The Vancouver Canucks rely heavily on goalie Thatcher Demko to win games. And in this 2021 story, Demko's ability to be a workhorse NHL netminder was put in the spotlight.

Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko is one of the best netminders alive. And in this story from THN's Nov. 16, 2021 edition -- Vol. 75, Issue 7 --  writer Matt Larkin wrote a deep-dive profile on Demko as he established himself as one of the biggest workhorse goaltenders on the planet:

THE DUDE ABIDES

By Matt Larkin

He's a big, tall, puck-swallowing netminder, perfectly built for his position. He plays in a Canadian hockey hotbed market after excelling at the college level for a hockey hotbed school. On paper, Thatcher Demko seems to come from a traditional hockey upbringing. Speaking to him, though, feels like speaking to Jeff ‘The Dude’ Lebowski. Demko is philosophical, personable, relaxed and, most notably, starts a lot of his sentences with “Man…” 

His relaxed cadence belies his non-traditional hockey roots. He’s a Californian, raised in the surfer’s haven that is San Diego, one of three stoppers from his state ever to tend goal in the NHL. And maybe, ironically, being different equips him to handle the immense pressure of being the Vancouver Canucks’ starting goaltender.

Demko wasn’t always taken seriously in the sport. Ice time and competitive leagues were hard to find in San Diego when he was a kid. Truth be told, he didn’t even like skating the first time he tried it, and his parents didn’t give him a second shot at it until they noticed how adept he was on roller skates. After competing at the highest level he could find in the state, he eventually got noticed by the USHL’s Omaha Lancers. At 15, he made a life-changing move north and began fast-tracking to elite prospect status.

Being a star in the NHL is what Demko always wanted, even if he was an underdog. He idolized Martin Brodeur and Dominik Hasek, but things felt different when Carey Price rose to stardom. “I was old enough in my teen years when Carey came into the league where I could conceptualize it a little bit more and envision myself in his shoes in a more realistic way,” Demko said. “That was a guy I for sure looked up to.”

Demko plays a similar style to Price’s, absorbing pucks with his rangy frame, waiting for shooters to make the first move. As Canucks goaltending coach Ian Clark explains, it’s one thing to have size, but it’s another to have length, and Demko has the latter. “Part of that is the length of the limb, part of that is their flexibility and elasticity, part of that is their competitiveness,” Clark said. “There’s a variety of things that can lengthen a goalie, so from that anatomical side of it, he’s well endowed. He works extremely hard on his game and has great attention to detail, so he’s developed an incredible technical engine to his game.”

Also, like Price, Demko displays a calm, charismatic confidence that rubs off on teammates. Maybe that tranquility comes from a career that has required him to practise patience. It’s been seven years since the Canucks chose Demko 36th overall in the 2014 draft. Since then, he’s taken a circuitous route to a No. 1 job. He played three seasons at Boston College and three more at the AHL level before sticking as a full-time NHLer by 2019-20, sharing the Canucks net with Jacob Markstrom.

When Markstrom sustained an injury during the 2020 bubble playoffs, Demko achieved folk-hero status, posting a .984 save percentage across three stupendous starts and almost carrying Vancouver past the favored Vegas Golden Knights. That performance changed his trajectory, gave Vancouver the confidence to let Markstrom walk in free agency and established Demko as a starter.

Rather than ascending to star status in 2020-21, however, Demko endured an unprecedented nightmare when more than 20 Canucks, including him, and four staff members contracted COVID-19. The situation was particularly trying with the NHL wanting the Canucks to finish the season once they’d recovered and the players begging for more time to regain their energy. 

“We actually had our six-day (bye) right before that, so it wasn’t just the quarantine,” Demko said. “We really hadn’t been on the ice in three weeks. And they gave us, like, two days to get our wind. Guys were still feeling it. So, it was tough to get through the schedule. But as a team, we bonded over that a bit. A lot of guys matured through that.”

Theoretically, anything will be easier than last year. According to Clark, Demko’s next career hurdle is to get extended work as a No. 1 over the course of a full season and, mentally, gain more experience being the guy who carries a team on his back certain nights.

The 2021-22 season will offer an excellent opportunity to do so. Not only is Demko the entrenched No. 1, backed up by Jaroslav Halak, but the team has playoff aspirations. The Canucks feel like last year didn’t represent who they really were. They’re determined to be a Cup contender, as evidenced by a busy off-season in which they overhauled their defense. 

On a team with many new arrivals, from Oliver Ekman-Larsson to Tucker Poolman, Demko fashions himself a leader who can ease the transition. “I’m a pretty easygoing guy,” he said. “I’m easy to talk to, I feel like. The more conversations you can have away from the ice and seeing guys in the gym or sharing a meal with them, doing things like that, the relationship develops relatively quickly.”

Sounds like something The Dude would say.