On opening night, every player wants to be out there for the first game of the season in front of 15,000-20,000 pumped up fans. The atmosphere is electric and the energy can be felt from the nosebleeds right down to the ice surface. Unfortunately for one member of the Vancouver Canucks, opening night was not the most enjoyable outing.
When the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers took to the ice in Vancouver on Wednesday for their season opener, Thatcher Demko was actually battling the flu - though you wouldn't know it with how well he played, en route to helping the Canucks secure a dominant 8-1 victory.
One issue had arisen during the game, however, that puzzled some fans, as Demko had to leave the game. Why? Well, he was dehydrated and had actually thrown up in his goalie mask.
The Vancouver goaltender stopped 21 of 22 shots faced before he was told to go rest by head coach Rick Tocchet. Kudos to Demko, because when I have the flu, I have a hard time getting out of bed, let alone playing in an NHL game against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
