Player Discussion Thatcher Demko

[Hit the post]

Different coaches have different methods. And often that’ll change depending on the player involved (and their state of development at the time).

Canucks: Alain Vigneault gets an assist on J.T. Miller's career ascension | The Province

 

[VanJack]

I don't know how the Canucks do it. Just about every team in the NHL has anxiety attacks at times over their goaltending. In TO and Edmonton, it's like watching 'Russian Roulette' with the guys in their crease.

Yet here are the Canucks....no matter how bad they are on the ice at times, they seem to be able to move seamlessly from one franchise goaltender to the next without missing a beat.

I guess Ian Clark gets a lot of credit for Markstrom and Demko. But even before, it was Miller, Luongo and Schneider. A couple of decades ago the Canucks were considered a 'goalie graveyard'. Now they're the franchise goalies go for 'a resurrection and everlasting life'

 

[arttk]

I don't know how the Canucks do it. Just about every team in the NHL has anxiety attacks at times over their goaltending. In TO and Edmonton, it's like watching 'Russian Roulette' with the guys in their crease.

Yet here are the Canucks....no matter how bad they are on the ice at times, they seem to be able to move seamlessly from one franchise goaltender to the next without missing a beat.

I guess Ian Clark gets a lot of credit for Markstrom and Demko. But even before, it was Miller, Luongo and Schneider. A couple of decades ago the Canucks were considered a 'goalie graveyard'. Now they're the franchise goalies go for 'a resurrection and everlasting life'

Ian Clarke is the recent reason. Rollie was also a great goalie coach for us too. Just look at the difference he made on Lack.
I think our goalie scout deserve a lot of praise for Schneider, Lack and then Demko. Seems like Dipietro was good until Benning f***ed his development. Wonder if they also had input on Marky.

 

[F A N]

Ian Clarke is the recent reason. Rollie was also a great goalie coach for us too. Just look at the difference he made on Lack.
I think our goalie scout deserve a lot of praise for Schneider, Lack and then Demko. Seems like Dipietro was good until Benning f***ed his development. Wonder if they also had input on Marky.

Clark was the goaltending coach here when Schneider was drafted. He might of had an input on Lack since Clark was still here, but Lars Lindgren gets the credit. To me, the Schneider and Demko picks had more to do with the GM deciding to spend the pick on a goalie.

 

[arttk]

Clark was the goaltending coach here when Schneider was drafted. He might of had an input on Lack since Clark was still here, but Lars Lindgren gets the credit. To me, the Schneider and Demko picks had more to do with the GM deciding to spend the pick on a goalie.

I thought it was Clark-Rollie-cloutier-Clark?

mmm never mind misread.

It’s interesting how our scouts nails the goalie pick during GM transitions. Wasn’t Schneider drafted right after Nonis was hired and we know Demko was drafted right after Benning was hired

 

[Hit the post]

Ian Clarke is the recent reason. Rollie was also a great goalie coach for us too. Just look at the difference he made on Lack.
I think our goalie scout deserve a lot of praise for Schneider, Lack and then Demko. Seems like Dipietro was good until Benning f***ed his development. Wonder if they also had input on Marky.

I believe it was ex-Canuck defenseman Lars Lindgren (working under Gradin as an amateur scout) that first brought attention to the Canucks of the undrafted goalie prospect Lack.

edit: "FAN" beat me to it.

 

[F A N]

I thought it was Clark-Rollie-cloutier-Clark?

mmm never mind misread.

It’s interesting how our scouts nails the goalie pick during GM transitions. Wasn’t Schneider drafted right after Nonis was hired and we know Demko was drafted right after Benning was hired

Yes Schneider was Nonis' first pick but obviously he was part of the old management team. Benning would have had an opportunity to scout Demko extensively when he was in Boston and clearly he values the goaltending position quite a bit.

