51 Reasons the Vancouver Canucks shouldn’t trade Troy Stecher
Vancouver Canucks defenceman Troy Stecher has been the subject of trade rumours on Twitter. Here’s 51 (Stecher’s jersey number) reasons the Canucks won’t move on from the Richmond, B.C. native.
First and foremost, the main reason Troy Stecher probably won’t be traded by the Vancouver Canucks is because these rumours are nothing new. TSN’s Bob McKenzie went on TSN1040 Tuesday morning and said that he had heard “the same low rumblings” about the Stecher trade rumours that started in June at the draft, and the same low rumblings that he says everybody has already heard. That just doesn’t sound like much of a big deal to me.
A quick little disclaimer. You may find yourself getting irrationally upset at some of these reasons. About 10-20 of these reasons are legitimate reasons why the Canucks shouldn’t trade Stecher; now it’s up to you to decide which those are. Also wanted to give a quick little shoutout to the Vancouver Courier’s Daniel Wagner for his assistance on this article.
Again, the first reason the Canucks probably won’t trade Stecher is that these “trade rumours” are not new. That alone should be enough to convince you that Stecher shouldn’t be traded by the Canucks, but if that’s not enough, here’s 50 more reasons why.
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2. He’s a hometown kid. How many teams can boast success stories of having players who grew up cheering for the team they play on? How many can boast having players who grew up in their city? Not many.
3. He’s a fan favourite. I sympathize with you if you checked Twitter on Tuesday morning. Not only was it the day after a federal election, but people were also going nuts about the prospect of Stecher being traded. It just goes to show you how much fans love this player.
4. He’s a dog person. You can never have enough dog lovers on a team. The more the merrier. You know who else was a dog person? Bobby Orr.
5. He’s underrated. Analytics would suggest that Stecher is actually one of the Canucks’ best defencemen, and the eye test would show you that he hustles harder than almost any member of the Canucks’ defence corps.
6. His trade value is low. Being an underrated and undersized defenceman, Stecher likely won’t hold much value on the trade market. Erik Gudbranson was traded for Tanner Pearson, but it’s highly unlikely that Stecher would yield the same kind of return value in a trade.
7. The Canucks almost certainly get worse if a trade happened. If the Canucks pull the trigger on trading Stecher, they are either getting a third-pairing defenceman back in return, and if they don’t, they would be extremely confident in a defenceman currently in Utica. Maybe Olli Juolevi? Jordie Benn is comfortable playing both sides, after all. But is Juolevi really a huge improvement over Stecher on a team that’s made it clear their goal is to make a playoff push?
8. He’s valuable to the Canucks. The Canucks have been lucky that they haven’t been hit with the injury bug so far this season, but it feels like injuries plaguing the Canucks’ defence is an annual occurrence. Thankfully, they’re better equipped to handle said injuries thanks to the offseason acquisitions by general manager Jim Benning, but Stecher will still be valuable in the event an injury does occur.
9. He can play top pairing minutes. Speaking of annual occurrences, it feels more and more like Stecher working his way up to the first pair happens every year, and every year, Stecher is up to the task. Talk about value.
10. He’s proved his worth. This one kind of ties in with numbers seven and nine, but Stecher has proved his worth to Canucks’ management. Travis Green has talked time and time again about how much he likes Stecher’s hustle and what he brings to the table.
11. He hustles. This is pretty self-explanatory.
12. RHD are hard to come by. In a league where reliable right-handed defencemen are seemingly a commodity, having a player with Stecher’s abilities on the right side of your third pairing is a very, very good thing.
13. He knows he needs to work harder than others. At the Canucks’ season introductory media day back in September, I asked Stecher what he worked on over the offseason. He replied, “just improving my all around-game. It sounds cliche, I’ve said it every single time before the season, but I’m 5’9 180 pounds; if I take an offseason off, I’m not going to be able to play in this league.” That’s a work ethic and a mindset that you wish every player on the Canucks possessed.
