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The worrying and rare injury affecting Thatcher Demko leaks publicly


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Tom Banks
September 23, 2024  (4:10 PM)
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Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko.
Photo credit: NHLPA

Thatcher Demko has been surrounded in mystery since his injury in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but now the situation with the Canucks star has been revealed.

For months now, Vancouver Canucks fans have been wondering what is going on with their star goaltender, and with the regular season approaching, the team still haven't given an official word on the situation. Now, the mystery has been alleviated, with the NHL's Keith Woodley shedding some light on the tough injury suffered by Demko.
"There is no longer uncertainty about what it is," revealed Woodley this morning. "So you guys can get your WebMD out and look up Popliteus, it is a thin triangle shaped muscle behind the back of the knee. That evidently is where the injury occurred.

It is a small but somewhat significant stabilizing muscle," said Woodley.

That doesn't sound good for Demko's recovery, as it was recently reported that he was yet to take the ice with the team, and while that has changed, we still don't know his status heading into the regular season. While the injury has been identified publicly for the first time, that does little to narrow down the recovery time, as it is reportedly a very rare injury that hasn't been seen often in the NHL.
"It is super rare," admitted Woodley. "I've talked to a couple of people that have been doing this at the NHL level for 30 years, they've never seen it.

"There's obviously uncertainty that comes when there's no prescribed way to improve it." admitted Woodley.

While this is an update for Canucks fans, it does little to give them insight into the situation, as recovery times for this injury have been cited online as anywhere between 3-16 weeks, but with Demko needing to be confident and back to 100%, it could be even longer.
Ultimately, there are still plenty of fears in Vancouver that this injury may linger around their star goaltender, and if that's the case, their once promising season could now be completely up in the air.

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