36th Overall - Thatcher Demko

[rypper]

I think ice time has to be an important factor here and there appears to be a succession plan in place for him. Unless there is some distasteful things standing in his way of signing I'd hope he'll eventually put pen to paper.

 

[Uhmkay]

Nope, he came here summer 2010. Cory Schneider was drafted 2004, and Roberto Luongo arrived in 2006. It's not just Rollie, it's the whole staff; and it's not set in stone that he's gone after this season. Get your facts straight.

I'm well aware of the facts.

Rollie came here and completely changed Roberto's style of play, and when Cory Schneider came up to the Canucks, he also played according to how he was taught by Rollie Melanson which lead the Canucks to win the William M Jennings trophy as best tandem, under Melanson. In fact, before Melanson arrived, Schneider had a .915% and that skyrocketed to a .937% under Melanson.

Get y0 facts straight.

Roberto Luongo before Melanson had a .917% with the Canucks and in his very first year under Melanson... you know, remember that year when everyone was *****ing about "Why change... he's a fantastic goalie... etc"... he jumped up to a .929% average.

Get y0 facts straight

As an example there is also one other goalie... oh yeah, Eddie Lack. Who went from a stellar .921% save under Melanson down to a .903% without Melanson.

Get y0 facts straight.... lol.

 

[TheWolf*]

I'm well aware of the facts.

Rollie came here and completely changed Roberto's style of play, and when Cory Schneider came up to the Canucks, he also played according to how he was taught by Rollie Melanson which lead the Canucks to win the William M Jennings trophy as best tandem, under Melanson. In fact, before Melanson arrived, Schneider had a .915% and that skyrocketed to a .937% under Melanson.

Get y0 facts straight.

Roberto Luongo before Melanson had a .917% with the Canucks and in his very first year under Melanson... you know, remember that year when everyone was *****ing about "Why change... he's a fantastic goalie... etc"... he jumped up to a .929% average.

Get y0 facts straight

As an example there is also one other goalie... oh yeah, Eddie Lack. Who went from a stellar .921% save under Melanson down to a .903% without Melanson.

Get y0 facts straight.... lol.

What was Lui's save percentage in FLA before he came to Vancouver when he did NOT have Melanson as his coach?

 

[Uhmkay]

What was Lui's save percentage in FLA before he came to Vancouver when he did NOT have Melanson as his coach?

He had a .918% average in his years in Florida before he came to Vancouver.

 

[Bad Goalie]

I honestly don't believe there's an organization that offers a better combination of development & opportunity going forward. Flat out, the Canucks have the best goalie development program & it's not even close: Cory Schneider & Roberto Luongo were all-stars this season, Eddie Lack went from an undrafted free agent to becoming a solid NHL goalie, and Jacob Markstrom went from going through waivers unclaimed (last year) to arguably becoming a starting goaltender.

Also, I don't see much upside in Thatcher returning to school for his senior year; so if he decides to play at BC again, I think he'll be traded at the draft & the Canucks move on/develop another goalie.
I get the appeal of choosing the team you want to play for, but the grass isn't always greener on the other side (eg. Justin Schultz would've been way better off w/ the Ducks than the Oilers; and I believe Jimmy Vesey made the wrong choice not to sign w/ the Predators as his rookie mistakes would've been insulated by one of the best defenses in the league).

College hockey players should consider that if a team's willing to invest in using a draft selection on you, then they must really believe in you as a future NHLer - they also have a vested interest in you making it that far; whereas other teams that could've drafted you/passed on you might just see you as a free asset that didn't cost them anything if you don't pan out.

Enlighten me as to the other top notch goalies in the Vancouver system right now. If (and that's if) Thatcher goes back to school and then goes free agent, who do the Canucks have after Markstrom? The two in Utica are good keepers, but they are not built in the mold of the modern day goalie (Bachman 5'10" and Cannata 6'1") and are not in the plans for the Canucks' future. One of these guys is gone next year if Demko shows up unless the Canucks move Miller and then maybe one becomes the backup in Vancouver.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

What was Lui's save percentage in FLA before he came to Vancouver when he did NOT have Melanson as his coach?

Luongo's previous coach - Ian Clark, I won't speak to his quality of work, because I'm not privy to how good it was for one....but his availability was scarce, IIRC. When Melanson came in he was more hands-on and on hand to help with the day-to-day stuff which really helped Luo regain his composure.

Luo is an athletic guy, but his best asset in my mind has always been his frame that covers the net. Which he was using less and less during the stretch of the 2009-10 season and his numbers suffered (well, that and the craptastic defense) as Luongo's play was uncharacteristically scrambly. He was making more eye candy saves, but he was also letting a lot of pucks go through where they normally shouldn't and moving a bit more in the crease than he should have been, kicking rebounds out to bad areas.

