Demko's injury causes trickle effect: Canucks announces roster move

The Abbotsford Canucks are set to open up their first-round best-of-three series against the Colorado Eagles tonight and due to Thatcher Demko's injury, the team has been forced to make a call-up from the ECHL.

In a post on X, the Abbotsford Canucks announced that they've called up goaltender Jonathan Lemieux from the ECHL's Kalamazoo Wings ahead of Game 1 tonight.




The call-up of Jonathan Lemieux is an indirect result of Thatcher Demko's injury, which is expected to keep him out of the remainder of Vancouver's first round series against Nashville.

Demko's injury will require Latvian goaltender Arturs Silovs to remain with the Vancouver Canucks at this time and he won't be assigned back to Abbotsford for the Calder Cup Playoffs. As a result, Nikita Tolopilo and Zachary Sawchenko will form Abbotsford's tandem, while Jonathan Lemieux will be the third goaltender in case an injury occurs.

Lemieux, a native of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, is currently in his first professional season after spending last year at Concordia University. In 39 games for Kalamazoo, Lemieux had a record of 17-16-3 with a 2.84 goals against average, a .911 save percentage and two shutouts.