TROY’S TIES TO CANUCKS
MEMORABLE FAMILY DAYS He enjoyed going to games as a kid to cheer on Vancouver with his pals. Now Stecher goes to help his NHL team win
Doug Low was just being a hockey dad.
The boys loved the game. Their group was a special one, a rare combination of talent and good spirits.
That he was able to get Canucks tickets through work from time to time was just a bonus. And because he often scored four tickets instead of two meant his son could invite along a couple of buddies.
And so, one night in 2002, Doug Low carted 12-year-old son Brayden and his two friends, Braedon Arcand and Troy Stecher, to a Canucks game.
The boys posed for a photo, the smiles of the three of them stretching from ear to ear, all holding up pucks that Low had procured from a friend who worked as an off-ice official for the NHL.
Low still has the photo and when he ran into Stecher last summer, he mentioned how he’d recently found the picture at home.
“We were reminiscing about the old days, about the travelling with the teams, and his dad,” Low recalled. “I mentioned the picture ... and then with pride, he pulled it out of the archives on his phone and showed it.
“There’s something about that picture, where it seems Troy really connects, with his childhood and with the Vancouver Canucks.”
Stecher nodded and smiled when asked about the photo this week. Both Lows came in for praise. (Brayden is playing in the ECHL for the Reading Royals.)
“We were young. I think we saw the Hurricanes play. Brayden and I played minor hockey every year until we were 15. He’s still kicking the can, trying to work his way up. It’s fun to watch from afar,” Stecher said.
Growing up a Canucks fan during some successful years for his hometown squad was inspiring for the young defenceman.
“It’s exciting, in the 2011 run I was playing junior (for the Penticton Vees),” he said. “They closed down some streets, it was towel power everywhere … it was amazing from a fan experience. I can only imagine how it would be as a player.”
Cue the comparisons with the current Canucks’ playoff push and the buzz in the building in recent games.
“(Against the Flames) they played Where the Streets Have No Name, that was great,” Stecher said, referring to the re-mixed version of the U2 classic.
“I had some goosebumps,” Stecher said about hearing the guitar riff. “U2 was my dad’s favourite band.”
As he’s often said in the past, playing at home has brought some benefits.
“It’s been huge. It’s a pretty stressful job, there’s a lot of pros and cons. Stress levels go through the roof some days,” he said. “But I wouldn’t want it any other way. I could have gone elsewhere but I came here and I’m very happy I did.
“It’s tough to beat Vancouver as a city in general, putting the hockey aside. (Having family close by) can pick you up, some days you just want to go back home for a meal.”
Having his dad around is special, too.
“I think he’s accepted the fact that I might know more about hockey than he does,” he said, chuckling.
“Growing up he had this hand signal ‘step up your game.’ I still look for him in the stands — I usually know where he’s sitting. He’s more of a fan now than anything.”
For Low, seeing a guy he knew well in his younger years making The Show has been a special treat.
“I just knew in Brayden and Troy, they had a special connection. They all had good talent. Troy of course had very special talent. He was well ahead of his class,” Low said. “In kids, going to an NHL game, you can see it instils that dream. Troy was connected, as well as Brayden, by everything they saw.
“I remember when the draft was here in ‘06, Troy and Brayden were both at that event all day. Kids that age collected a lot of player cards. It was a big opportunity for the kids to scout for autographs, to find players who were sitting with their teams.
“(Alex) Ovechkin was there, I think he’d been in the league a year. We waved at him ... and he came over and gave the boys his autographs and talked to them. And he asked them what team they play for, things like that — and the world just came to an end for them.
“And then the other day I see the photo of Ovechkin in the paper and there’s Troy fending him off, oh boy. It was just amazing.
“When I think about those days and now, I just think about how both Troy and Brayden never gave up on their dream.”
I could have gone elsewhere but I came here and I’m very happy I did.” Canucks’ Troy Stecher