Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko said Patrick Roy’s hot temper is the reason he no longer dances between the whistles on the rink.
When he played in the NCAA, with the Boston College team, the masked man inherited the nickname “Dancing Demko”, because he performed dance steps on the icy surface.
“When I was in college, it’s something I did to keep myself in a good frame of mind during games. During stoppage time, they played songs and I danced,” he said in the most recent episode of the “Spittin Chiclets” podcast, notably hosted by former National Hockey League (NHL) players Ryan Whitney. and Paul Bissonnette.
He stopped this practice, however, after Roy decided to string him together in 2014, when the Quebecer was the head coach of the Colorado Avalanche.
“At the evaluation camp before the draft, I met the staff of Colorado and Patrick Roy was present. He picked me up for this ‘Dancing Demko’ business”.
“I grew up idolizing Patrick Roy and was so eager to see what he had to say to me. The first thing that came out of his mouth was, “What’s your problem.” It really wasn’t how I had imagined it. I was a scared young man.”
“He went on to say, ‘I see you dancing on the ice like you don’t care about the game. Why should we draft you? Looks like you’re just here to have a good time. We need a guy who is ready to do anything to win.”
“He was right. At the college level, you can afford that, but you don’t see that in the NHL, ”concluded Demko, who is now the number 1 goaltender for the Canucks.