Troy Stecher won’t soon forget his Rogers Arena debut.
The 22-year-old defenceman from Richmond had a goal and two assists in the Vancouver Canucks 5-3 pre-season win over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night. Stecher is battling for a roster spot after signing with his hometown NHL team as a free agent last spring, following an outstanding collegiate career at the University of North Dakota.
“It’s something I will never forget, my first game at Rogers,” said the Richmond Minor Hockey product. “I grew up watching the Canucks obviously and coming here. It was a different feeling being on the other side of it tonight.”
Stetcher opened the scoring at the 12:20 mark of the first period when his wrist shot found its way through traffic during a power play.
A short time later, he earned an assist on Brendan Gaunce’s goal and also made a heads-up play on Anton Rodin’s game winner with a terrific cross-ice pass.
“That’s something I try to incorporate into my game is being an offensive defenceman,” continued Stecher. “If opportunities present themselves, I’m going to try and capitalize on them. I was fortunate enough to get a good shot off on the power play, through a screen and it found a way to get in. I saw Rodin streaking, fed the puck through the box and he is a left-handed shot so it was easy for him to get off the one-timer. He made no mistake.
“I’m a young guy so confidence is huge. I have to put this in my back pocket. Tomorrow is a new day and I have to come to the rink and work hard.”
Stecher’s impressive outing gives Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins more to ponder. Vancouver already has nine blueliners on their expanded pre-season roster who finished last season in the NHL.
“He had a great game,” said Desjardins. “We didn’t expect him to be that good. He made some high end plays at the line. The goal was a great shot and that’s something he works on all the time. The next two passes were just good plays.
“That was a big step for him in an NHL game. He works hard though, as hard as anyone in the summer. You talk to anyone here and they are all pulling for him just because of his attitude and how hard he works.”
The Canucks will continue their pre-season schedule Sunday against San Jose.