Again, I think it has more to do with the GM making the decision to draft a goalie in that draft slot albeit it was a different situation. I think the guys that the Canucks wanted were probably gone and they made a high upside pick based on need (keeping in mind that the Canucks didn't have another pick until the 4th round). Schneider was actually a risky pick but he had the most upside of the goalies available. Demko was relatively much further along and generally regarded as the best goalie available. He was projected to go in the late first or early second so I think it was one of those decisions where if he's available do you take him or not since he won't be there when the team picks next.

But ya, kudos to the scouting staff for absolutely nailing the picks here. Personally, between the two, I'm much more surprised by Demko's development than I was with Schneider. With Schneider he was considered raw but had a high ceiling based on his athleticism. So the fact that Schneider developed into an elite level goalie wasn't completely unexpected. Demko, I didn't think his ceiling would be that high.

 

[me2]

Demko was scouted by the Gillis staff lung before Benning got here. Benning even admitted he has nothing to do with that part of the dear and left it up Gillis' scouts. Benning's contributions were Virtanen and changing Gillis' guidelines on avoiding Russians due to flight risk, which got is Tryamkin... who fled back to Russia.

 

[F A N]

Demko was scouted by the Gillis staff lung before Benning got here. Benning even admitted he has nothing to do with that part of the dear and left it up Gillis' scouts. Benning's contributions were Virtanen and changing Gillis' guidelines on avoiding Russians due to flight risk, which got is Tryamkin... who fled back to Russia.

Like I keep saying, the biggest decision is whether or not to select a goaltender with a high pick. Demko was in many people's minds the BGA and given that Benning undoubtedly saw Demko lots, he likely agreed. Calgary not selecting Demko was the biggest WTF.

There is the belief that Virtanen was the pick before Benning even got here. Some where like to say that the Euro scouts wanted Nylander and the NA scouts wanted Ehlers. But after the big deal out of de-emphasizing the QMJHL - which was essentially confirmed by Gilman and Gillis, I have a hard time believing that Ehlers was somehow the NA scouts' pick.

 

[JAK]

Can we have a thread that isn't about Benning?

Demko will be playing more games this season than he has ever before, hopefully he'll stay hot and play well.

That way, we can probably pencil in one of the three AHL goalies we have to take the back up spot and not have to sign another veteran back up

 

[Jyrki21]

I know the Hart voters always gravitate towards dominant forwards like Crosby, Matthews, McDavid and Draisaitl.

But you could make a case that no player in the entire league is as important to his team as Demko. If this undermanned and flawed Canucks team manages to claw its way into a playoff spot....then Demko deserves to get more than a few Hart Trophy votes.

This argument gets made every year, but the problem is because goaltending is the most make-or-break position in the sport, if you took the Hart criteria literally, it would always just go to a star goalie (and/or the star of a bad team). I actually don't think goalies should even be eligible for it, for this reason.

 

[Hit the post]

This argument gets made every year, but the problem is because goaltending is the most make-or-break position in the sport, if you took the Hart criteria literally, it would always just go to a star goalie (and/or the star of a bad team). I actually don't think goalies should even be eligible for it, for this reason.

Coach Bruce for the Hart trophy.

 

[F A N]

This argument gets made every year, but the problem is because goaltending is the most make-or-break position in the sport, if you took the Hart criteria literally, it would always just go to a star goalie (and/or the star of a bad team). I actually don't think goalies should even be eligible for it, for this reason.

Don't disagree with your overall view, but given the number of goalies who have won the Hart trophy, I don't think goalies being eligible for the Hart is a problem?

I mean the Hart trophy winner usually goes to the forward who leads the league in points or in goals (or close to it). Is that player necessarily deserving of the award? Surely not automatically every single year.

There hasn't been a defenseman who won the Hart since Chris Pronger and before that it was Bobby Orr. Lidstrom has zero Hart trophy wins.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Can we have a thread that isn't about Benning?

Demko will be playing more games this season than he has ever before, hopefully he'll stay hot and play well.

That way, we can probably pencil in one of the three AHL goalies we have to take the back up spot and not have to sign another veteran back up

I agree, the mods should re-open the Benning Fired thread to redirect any discussion to that thread.

