You’ve got to love the Okanagan in September.
The weather is finally cooling down, but it’s still warm enough to golf in shorts or hit the beaches in the early evening. The views are picturesque, and the sounds of skates hitting the South Okanagan Event Centre ice can be heard from Penticton all the way to Vancouver.
Hockey is finally back, and so are the defending Pacific Division champions.
The Vancouver Canucks skated for the first time to open the 2024-25 season Thursday, and early storylines have already begun to form. How’s the team navigating the start of the year without their superstar goalie at full health? How will Elias Pettersson adjust to the injury that affected him near the end of last season? And where do the new guys fit into a team with hefty expectations?
Let’s revisit three of those storylines from the first day of a new NHL season.

The Demko Of It All

The case of Thatcher Demko’s health got a little bit clearer today, albeit with some pretty massive caveats.
To give you the cliffnotes of the situation, what we know about Demko at this moment is that he’s dealing with a muscle injury in his left leg. He hit a speed bump in recovery during the offseason and had a minor procedure to repair a separate, unrelated issue. That’s why his training camp started separately from his teammates, skating with new goalie coach Marko Torenius ahead of the main groups at 9 a.m..
Speaking to the media after, Demko said that he and the team had talked to doctors around the world to get a better understanding on what his injury exactly is. Demko’s injury is, to quote the man himself, “such a rare case, such a unique injury,” that trying to nail down a timeline is darn near impossible right now. But perhaps the most telling quote came after Demko was asked if he’d talked to any other goaltenders who’d dealt with a similar injury, he quickly said no.
“There’s not one case that we can find, goaltender or hockey player in general. It’s been wild,” Demko said. “We’ve found maybe less than five soccer guys, just random things like that. It’s not too concrete, so I guess I’m leading the charge for the next guy that has something like this happen, I could help him out.”
Demko is taking being the first goaltender on record to face an injury of his kind in stride. But that doesn’t mean a silent alarm isn’t going off. This journey into the unknown requires everybody – Demko included – to practice a whole lot of patience.
Playing games in the immediate future appears out of the question for now, and expecting so would be putting undue pressure on him to rush back into action ahead of schedule. And Demko – whose media availability was one of the most open and well-conducted I’ve seen from any NHLer – fully grasped the gravity of that situation, even if the timeline is still a mystery even to himself. “We were told that this might be a situation that we might find ourselves in.”
“It’s definitely a day by day thing, and luckily I’ve been able to stack about two or three weeks of just consistently better days, better days, and just having some gratitude for that has been important.”
For more information on Demko’s availability, David Quadrelli wrote a great recap from the rink earlier today.

Lekkerimäki-ng an impression

The odds of Jonathan Lekkerimäki being in the running for an opening night roster spot were always high. But if we were to read heavily into Rick Tocchet’s first line rushes, I’d say he’s already gotten a big vote of confidence.
Putting Lekkerimäki on the top line with Elias Pettersson and newcomer Jake DeBrusk doesn’t read like Tocchet is simply rewarding the 20-year-old Swede for a good Young Stars tourney. It looks like a potential dress rehearsal. Tocchet mentioned Lekkerimäki’s play as a highlight in the rookie games during his availability on Tuesday, and the work ethic the reigning World Juniors MVP brings is exactly what Tocchet is looking for in his roster this year.
In his first rushes, Lekkerimäki looked incredibly comfortable skating with established NHL players. His linemates seem to agree, even if one of them hasn’t totally memorized the roster sheet just yet.
“I can’t pronounce his name so I feel bad, but that kid on the right side is pretty damn good,” Jake DeBrusk said with a laugh. [Lekkerimäki’s] got a great, wicked shot, so I’m excited to be a part of the line.”
“I’ve seen his highlights, but this was our first practice together and I really like what I see,” Elias Pettersson said. “He’s got skill, and he’s got a good shot… He’s a good player and I’m sure he can figure it out himself, but I’ll always try to help him.”

A fresh state of mind for Elias Pettersson

Elias Pettersson’s end to 2023-24 was a struggle and a half, as tendinitus in his knee limited the superstar’s contributions in the home stretch and the postseason. On Thursday, Pettersson seemed reset and refreshed after the first skate but cautious about the long-standing effect his “nagging” injury might have.
“I had to train around my knee injury, but I feel great,” Pettersson said. “We figured out a way to work around it. I don’t feel any pain in it now or after [the skates], it’s not a big thing, knee is fine.”
Pettersson’s health will be a point of concern until we see him in a real game situation, starting with the preseason next week. But so far EP40 is skating and talking like a man on a mission.
“I’m always my biggest critic and I’m never going to shy away if I play good or bad. Now I’m just accepting that it wasn’t my best hockey at the end of the year, but that’s in the past and I’m looking forward to this year… I’ve always got the biggest expectations for myself and that hasn’t changed.”

Odds and Ends

  • Elias Pettersson (the defenceman) also skated with Group A today on a pair with Filip Hronek. On paper, Rick Tocchet’s defensive group is much more set in stone than the forward lines, but if there’s a dark horse candidate that could force his way into the lineup on opening night, DePetey is the guy worth keeping a watchful eye on.
  • Pius Suter moving back to centre leaves a spot open on J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser’s wing. On Thursday, that spot was filled by Danton Heinen, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nils Höglander take a spin on Line 2 as well in the next couple of weeks.
  • There’s nothing wrong with Thatcher Demko’s goatee. We all experiment with the facial hair in the offseason/preseason, let him try something! (Disclaimer: the author of this article currently has a mustache he’s debating whether or not to keep in October.)
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