Stecher on dogs, Lego and mom’s cooking
Canucks blue-liner talks about playing in his hometown and how he spends time away from the rink
Defenceman Troy Stecher, born and raised in Richmond, is now in his third season with the Canucks, the NHL team he grew up cheering for.
After three years at the University of North Dakota, Stecher made the decision to jump into the NHL world of free agency.
He signed a two-year deal with Vancouver in April 2016 and signed a new two-year deal last summer.
This week, we caught up with the 24-year-old blueliner to talk about the pressures that come with being in your hometown and how he deals with the day-to-day life of a pro athlete.
Q When you were first looking at coming to the NHL, how did you handle being approached by your hometown team? A
I definitely tried to put that in the back of my mind. I take the whole hockey thing as a business. You weigh your options. You look at depth charts. What they’re saying.
When I look back at that process, everybody is telling you what you want to hear. So you have to figure out who is being honest, how much is exaggeration. You get down to a couple teams and obviously being in your hometown was an extra bonus.
Q Now that you’ve been here a few seasons, how do you deal with being the hometown guy?
A There’s been some challenges, definitely. Trying to stay out of the media: social media, the newspapers. I don’t really try to pay too much attention but when you have mom and dad in the backyard ...
Growing up, my dad would read the paper every single morning. My mom’s a dental assistant, so all day she has patients coming in; and then, when I made it, they were like ‘We feel like he’s a part of our family,’ even though they’ve never known me. So then she would always hear these outside voices — we call it white noise — I guess that’s been a bit of a challenge.
Ticket requests, definitely. My first year, I was getting bombarded. But at the same time, going home for a home-cooked meal is something I love that not a lot of guys get. Having your family there supporting you, coming to every game, talking to them afterward, them telling you how proud they are, there’s definitely some pros and cons to it all.
Q What’s your favourite home-cooked meal? A
Oh, man. I love mashed potatoes with corn and any meat, like turkey, ham, tenderloin, with some gravy on top. I’ve been eating that meal since I was born. I cut it all up and mix it together so it looks a little like dog food (laughs). My mom makes it unbelievable. Q Can you make anything close to that?
A
No, no, no. I can make Kraft Dinner. Actually in the summer, I can barbecue. I throw everything on the barbecue: potatoes, I throw the veggies on there, too. I throw the chicken on there, the steak. It’s easier that way.
Q When you’re not doing hockey, what are you doing? A
Playing Lego. It’s my hobby away from the rink, aside from Phoebe (his dog, a Bernese mountain dog). I don’t know what it is, but I love building. You’re so caught up in that moment of following instructions, putting a piece on top of a piece, that you forget about all the stress that comes with this profession. It’s my happy place. Q A lot of you guys on the Canucks have dogs.
A
I told my parents and myself when I was in college that when I turn pro, I’m going to get a dog. They weren’t very supportive of it. I didn’t get one right away.
But my first year, I found myself hanging out on the couch, playing video games or watching a lot of Netflix. I knew I had to do something. I knew I wanted a dog.
It’s been a great decision. Adds some responsibility in your life. It matures you as an individual. Taking care of someone other than yourself. There’s no better feeling than coming home to a happy dog. You come in the door and it doesn’t matter how bad or good you played, they’re just happy to see you.
Q Favourite movie?
A Off the top of my head, that’s a tough one … maybe The Departed. I’m a big Mark Wahlberg fan. Q Favourite video game?
A FIFA. Q Who’s the best poker player on the team?
A Right now, Leeves. (Josh Leivo, who joined the team in December.) He’s cleaning up. Q Because he’s too new? You can’t read him? A
Yeah, he’s the new guy. Burr (Alex Burrows) used to be really good. Best overall player is probably Tanny (Chris
Tanev). He’s exactly what you probably think he is: he sits there. He doesn’t really talk. He folds all his hands. He gets something and cleans up. Q What did you study at UND? A
I was a communications major. I started in business, but it didn’t really work with my hockey schedule at North Dakota. I didn’t find a profession that I wanted to work toward, but then as a communications major I figured I could be a reporter, or in broadcasting, with hockey, something along those lines, seeing the game. I like writing. I can write. I’d rather write an essay than take a test.