Knee surgery ends Markstrom’s season
GAME DAY: LOS ANGELES AT VANCOUVER, 7 P.M.
VANCOUVER — Nobody knew it at the time, but Jacob Markstrom saved his worst for last.
In a Feb. 16 game in St. Louis, the Vancouver Canucks’ backup goalie allowed four goals on 21 shots, played the puck into his own net a couple of times and lost 4-3 in a game in which his desperate team largely outplayed the Blues.
That game was significant at the time because Markstrom was essentially getting a rare bonus start, a chance to play ahead of Ryan Miller and make his case for more crease time. And the Canucks were still just near enough to an NHL playoff spot to believe they were playing for something.
But nobody figured that would be Markstrom’s final game and the Canucks would lose 10 of their next 13 to spiral into an active volcano.
The next week, in the frivolous skills contest for fans that included goalies getting towed on their knees around the ice in a “chariot race,” Markstrom tore the meniscus in his knee. His comebackthrough-rehab was aborted this week, and the 27-year-old will soon undergo surgery.
The Canucks were supposed to compete to the finish for a playoff spot this season and Markstrom was supposed to compete with Miller for top status and validate the organization’s succession plan in goal. Neither happened. The Canucks could finish below last season’s 75 points and Markstrom will finish with seven fewer games than he played a year ago — his trajectory flattening just as the Swede is about to begin a three-year, $11-million US contract extension.
With Miller, 36, likely leaving the Canucks as an unrestricted free agent this summer and uberprospect Thatcher Demko, 21, at least another minor-league season away from being ready for the NHL, Markstrom appears to have lost a season.
Canucks coach Willie Desjardins doesn’t see it that way.
“Oh, he’s way farther ahead,” Desjardins said of Markstrom’s progress. “It’s not even close. He proved last year he could be a good, solid backup in the league. And he proved this year that he’s ready to challenge for the starting role.
“We couldn’t expect his progression any better than it has been.”
Markstrom won three games in five days in the first week of the Canucks’ season. He won only three times in the last three months.
After splitting duties with Miller until Christmas — due partly to injury and illness — Markstrom started only seven of the final 26 games he was in Desjardins’ lineup.
“I want to play, you know?” Markstrom told reporters Thursday as the Canucks prepared for today’s game against the Los Angeles Kings. “I’m here to play. I feel like I can play. Whatever the coach decided, that’s what you’ve got to go with. But I want to play. I want to play most of the hockey games; that’s why I’m doing this.”
Markstrom hasn’t proved he can play like a No. 1 goalie, but he thinks like one.
“I hate losing almost more than I love winning,” he said. “So it’s been tough. When you lose a couple of games in a row, it’s very frustrating. Especially as a goalie, you’ve got to have a short-term memory.
“I think I’ve been through a lot. I spent a lot of time down in the minors. It just helped me a lot mentally, and physically, and playing the game, too, and understanding the game. There’s nothing more I love to do than play hockey, and play in front of the home fans here. The feeling when you win a game with this group of guys, there’s nothing that I love more.”
He’ll finish the season with 10 wins, against 14 losses — three of those in OT or shootouts. Markstrom’s 2.63 goals-against average and .910 save percentage in 26 appearances are close to last season’s numbers over 33 games (2.73, .915). What he’s missing is about 15 more starts.
ICE CHIPS: Winger Loui Eriksson is expected to play today after missing 11 games with a knee injury … Defenceman Troy Stecher (shoulder) practised on the power play Thursday and could also play against the Kings … College free-agent Griffin Molino is expected to make his Canucks debut.