How Thatcher Demko helped prepare Casey DeSmith to carry the mail for the Vancouver Canucks

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Thatcher Demko was an emotional wreck on Monday. After years of grinding as one of the most laser-focused and committed goalies in the game, Demko finally earned a taste of the reason for the season when he started the Vancouver Canucks’ first playoff home game since he was a sophomore at Boston College.

His taste was more like a cruel tease. An awkward movement in the 60th minute of Game 1 caused a fluke knee injury, which sources say is unrelated to the one suffered in March, that will cost him at least Round 1. The only prescription is rest.

It took a conversation with a resolute Rick Tocchet to calm down Demko, who was in tears, and provide proper perspective. Tocchet’s message was simple: “Your season isn’t over. We’re going to need you, because we’re still going to be playing when you’re ready again.”

And that’s when Demko’s attention turned to Casey DeSmith. Because if Vancouver is going to get their No. 1 netminder back, DeSmith is going to have to carry the mail for the Canucks like he did in Friday night’s 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators in Game 3 at Bridgestone Arena.

Demko joined the Canucks on their trip to Music City and pumped DeSmith’s tires.

“He just said he believed in me,” DeSmith said. “You know, he’s watched me all year. He knows my game. And he said he’s excited to watch me and wouldn’t trust anyone else to do it.”

DeSmith, 32, has been in the league for six years now but has never been asked to be the guy for any extended period of time. He stepped in for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2022 in their first-round series against the Rangers when Tristan Jarry went down. But DeSmith pressed Louis Domingue into service when he suffered his own injury in the second OT, paving the way for the infamous Spicy Pork and Broccoli Game, which is what a hungry Domingue ate during the overtime intermission thinking he wouldn’t be needed.

DeSmith’s next playoff start didn’t come until Tuesday night. He left Rogers Arena on Sunday after Game 1 knowing Demko was injured, but no one knew the severity. And when news of Demko’s injury broke on Tuesday, DeSmith was dropped into the pressure cooker against Juuse Saros and the Preds, in an on-edge and readily combustible Vancouver market.

He struggled. DeSmith looked a little nervous at times in Game 2. His rebound control wasn’t great and he allowed three goals on 15 shots. He bounced back with his first career playoff win on Friday night as the Canucks took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, despite registering just 12 shots on goal. Game 4 is Sunday afternoon.

“It couldn’t have come at a better time,” DeSmith said. “I was really disappointed in the result the other night. I thought the team played great and I didn’t get the result they deserved.”

Maybe it was the additional time between games to wrap his mind around the role, but whatever it was, it was abundantly clear DeSmith just looked different in the glow of Nashville neon. Tocchet said that one of his assistant coaches remarked during the first intermission that DeSmith looked good. He looked confident, placing an exclamation point on his night with an aggressive blocker save that he directed all the way up toward the blue line.

“You could just tell that he had it,” Tocchet said. “He just looked big. He wasn’t side-to-side flopping. I think that really gave confidence to the team.”

Tocchet believes it is DeSmith’s demeanor that has made him successful at the NHL. The undrafted free agent out of University of New Hampshire, originally signed by now-Canucks president Jim Rutherford in Pittsburgh, is affable and honest. In his free time, you can find him playing disc golf in the Lower Mainland – he is a fan of Raptors Knoll Disc Golf Park in Langley – where he has apparently become pretty good at pinging baskets. That’s how he relaxes, a sport he was turned on to by family back in Rochester, N.H.

“I think it’s his personality,” Tocchet said on why DeSmith was able to settle in. “He’s not an uptight guy. He always has a smile on his face. I think it’s infectious. Even when he has a tough night or things don’t go his way, he comes in, spends hours with [goalie coach Ian Clark] and never complains. His demeanor is just great for that role.”

DeSmith arrived in Vancouver with the trust and backing of Rutherford and GM Patrik Allvin from the Pittsburgh connection. But he was a salary cap cast-off by the Penguins, and then flipped to Vancouver from Montréal in exchange for a third-round pick and another imperfect contract. So there weren’t huge expectations and no one really ever knows how a tandem will function, because DeSmith didn’t know his tandem mate well in Demko, despite the fact they share the same agents at Edge Sports Management.

Demko and DeSmith became fast friends. They became fathers for the first time within weeks of each other. And their wives and babies are now close. That has only helped support their on-ice relationship, where DeSmith has picked up for Demko twice now for extended runs after injury.

“You couldn’t ask from a better guy to learn from, just in terms of the excellence he has as far as being a goalie,” DeSmith said of Demko. “He’s very, very passionate about goaltending. It rubbed off on me. Hopefully he would say the same, but he’s a really hard worker and he’s a really good friend. He’s been really supportive every time that I’ve been in there – whether he’s been injured or it’s just my turn. He’s always more than supportive of me and I’ve really enjoyed his friendship.”

For one night, at least, Vancouver could breathe a sigh of relief. DeSmith knows he has big shoes to fill. He knows that he isn’t Demko. But he believes in himself, knowing that the Canucks need him only to be Casey DeSmith, as they all hope that is enough.