Encouraging update for Canucks fans on Thatcher Demko's rehab

We 100 percent understand and appreciate that there will be plenty of Canucks fans out there, who roll their eyes anytime there's an injury update regarding Thatcher Demko. After all, the situation has been dragging on for months now, with even esteemed NHL insiders such as Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman loathe to put a solid timeline on when the goalies will be back and playing for the team.

Now in fairness, this does stem from the fact Demko is dealing with an extremely rare hockey injury, with a popliteus muscle issue on the back of his knee. However, the information which has been coming out this week, seems to given genuine reason to believe he is going to (finally) be back soon.

First, as we wrote about on Wednesday, Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said Demko had been putting several consecutive positive days together with his rehab. This was then followed by an even more encouraging update the following day, courtesy of Rick Dhaliwal from Donnie and Dhali — The Team on CHEK TV.

Possibly just two-to-three weeks away from returning

Giving due credit to David Quadrelli of Canucks Army, Dhaliwal indicated Demko could be back in the crease around mid-November. He said:

"I reported last week there was progress with Demko. Tocchet saying progress with Demko this week. I think he’s two to three weeks away. Let’s play it by ear, and I think that if he can get back in two or three weeks, that would be good."

Again, there will still be Canucks fans rolling their eyes and wanting to see something more tangible as opposed to just hearing words. Well, now we can also provide positivity in respect of this.

Actual physical proof of progress for Demko

As originally reported by Patrick Johnston of The Province, Demko was spotted on the ice ahead of team practice on Friday, working with goalie coach Marko Torenius. This is an extremely important step, because over the past few weeks he had only been working on his own.

Of course, just because we're now at the point where the two-time NHL All-Star is working with his goalie coach, it doesn't guarantee anything. He still controls the narrative, in so much that the Canucks will let him determine when he's comfortable enough to get back to playing.

This is undoubtedly the correct approach to take, especially after a previous report that it was the Canucks' prior attempts to rush Demko back, which had made the injury situation even worse. No one can afford to screw this up (any more), given how important last season's Vezina Trophy finalist is to team.

At the same time, it does also help when Kevin Lankinen has been playing so well, to the point of looking like the deal of the century for the Canucks. He is 4-0-2 in six starts this season, with a .920 save percentage and 2.29 Goals Against Average.

Lankinen's play so far has helped make up for the disappointing performances of Artūrs Šilovs, which does again allude to the importance of Demko. He may or may not ultimately be back by mid-November, but overall there is now more encouragement than ever, that his return to action is going to be sooner than later.

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