If people were expecting a long, hard practice after the Canucks’ 5-1 loss to the Panthers, Friday morning came as a surprise.
The Canucks were on the ice today for less than a single NHL period, but we still got a glimpse at some crucial developments on the injury front for Travis Dermott and Thatcher Demko ahead of Saturday’s crucial tilt against the Arizona Coyotes.
Let’s check out the line rushes.

Line Rushes

  • According to our own Chris Faber, practice lasted approximately 13 minutes. According to a 2012 YouTube video by the NHLPA, players can sometimes get dressed in around 5-6 minutes. That means the Canucks probably took as much time putting their equipment on and taking it off today as they did using it. Neat!
  • That’s not to say everyone was only out for that short a time. Emergency call-up Collin Delia made it out to the ice early and stayed late to get up to NHL speed with goalie coach Ian Clark. The Canucks have no updates on Thatcher Demko yet, but according to Rick Dhaliwal, he’ll be having an MRI later today.
  • Jack Studnicka left the short skate and seemed to be in discomfort as he went down the tunnel. Studnicka missed about ten minutes before returning to the ice.
  • For the first time since sustaining a concussion in the preseason, Travis Dermott was able to partake in practice without a non-contact jersey. He skated on a pairing with Kyle Burroughs, who was scratched for last night’s contest against the Panthers.

What Was Said

Bruce Boudreau couldn’t provide any official updates on Demko, but expressed the concern he had watching his number one goalie being carried to the locker room last night.
“It’s like everybody else watching, it didn’t look good. But sometimes you get lucky and it’s really sore, whatever it is for a day, and then you know, you’re out a week and then you’re back at it. So that’s what the hope is.”
Boudreau also said that he’s taking things slowly with Dermott and knows he won’t be an option against the Coyotes on Saturday.
“He hasn’t played a practice since September. So I mean, a lot of stuff would have to happen before he gets into the game,” Boudreau said. “We’ll see how long that goes and you know, how long before he’s able to get permission to play.”
Travis Dermott was just relieved to be able to get his non-contact jersey off today.
“Yeah, it’s definitely been too long. Camp’s so exciting and you’re building so much energy up for the season and it kind of sucks for something like this to happen,” Dermott said. “But you try to take it in stride, accept it for what it is early on and just try to be stronger when you come back.”
“It’s definitely been tough watching from the outside for a little bit, but I’m happy to be part of the team at least for the last little bit, and now finally getting that non-contact jersey off.”
Spencer Martin has the keys to the Canucks’ net officially for the time being, and thanks to his larger workload in recent weeks he feels prepared if Thatcher Demko is out long term and he needs to take on an even bigger role.
“I’ve been getting some reps already, getting some minutes to start the year. So if the minutes do go up, I still don’t know what the exact situation is, but I feel like I’m ready,” Martin said.
He also spoke about how much the team needs to find overall consistency in their effort level, and used his own recent play as an example of what needs to change.
“We know overall that we need to be better. I thought I needed to be better at the very beginning of this homestand and I think that a lot of responsibility is on me for that because we were on a good roll and then all of a sudden we have a tough start to that game,” Martin said about his 5-1 loss to the Capitals on Tuesday. “But all you can do is flip the page and I’ll be ready to go whenever I’m called next.”