The Vancouver Canucks began training camp on Thursday and Thatcher Demko described his club’s upcoming season in strong terms.
After another disappointing season in which the Canucks couldn’t finish better than 22nd overall, the starting goaltender was very clear about the team’s ambitions.
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“I think it’s now or never [pour ce groupe]”To be honest,” he said Wednesday in comments carried by the Sportsnet network. We love this group of people we have here, this core. But you can’t really say that we are a young group. We have a lot of experience. We have a certain maturity and you can see that the boys are improving. For example, if you had told me two years ago that Quinn [Hughes] If it had been the captain, I would have laughed a little. But he grew into the role and became the person who could handle it.”
“We have no excuses to fall back on,” he continued.
Ready to move forward
On a more personal level, the past year hasn’t been the easiest. He had surgery in the summer, then injured his groin in December and was out for three months.
Even when he was in goal, Demko struggled mightily, as evidenced by his 3.16 goals against average and .901 save percentage. However, he has found an explanation for his discomfort and is ready to move on.
“I think last year I wanted it almost too much. “I went in a little too aggressively,” said the 27-year-old. I tried a little too hard. I think if we can take anything away from last year… I learned so much from a mental and physical standpoint. I feel much better this year, in a positive sense. I feel much more confident. I know that I can perform. I know I can get off to a good start.”