Demko shines for streaking Comets
Canucks’ goalie of the future offering Utica helping hand in their move from the basement
It’s the latest edition of the weekly tracker, where we tally up the efforts of the Vancouver Canucks’ highest-profile prospects:
THATCHER DEMKO
All is now well in the Comets’ universe with the return of their star goaltender.
Thatcher Demko, an AHL all-star last season, made his way back into the Utica Comets’ crease Nov. 21 to kickstart a three-game winning streak for a team desperate for some wins.
Demko shone in his return, stopping 19 of 21 shots to lead the Comets to a 3-2 win against the Laval Rocket.
He was named the first star of the game for his efforts.
Demko didn’t start Friday, a 5-4 win at the Rochester Americans — a game in which backup goalie Richard Bachman made 43 saves — but he was back in net Saturday to lead the team to a 4-2 win over the Belleville Senators. Demko stopped 26 of 28 shots in the win with none more impressive than a calm and composed glove save on a Belleville breakaway in the second period.
Demko’s return from a nagging concussion couldn’t come at a better time for the Canucks’ farm team. The Comets had lost four straight and six of seven games to drop near the basement of the AHL’s North Division. Now, at 9-10-1, the Comets sit in fourth place in the eight-team division.
The Canucks’ second-round selection in the 2014 draft has a .918 save percentage so far this season.
QUINN HUGHES
How do you like them apples?
Quinn Hughes bagged a pair of assists in two games this past week, a 1-1 tie against Wisconsin Friday and a 2-2 tie versus the same team Saturday (technically, Michigan won the first game 2-1 in double overtime, while Wisconsin won the second game in a shootout. The games count as a tie in the overall NCAA standings, but the extra-time results stand in the Big Ten Conference).
In Friday’s game, Hughes combined in the second overtime with Canucks prospect Will Lockwood and San Jose Sharks draft pick Josh Norris on a pretty passing play to get the extra point for the 14th-ranked Wolverines.
Earlier in the game, Hughes put his exceptional skating on display for a secondary assist. He glided up the ice into the opposition’s end, stopped on a dime and threw it across the zone for the start of a pretty tic-tac-toe play for a goal.
Better yet, Hughes used his skating and great hands to toy with the Badgers in both games. Whether it’s insideout moves or skating through a team to set up a chance, he can do it all.
Hughes, who is on a seven-game point streak, has three goals and 12 assists in 13 games this season.
JONATHAN DAHLEN
We know he can score. Jonathan Dahlen’s done it at every level he has played and continues to do so in his rookie campaign with the Comets.
Dahlen found the net again in Saturday’s win over Belleville, ripping a one-timer into the cage on a power play to open the scoring.
Dahlen also set up a power-play goal Friday and had four shots on net in the win. He has three goals and 10 assists in 20 games for the Comets this season. Not too shabby for a first-year pro in North America still adjusting to a different style of play.
But it’s the defensive side of his game that still needs work. Dahlen admitted as much in an honest post-practice inter- view Nov. 20 with the Utica Observer Dispatch.
In it, Dahlen said he’s working on his defence — most notably clearing the puck out of the zone and doing a better job boxing players out — but that it’s going in the right direction for him.
“I’m an offensive player, I know what to do there, but obviously I need to work on the defence and that’s what I’m doing right now,” he said.
“I read the play pretty well, but I need to get pucks out of the zone a little more and be a little more precise with my passing.”
That being said, Dahlen’s defensive stats are far from the worst among forwards on the team. Reid Boucher, who leads the Comets with 16 points in 12 games, is a minus-7 overall. Zack MacEwen, who’s had a nice season as well with 15 points in 21 games, is a minus-9.
Dahlen is a minus-6 with an improving work ethic when he doesn’t have the puck.
He’ll figure it out, especially with Demko back now to save his butt every once in a while.
OLLI JUOLEVI
Speculation was running rampant when Olli Juolevi didn’t suit up for the Comets game on Nov. 21.
Was he a healthy scratch? Was he being traded? Was he abducted by The Alien?
