NHL insider has discussed the true details of Thatcher Demko's injury
Photo credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
NHL reporter Kevin Woodley has provided some important details regarding the exact injury that Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko is suffering from.
Star goaltender Thatcher Demko of the Vancouver Canucks has seen some serious setbacks over the past six months. It started in March with a knee injury, and by the first game of the playoffs, Round 1, against the Nashville Predators, he had another setback. Consecutive injuries have placed his recovery under question as to whether Demko will ever be fully healthy.
There has been some speculation over the past number of weeks about whether or not Demko would be ready to go in time for training camp and the preseason. While he has been spotted skating and taking shots prior to official team sessions, his participation has been limited and he has yet to join the full squad for practice. The delay has further shrouded his readiness for the beginning of the season in uncertainty, something that puts the Canucks in a hard position.
In a radio appearance over Sportsnet 650, NHL.com reporter Kevin Woodley provided a little more insight into the situation with Demko. As Woodley mentioned, the injury to the goaltender is extremely unique and includes one of the smaller yet very significant muscles on the back of the knee: the Popliteus. Because of how unique the injury has been, that's made the timeline hard to predict for recovery, adding another layer to the complexity of Demko's rehabilitation process.
"There's a lot of uncertainty around this, around this injury, and as much as he believes he can get to 100% and seems to be in a really good place the past couple of weeks, after, as he said, a month off there remains a lot of uncertainty about the injury. The one thing I can clear up, one thing in terms of the uncertainty, there's no longer uncertainty about what it is. So you guys can get your Web MD out and look up Popliteus." Woodley said.
He added, "It is a thin triangle-shaped muscle behind the back of the knee. And that, evidently, is where the injury has occurred. Whether it's a tear, to what degree, we don't know, but this is basically a muscle deep behind under several layers of other muscles deep on the back of your knee. It doesn't do much. It sort of attaches to the top inside of the femur and then back to the tibia on the top of the other side. For runners, it's what unlocks the knee joint from straight, it's actually a pretty negligible effect on the flexion of the knee, but it pulls the lateral meniscus back and out of the way of flexion.
It is a small but somewhat significant ligament, and I'm not sure the degree of the damage or whether he's pulled it off the bone at the ligament, or what, but it is super rare. I've talked to a couple of people that have been doing this at the NHL level for 30 years. They've never seen it. So everything they're telling us tracks, and despite it being small and somewhat insignificant, there's obviously uncertainty that comes when there's no sort of prescribed way to either improve it. Like, literally when you first look it up, one of the first things you'll see is the sort of healing time is anywhere from three to 16 weeks. So, nothing like nailing it down, right?"
He added, "It is a thin triangle-shaped muscle behind the back of the knee. And that, evidently, is where the injury has occurred. Whether it's a tear, to what degree, we don't know, but this is basically a muscle deep behind under several layers of other muscles deep on the back of your knee. It doesn't do much. It sort of attaches to the top inside of the femur and then back to the tibia on the top of the other side. For runners, it's what unlocks the knee joint from straight, it's actually a pretty negligible effect on the flexion of the knee, but it pulls the lateral meniscus back and out of the way of flexion.
It is a small but somewhat significant ligament, and I'm not sure the degree of the damage or whether he's pulled it off the bone at the ligament, or what, but it is super rare. I've talked to a couple of people that have been doing this at the NHL level for 30 years. They've never seen it. So everything they're telling us tracks, and despite it being small and somewhat insignificant, there's obviously uncertainty that comes when there's no sort of prescribed way to either improve it. Like, literally when you first look it up, one of the first things you'll see is the sort of healing time is anywhere from three to 16 weeks. So, nothing like nailing it down, right?"
With all that uncertainty, the Canucks hedged their bets so as to not get caught in a precarious position without a reliable goaltender. To that end, they signed Kevin Lankinen recently, who came to Vancouver this past Sunday. Lankinen, just like Latvian prospect goalie Arturs Silovs, is expected to stabilize things between the pipes in case Demko's recovery takes longer than anticipated.
With the opener of the 2024-25 season looming, Vancouver will kick off their season at home against the Calgary Flames on October 9th at Rogers Arena. While it remains uncertain as to whether Thatcher Demko will be ready by then, the Canucks have made moves to ensure their goaltending situation is secure enough to give them some flexibility as they navigate this critical phase.
| POLL | ||
24 SEPTEMBRE | 85 ANSWERS NHL insider has discussed the true details of Thatcher Demko's injury Will Thatcher Demko be ready to start the season? | ||
| Yes | 18 | 21.2 % |
| No | 67 | 78.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
Latest 10 stories
