It wouldn’t truly be NHL hockey on Canada’s west coast if there wasn’t some sort of goaltending controversy going on within the Vancouver Canucks organization, right? Not that that’s a terrible problem to have (far from it), but for a long time, the Canucks have always had two strong goalies battling it out for the starting role.
You can trace this trend all the way back to 2011 when the Jennings winning duo of Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider put up a brick wall in front of the Canucks’ crease. Vancouver hasn’t seen a pair of goaltenders as strong as Luongo/Schneider since then, but the current combination of Braden Holtby and Thatcher Demko has the potential to be the next best thing. At least that’s what Jim Benning, Travis Green and the rest of the Canucks’ team were hoping for…
Prior to the start of the season, it was known that Vancouver could elect to go with a 50/50 split scenario between the pipes, which they’ve done up to this point. Now, already 13 games into the 2021 NHL season and Green still hasn’t given any indication on who he sees as the Canucks’ starter.
Green hasn’t made that decision just yet, but by looking at how each goalie is performing on the ice right now, it’s becoming more and more clear who should be getting more consecutive starts. Demko has emerged as the better, more confident option. At least right now.
The proof
The 25-year-old netminder has played some excellent hockey as of late. In fact, Demko was the NHL’s first star of the week for the final week of January. He went 3-0 in that span, stopped 100 of 103 shots, averaged just one goal against per game, and had a 0.971 save percentage.
Thatcher Demko of the @Canucks and frontline healthcare hero Alim Somani named @NHL ‘First Stars’ of the Week. https://t.co/38z7HbVmyR #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/VInkpA1TGN
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 1, 2021
After a bit of a shaky start (that’s not really his fault), Demko has been solid as a rock for the Canucks, bringing “Bubble Demko” back to the surface. But what about Holtby, the 2018 Stanley Cup champion?
Consistency is yet to be found and because of it, the 31-year-old has been bounced back and forth between the bench and the goal crease without a single consecutive start. Trading wins and losses on a regular basis has kept Holtby from finding his form under top goaltending coach, Ian Clark.
His save percentage (0.896%) has seen another dip after last season was the worst of his career (0.897%). It’s a minimal drop between seasons but it’s definitely not good enough for Holtby to be a dependable starter for the Canucks.
With the Canucks back in a hole with a record of 6-7, Green doesn’t have much time to allow Holtby to find his game. My suggestion? Hand the reins to Demko until he really stumbles. He seems to have found his game once again, and until Holtby can be more reliable, Demko should be the man.
What do you think, Canucks Nation? Let us know in the comments below. The Canucks battle the Maple Leafs today at 4 PM Pacific time.