Now it has been confirmed: Juolevi has a wonky knee and is coming to Vancouver to see Canucks doctors about it after sitting out the Comet’s last three games.
It’s really too bad because Juolevi had been playing in all sorts of situations with the Comets and improving on a daily basis.
The Canucks’ fifth-overall pick in the 2016 entry draft has one goal and 12 assists in 18 games this season. He’s still a team-worst minus-12 overall, but is sure to be eclipsed in that regard while he sits out with the knee injury.
JETT WOO
A tough start to the week for the rough-and-tumble defenceman followed by a knockout performance.
Jett Woo was a minus-2 for the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors in a 4-3 overtime loss Friday versus the Edmonton Oil Kings.
But the Canucks’ second-rounder from 2018 bounced back the next night with two assists and two shots on net in a thrilling 3-2 overtime win versus the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Woo’s first assist helped set up the game-tying goal with just over a minute left in the game. His second came on a good instinctual play as Woo pinched in from the blue-line to swat the puck to a teammate for the winning goal.
For his efforts, he was awarded the game’s first star.
Woo has two goals and 10 assists in 17 games with the Warriors this season. He’s also a plus-6 for the 12-5-3-1 team.
TYLER MADDEN
Just one game last week for Tyler Madden’s 13th-ranked Northeastern Huskies, but it was a memorable one for the NCAA rookie.
Madden scored the game-winning goal with a little over five minutes left in the third to cap off a 4-3 comeback over the Rochester Institute of Technology.
It was the Huskies fourth win in a row and Madden’s fifth goal in 12 games. He also has five assists.
The Canucks’ third-rounder in the 2018 draft is getting rave reviews for his work ethic. In one sequence Saturday, he blocked a shot on the penalty kill, was chopped down for a penalty, but still made a great pass from one knee to a streaking teammate for a shot on the opposition.
Madden’s looking more and more like his dad John every game. He may not win a Selke Trophy like John did in 2001, but Madden can bring it on both ends of the ice.
MIKE DIPIETRO
Mike DiPietro has had a great career with the Windsor Spitfires. But it may just be over soon enough.
The Memorial Cup winner in 2017 and OHL first-team all-star last season is apparently being shopped around as the Spitfires are middling in the Ontario Hockey League standings and can use the haul to revamp their team going forward.
And by haul, I mean eight second-round picks plus a first-rounder from last year or a solid second-year player.
In game action, DiPietro had a win and a loss last week. The win came on Saturday, a 6-3 win over the Flint Firebirds in which DiPietro made 26 saves on 29 shots.
The loss came Sunday against the London Knights, who have now won 12 games in a row. DiPietro saved 26 of 30 shots in the 4-2 loss.
DiPietro has a 2.27 goals-against-average this season and a .923 save percentage.
Whichever team acquires him will be getting a bona fide winner.
LUKAS JASEK
None of us like getting bounced around at our place of work. But none of us are named Lukas Jasek.
In the last few games for the Comets, the 6-foot-1 Czech forward has been moved from centre to the wing and from the bottom of the lineup to the top, yet he’s thriving in the tumultuous environment.
JasekhadagreatgameFri- day with two assists and two shots on net to continue a hot streak that has seen him put up four points in the last four games. He’s also getting power-play time and appears to be winning the coach over with his strong two-way play.
Jasek has five goals and four assists in 17 games this season.
WILL LOCKWOOD
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
That was the story of Will Lockwood’s week as the Canucks’ third-round pick in 2016 peppered the Wisconsin goal with shots, but to no avail.
Lockwood had eight shots on goal in Friday’s 1-1 tie. He somehow managed to top that with nine more in Saturday’s 2-2 tie.
That’ll definitely up his average of 3.3 shots per game.
In an interview with TSN 1040 earlier in the week, Wolverines head coach Mel Pearson had nothing but praise for the 20-year-old, pointing out he’s ahead of last season’s point total and has made huge strides since his season-ending injury at the world juniors.
Lockwood has four goals and eight assists in 13 games this season.