On another note, does Demko get a nomination for Vezina? You'd think he finishes top 5 in voting at least.

 

[Bojack Horvatman]

An interesting stat. Of players that of played atleast 400 minutes 5v5, There are 5 Canucks in the top 50 of on ice SV%, 11 in the top 75, and 14 in the top 100. Thanks Thatcher.

 

[Javaman]

Can we have a thread that isn't about Benning?

Demko will be playing more games this season than he has ever before, hopefully he'll stay hot and play well.

That way, we can probably pencil in one of the three AHL goalies we have to take the back up spot and not have to sign another veteran back up

I'm of the opinion that discussing Benning in any thread is fair game for the same number of years people used the "but Gillis" excuse.

So... we can stop mentioning Benning in, like, maybe 2028?

 

[WTG]

 

[Frostage]

Thanks for that WTG

That was very interesting to watch

 

[Aphid Attraction]

I'm of the opinion that discussing Benning in any thread is fair game for the same number of years people used the "but Gillis" excuse.

So... we can stop mentioning Benning in, like, maybe 2028?

Ever heard of being the bigger person, or that what you say tells us more about yourself?

 

[VanJack]

One of the few things Benning did right, was getting a five-year contract extension done with Ian Clark...although it took some urging from Demko to bring it about.

The Canucks still have DiPietro, Silovs and Koskenuvo in the pipeline, and Martin is signed as the NHL backup for next season.

Despite some of their well-publicized draft problems at other positions, they certainly seem to have figured it out with goaltenders.

 

[Aphid Attraction]

One of the few things Benning did right, was getting a five-year contract extension done with Ian Clark...although it took some urging from Demko to bring it about.

The Canucks still have DiPietro, Silovs and Koskenuvo in the pipeline, and Martin is signed as the NHL backup for next season.

Despite some of their well-publicized draft problems at other positions, they certainly seem to have figured it out with goaltenders.

After some terrible goalie decisions, Benning finally sorted out the goalie situation for the season after he left… Apart from the fact we are still paying caphit for goalies that are not playing for us…

 

[God]

Honestly it's weird that the Ian Clark extension was even up for debate. After the clear emergence of Markstrom and Demko under Clark's tutelage, any organization would be chomping at the bit to retain someone like that. Have to wonder whether it was Benning/Weisbrod or Aquilini taking pause. Thinking it's more the latter due to cash flow problems, but Demko forced his hand.

 

[Vector]

Honestly it's weird that the Ian Clark extension was even up for debate. After the clear emergence of Markstrom and Demko under Clark's tutelage, any organization would be chomping at the bit to retain someone like that. Have to wonder whether it was Benning/Weisbrod or Aquilini taking pause. Thinking it's more the latter due to cash flow problems, but Demko forced his hand.

Would not be surprised if it was a combination of both. Benning/Weisbrod jealous of Clarke's standing within the organization and fanbase while also looking for ways to cut costs because of some management directives.

 

[God]

Would not be surprised if it was a combination of both. Benning/Weisbrod jealous of Clarke's standing within the organization and fanbase while also looking for ways to cut costs because of some management directives.

I don't really buy that they would be jealous of his standing...their conflicts with others in the organization arose from simply being a different voice in the room. I can't see Clark providing much input into any roster decisions aside from goaltending, and I doubt he would've been that angry about letting Markstrom go when Demko had his showcase in the 2020 bubble. It also seemed like he wanted to stay, as opposed to someone like Brackett straight up leaving.

 

[Vector]

I don't really buy that they would be jealous of his standing...their conflicts with others in the organization arose from simply being a different voice in the room. I can't see Clark providing much input into any roster decisions aside from goaltending, and I doubt he would've been that angry about letting Markstrom go when Demko had his showcase in the 2020 bubble. It also seemed like he wanted to stay, as opposed to someone like Brackett straight up leaving.

Counter point: Weisbrod is famously a messy, jealous, bitch.