due to his play - did it crush him?

 

I am NOT saying Demko is the second coming of three of the best goalies of the modern era - three of the toughest mentally - but saying IF he is wired how I think he is, he would be fine playing some NHL games this year.   Who it might "crush" would be one of the two Swedish giants who both seem mentally fragile right now.

[Gaudette Celly]

If Markstrom is "still struggling" then we are very likely "still losing".  Unless we are long gone out of the playoff race, it does not seem like the best situation to bring him in under.  Perhaps a short stint for some experience, but it's not time yet for him to come up for anything more than that unless for injury.

[RetroCanuck]

29 minutes ago, Hutton Wink said:

If Markstrom is "still struggling" then we are very likely "still losing".  Unless we are long gone out of the playoff race, it does not seem like the best situation to bring him in under.  Perhaps a short stint for some experience, but it's not time yet for him to come up for anything more than that unless for injury.

Sorry I can't give this two likes

[UticaHockey]

4 hours ago, canuckledraggin said:

If Demko got a chance in the crease for the Canucks this season and heaven forbid he lost a couple games or got shelled and even pulled, he wouldn't be "crushed" "ruined" or any other such nonsense. Demko kinda sucked as a rookie in the AHL for the 1st quarter of last season. But then he started to figure out the game and the shooters at that level and went on a crazy stretch where he was playing 3 games in 3 nights and had a nice shutout streak going for a few games as well. The point being is he got better and there's no evidence to suggest that it wouldn't be the same stepping up to the next level also.

 

As a Canucks fan it is painful to watch the team struggle the way they are currently, but now that we are clearly out of a playoff spot, it's a good time to develop the young players who you could see becoming NHL players for the club in the future.

 

As far as goalies go the numbers don't lie. I'm looking forward to seeing Demko in a Canucks jersey whenever he gets his chance and this year is as good as any to work out his game at the NHL level. He is going to struggle in the NHL, because unfortunately he's not Matt Murray stepping into a job with an amazing team in front of him. He will make the team in front of him better though, and it would be a wasted opportunity to wait just because you think his feelings might get hurt.

 

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=155248

If you listen to the audio link that I posted above the dangers of promoting a young goalie that is still developing too soon to a weak NHL team is that they will alter their playing style because of the barrage of high quality scoring chances they face each night.  Instaed of working of the fundamentals that will build the foundation that the young goalie will work from the rest of their career bad habits will creep in as they try to do anything to keep the puck out of the net.  There is so little to gain from exposing a young goaltender that is still working on fundamentals to a team destined for a lottery pick and so much to lose.