He is the pride of the Richmond Minor Hockey Association who chased down his dream to the game’s biggest stage. What a 2016 it was for Troy Stecher.
The 22-year-old has been honoured as Richmond News Athlete of the Year — culminating our Athlete of the Month feature that is generously sponsored by Richmond realtor Keith Liedtke.
Stetcher is now a fixture on the Vancouver Canucks’ blueline, playing beyond his years and experience. Months earlier, he had no idea he would even be signing with his hometown team until after helping the University of North Dakota win its first NCAA Division One Championship in 16 years.
As a highly-coveted free agent, the Canucks locked him up just weeks later but he seemed destined for a year or two of seasoning with their farm American Hockey League farm team.
Stecher nearly cracked their line-up out of training camp and became an instant fan favourite.
Just three weeks into the season, he was called up from Utica and made his NHL debut in front of family and friends at Rogers Arena in a 3-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators. It was the first time a Richmond-raised player had ever suited up for the Canucks.
His first NHL goal would come in just his seventh game, a 5-4 overtime win over the Dallas Stars.
Remarkably, he is logging over 21 minutes of ice time a game, ranking third on the team. The smooth-skating power play specialist is also among the Canucks leading shooters and is only going to get better.
Stecher is doing what he has accomplished at every level of hockey. Succeed.
It started with leading Richmond Minor to the Bantam A1 provincial final, earning team MVP honours in his lone season of Major Midget with the Greater Vancouver Canadians, before launching an outstanding junior career in Penticton when he was just 16. The success continued at North Dakota where he earned a full-ride scholarship and now the impressive transition to the NHL.
“Winning becomes addictive; winning just feels special; I always want to win,” said Stecher.
The Richmond News is proud to recognize Troy as Richmond’s Athlete of the Year for 2016.