In the next season, I thought Luongo moved less and let his body take care of more of the work rather than his athletic ability. His numbers kicked up as well. It could have been any number of reasons, but the correlation is there. Then again, if goaltending were mathematics I'd be able to do some multiplication, I'm not even into algebra or calculus. mossey3535 or @KevinIsInGoal would be much more adept at entertaining this conversation.

 

[gianni]

Enlighten me as to the other top notch goalies in the Vancouver system right now. If (and that's if) Thatcher goes back to school and then goes free agent, who do the Canucks have after Markstrom? The two in Utica are good keepers, but they are not built in the mold of the modern day goalie (Bachman 5'10" and Cannata 6'1") and are not in the plans for the Canucks' future. One of these guys is gone next year if Demko shows up unless the Canucks move Miller and then maybe one becomes the backup in Vancouver.

There's a yearly thing called the draft, you may have heard of it; and there's other avenues to acquire goalie prospects such as trades/signing college or undrafted free agents.

Also, Jacob Markstrom is still just entering his prime which gives the Canucks time to find someone to develop/groom.

 

[gianni]

I'm well aware of the facts.

Rollie came here and completely changed Roberto's style of play, and when Cory Schneider came up to the Canucks, he also played according to how he was taught by Rollie Melanson which lead the Canucks to win the William M Jennings trophy as best tandem, under Melanson. In fact, before Melanson arrived, Schneider had a .915% and that skyrocketed to a .937% under Melanson.

Get y0 facts straight.

Roberto Luongo before Melanson had a .917% with the Canucks and in his very first year under Melanson... you know, remember that year when everyone was *****ing about "Why change... he's a fantastic goalie... etc"... he jumped up to a .929% average.

Get y0 facts straight

As an example there is also one other goalie... oh yeah, Eddie Lack. Who went from a stellar .921% save under Melanson down to a .903% without Melanson.

Get y0 facts straight.... lol.

You're giving way too much credit to one guy. It takes a collective effort to develop prospects: from the goalie coach, head coach, minor league coaches, strength & conditioning trainers, athletic trainers, veteran teammates, player development coaches/consultants, athletic trainers, video coaches, etc. You better believe they all have a part in prospect development.

And even if Rollie opts to not re-sign, there's rumours that Bill Ranford wants to come to Vancouver once his deal is up w/ LA (or if they'd let him out a year early) which would be a good lateral step sideways since he's done a good job w/ the Kings.

 

[Bad Goalie]

There's a yearly thing called the draft, you may have heard of it; and there's other avenues to acquire goalie prospects such as trades/signing college or undrafted free agents.

Also, Jacob Markstrom is still just entering his prime which gives the Canucks time to find someone to develop/groom.

Okayyy. So you will draft your next guy who will be NHL ready in about 6 years. Avg. age of rookie goalies in the NHL is 24.

Trade or UFA, you are going out and getting one. Your original comment was on how the Canucks are so good in developing goalies. You mean they are good at bringing them along once you have them.

Was just pointing out there are no goalies in the entire Vancouver system if Demko opts out except Cannata (26 yrs old) and Bachman (29 yrs old) who are really not NHL keepers. This fact is not a good sign of planning by management.

 

[gianni]

Okayyy. So you will draft your next guy who will be NHL ready in about 6 years. Avg. age of rookie goalies in the NHL is 24.

Trade or UFA, you are going out and getting one. Your original comment was on how the Canucks are so good in developing goalies. You mean they are good at bringing them along once you have them.

Was just pointing out there are no goalies in the entire Vancouver system if Demko opts out except Cannata (26 yrs old) and Bachman (29 yrs old) who are really not NHL keepers. This fact is not a good sign of planning by management.

Yeah, I feel that 6 years is a good timeline for the heir apparent to take over in net: Jacob Markstrom just turned 26yo ten weeks ago & I think it'd be fair to say that he should be a quality #1 until his early 30s. Obviously I hope that Thatcher Demko signs, but if he doesn't then I have faith that the Canucks will find another goalie prospect to develop.. And by trade or UFA, I meant a young goalie prospect that would still need development in the minors.

 

[DadBod]

Maybe I'm looking at this glass half empty but him not signing is a bad sign. Again feeds into my theory of avoid drafting Americans. I thought Demko was the easy one to sign, just wait until we have to sign Boeser.

This theory of having to think about it is BS. He's had 3 years thinking about turning pro. Especially this year when all of the talk was him turning pro. This isn't a decision that just presented itself, he's been thinking about it since the day he was drafted. If he saw himself as a Canuck he would have signed right away, the fact he hasn't shows you what he's thinking.

