Vancouver Canucks' Thatcher Demko Gearing Up For Bounce Back After Injury Issues

"Yeah, we got to work pretty much right away. I missed enough time last year that I didn't feel like I was really needing that much time off. You know, trying to explain what I was going through last year (with the popliteus injury), I can't really do justice to it. It's just such a breath of fresh air to be able to come into a season healthy, with a very clear mindset as far as what I needed to do, and having the freedom to go out and do it. It's been about five months of a really detailed and disciplined approach to get me in a good spot to be ready to go this year." Demko said.

"This summer, just as much work as I was putting in in the gym, I was putting the same amount of work into the mental side of things, too,» he explained. «Last year was difficult and, you know, I'm a human being. You naturally just start to question things and you start getting worried about different things and different facets of your life. Being able to really slow down and have another child and have some perspective again, slowly start to feel like myself again, that confidence just kind of came hand in hand." Demko said.