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Another injury-plagued season has ended for Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko.
The NHL team announced Tuesday the star netminder is set to undergo season-ending hip surgery next week.
“After consulting with our team doctors and outside specialists, Thatcher Demko will be shut down for the rest of the year,” general manager Patrik Allvin said in a statement.
“Thatcher will undergo surgery next week for an injury unrelated to the one that kept him out of action last season. Following his rehab, he will be ready for the start of training camp in September.”
The 30-year-old goaltender has not played since Jan. 10 when he left midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 loss to the Maple Leafs in Toronto, but Canucks head coach Adam Foote said he’s been dealing with the injury for much longer.
Demko went 8-10-1 with a .897 save percentage, 2.90 goals-against average and one shutout this season.
He missed 12 games between mid-November and mid-December with a lower-body injury, then returned and appeared in 10 more contests before going down against Toronto.
Demko was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, awarded annually to the league’s top netminder, in 2023-24 after going 35-14-2 with a .918 save percentage, 2.45 GAA and five shutouts.
Last July 1, he signed a three-year, $25.5-million US extension.
The goalie’s season-ending surgery is the latest injury to mar an ugly season for the Canucks.
Vancouver heads into Tuesday’s game against the San Jose Sharks sitting last in the NHL standings with a 17-30-5 record and five players on injured reserve.
The list also includes centre Marco Rossi (lower body), winger Brock Boeser (concussion), and defencemen Zeev Buium (facial fracture) and Derek Forbot (undisclosed).
Canadiens promote AHL goalie coach
The Montreal Canadiens have made a change amid a shaky season in net.
President of hockey operations Jeff Gorton announced Wednesday the NHL club has fired goalie coach Eric Raymond.
Raymond had held the position since the 2021-22 season. Marco Marciano, who served as goalie coach of the American Hockey League’s Laval Rocket, will take over Raymond’s duties on an interim basis until the end of the season.
“This is an unfortunate part of the business. Eric’s done a lot of good things for us. We’ve had some success with the goalies under Eric, so this is not a one-person reflection,” Gorton told reporters. “This is just an organizational decision that we made to have a new voice and move forward like that.
“Marco has history with our goalies and some success, so we just felt like at this time it was the right move.”
Incumbent Sam Montembeault, named to Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster last year, has a .868 save percentage and 3.46 goals-against average one season after posting a .902 save percentage and 2.80 GAA. He worked with Marciano on a conditioning loan with the Rocket in December.
“Marco’s an intelligent guy. Works hard. He’s got a good rapport with his goalies. Everybody that we know speaks highly of him,” Gorton said. “We’ve had interest from around the league for Marco, so we’ve sort of held him back.”
Rookie goalie Jakub Dobes has fallen to a .890 save percentage and 2.96 GAA after being named the NHL’s third star of the month in October.
The goaltending troubles pushed the Canadiens in December to recall 21-year-old Jacob Fowler from Laval earlier than anticipated in his development.
Fowler posted a .902 save percentage and 2.62 GAA in 10 NHL starts, but the Canadiens sent him back to the Rocket on Jan. 16 to end a three-goalie rotation.
Montreal (29-17-7) holds the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot despite sitting 25th in team save percentage this season at .879.
Rust disciplined for illegal check to head
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust has been suspended three games for an illegal check to the head of Vancouver’s Brock Boeser.
The NHL’s department of player safety announced the ban Tuesday following a disciplinary hearing with Rust, who will be out Thursday against Chicago, Saturday against the New York Rangers and Monday against Ottawa. He’s eligible to return next Tuesday at the Islanders in Long Island, N.Y.
Rust lifted his right shoulder into Boeser’s head in the final seconds of the Penguins’ game at the Canucks on Sunday, which they won 3-2. Boeser is out at least a week after going on injured reserve.
Rust will forfeit $80,078 US in salary with that money going to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