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

Maybe I'm looking at this glass half empty but him not signing is a bad sign. Again feeds into my theory of avoid drafting Americans. I thought Demko was the easy one to sign, just wait until we have to sign Boeser.

This theory of having to think about it is BS. He's had 3 years thinking about turning pro. Especially this year when all of the talk was him turning pro. This isn't a decision that just presented itself, he's been thinking about it since the day he was drafted. If he saw himself as a Canuck he would have signed right away, the fact he hasn't shows you what he's thinking.

Ummm....neh
He's probably just heart broken and tire now.
Btw, how can one possibly avoid drafting American? Please explain

 

[gianni]

Maybe I'm looking at this glass half empty but him not signing is a bad sign. Again feeds into my theory of avoid drafting Americans. I thought Demko was the easy one to sign, just wait until we have to sign Boeser.

This theory of having to think about it is BS. He's had 3 years thinking about turning pro. Especially this year when all of the talk was him turning pro. This isn't a decision that just presented itself, he's been thinking about it since the day he was drafted. If he saw himself as a Canuck he would have signed right away, the fact he hasn't shows you what he's thinking.

Ummm....neh
He's probably just heart broken and tire now.
Btw, how can one possibly avoid drafting American? Please explain

Agreed. I think he just needs time for the dust to settle after the Frozen Four. Losing in the playoffs leaves a bad taste in an athletes mouth, and the reactionary thing would be wanting to return for redemption next season. Hopefully he & his advisors realize that the best thing for him to do is to go pro: I think his development would be stagnated if he opted to play his senior year in college.

Btw, I don't think it's an American thing, but a college hockey thing. Just a few years ago, Kelowna's very own Justin Schultz made possibly the very worst choice he could make by signing w/ the Oilers - he would've been so much better off signing w/ the team that drafted him (or any other team aside from the Oilers for that matter). Also, I believe Cory Schneider would've loved to spend his whole career as a Canuck.

 

[DadBod]

Ummm....neh
He's probably just heart broken and tire now.
Btw, how can one possibly avoid drafting American? Please explain

I personally don't like to draft Americans. I should put a disclaimer and confirm I'm not saying NEVER draft an American. But I do believe that Americans don't want to play in Canada. Americans are very patriotic and want to play in the USA. I feel when they can they'll leave and sign in an American city. I don't have any stats to back that up, it's just my opinion.

 

[beachcomber]

Demko should probably finish his college career and degree then pick and choose his best spot. That would be the best route for him personally rather than join this tire fire of an organization.

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

Demko should probably finish his college career and degree then pick and choose his best spot. That would be the best route for him personally rather than join this tire fire of an organization.

Haha,ok

 

[rune74]

Demko should probably finish his college career and degree then pick and choose his best spot. That would be the best route for him personally rather than join this tire fire of an organization.

If you hate the team that badly now maybe it is time to find another team, I heard the oilers are on the rise.

 

[FOurteenS inCisOr]

If you hate the team that badly now maybe it is time to find another team, I heard the oilers are on the rise.

So because somebody doesn't like the direction of the team they're not a fan and should pick another team?

A true fan has to bury their head in the sand after every destructive move this management group makes and believe it's all rosey?

Go back to HB, rune. You, ASL, and CanucksDon can tell every unhappy fan they're not "real Canuck fans." That seems to be the prevailing attitude there.

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

So because somebody doesn't like the direction of the team they're not a fan and should pick another team?

A true fan has to bury their head in the sand after every destructive move this management group makes and believe it's all rosey?

Go back to HB, rune. You, ASL, and CanucksDon can tell every unhappy fan they're not "real Canuck fans." That seems to be the prevailing attitude there.

Lol what?
so a true fan should hope a their team's prospect ditches them?

 

[FOurteenS inCisOr]

Lol what?
so a true fan should hope a their team's prospect ditches them?

Not what I'm commenting on, if you take the time to read and think about what I posted.

I also think you're confusing what the previous poster "hope" Thatcher should do, with what he believes would be in Thatcher's best interest considering the direction of this team.

My comment was clearly not in regard to that.

The post I quoted claimed he "hated" the team, which was a ridiculous claim.

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

Not what I'm commenting on, if you take the time to read and think about what I posted.

I also think you're confusing what the previous poster "hope" Thatcher should do, with what he believes would be in Thatcher's best interest considering the direction of this team.

My comment was clearly not in regard to that.

The post I quoted claimed he "hated" the team, which was a ridiculous claim.

Clearly you don't know that poster really well