J.T. Miller has rejoined his Vancouver Canucks teammates.
The Canucks star was on the ice at Rogers Arena for the morning skate ahead of tonight’s game against the St. Louis Blues. It’s the first time Miller has participated in a team practice since taking an indefinite personal leave three weeks ago.
Miller won’t play right away, however. He didn’t speak to the media today and won’t play tonight, the team confirmed. Head coach Rick Tocchet indicated that Miller will practice tomorrow and didn’t completely rule out a possible return on Thursday.
“He’s gonna practice with the full team tomorrow, so we’ll get him with a line and get him cooking,” said Tocchet. “I’ll talk to him, how he feels, but he’s been skating [on his own]. He’s anxious to get going, but on his terms.”
“It’s nice to have him around, back in the room. He looked good out there,” Conor Garland said of Miller. “Not much rust, he looked fast, looked energized… We’re excited just to have him back in the fold.”
The Canucks’ All-Star netminder has backed up Kevin Lankinen the past two games but hasn’t started a game since the first game of the playoffs way back in April.
Rust will be a concern with Demko, as will the possibility of re-aggravating his knee injury. Demko injured his popliteus muscle, a rare ailment for an NHL goalie. The team has been understandably cautious about bringing him back, as the 29-year-old has been skating with the team at practice for weeks.