14. The painting of his dog will be hard to move. If you didn’t know already, Stecher’s Bernese Mountain Dog, Phoebe, is a bit of a celebrity in her own right in Vancouver. Last year, a fan surprised Stecher with an incredibly well done and incredibly large original painting of Phoebe. If you trade Stecher, you risk something happening to that painting during the moving process, and that’s a risk nobody wants to take.
15. He dabs, rather than claps, when the plane lands. Don’t worry, I don’t think this is a habit. Any sort of celebration when your plane touches down should be subject to scrutiny, but if you’re going to celebrate, at least don’t clap. A much quieter, more personal alternative is a dab, executed perfectly here by Stecher.
https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1184576845414465541
16. He’s a Travis Green guy. When your coach likes you and you like your coach, that’s a good thing.
17. He’s a Jim Benning guy. Jim Benning signed Stecher as a free agent out of college and was thrilled that Stecher chose to come to Vancouver. Jimbo loves him some Stecher. A real meat and potatoes kind of player.
18. He’s a Francesco Aquilini guy. I have no idea if this is true, I’m just spitballing. I mean, Stecher does like Italian food, maybe Aquilini will take him out for dinner sometime. Stecher also likes ridesharing, which scores him huge points in Aquilini’s books — but more on that later.
19. If they trade him, they might have no BCHL players soon. Stecher, along with defence partner Jordie Benn, are the only two players on the Canucks who have played in the BCHL. Maybe I’m biased because I cover the Coquitlam Express, but having some BCHL representation on BC’s only NHL team is pretty neat. It’s not set in stone that Benn will re-sign with the Canucks when his two-year deal is up, meaning that the Canucks may have no BCHL representation in two years. The horror.
20. They’d split up the “Born in BC” defence pairing.
Again, Stecher is a player who is all about his city, and his defence partner Jordie Benn, along with forward Jake Virtanen, are the only Canucks who are from BC. It’s even cooler that Benn and Stecher play together on a line, and it’d be a shame if that pairing got split up so soon before any t-shirts were mass produced.
21. His pregame routine. I mean, come on. Stecher’s pregame routine of spinning along the boards in front of the Canucks’ bench before spraying water in the air is up there with LeBron James’ throwing chalk in the air pregame routine — well, maybe not on the global scale, but we should definitely get a petition going to have Stecher spraying water in the air on the cover of NHL 21.
22. He doesn’t wear a helmet during pregame. The Canucks need players that are going to take risks and do difficult things to help their team win. What’s riskier than skating around with no helmet on during warmup?
23. He knows Taylor Swift is overrated. It’s true. Google “Over/underrated Troy Stecher” and see what comes up.
24. Defence depth is a good thing. The Canucks know this better than anyone, which is why it’s a legitimate reason they likely won’t trade Stecher. We already determined he can play on the top pairing if needed — what more can you ask?
25. With lots of new personnel, familiar faces are a good thing. The Canucks have had a big turnaround this offseason, and with so many new faces in the locker room, it’s good for the players to have some familiar faces around.
26. He’s friends with literally everybody. Have you ever seen or heard anything that would make you question whether or not anybody on the Canucks doesn’t like Troy Stecher?
27. He plays with Lego. Everyone knows only individuals of high intellect play with Lego, which is why Stecher brought up his tub full of Lego to his apartment and built the 5,000+ piece Death Star from Star Wars. Lego takes creativity, which clearly translates to Stecher’s on-ice game.
28. He calls his Mom “Mother”. Respect your folks, folks.
29. More likely to push for a team dog. Lots of teams around the NHL have a team puppy, and players like Stecher are more likely to push for a team dog. Deep down, coach Green probably wants a dog too, so he’ll need players like Stecher to help him work on his sales pitch to the Canucks’ Canine Relations Representative.
30. Good locker room guy. In all seriousness, Stecher is a player who is loved by his teammates and coaches, and honestly, you can never have too many good guys on a team.
31. He played for Team Canada last summer. Do you know who else played for Team Canada? Wayne Gretzky. I rest my case.
32. He’s an undrafted success story. When a player goes undrafted, they know they’ll have to work a lot harder than most in order to get the attention of an NHL team. Alex Burrows did it, and so did Stecher. At least let Stecher enter the back-half of his career before trading him.
33. This is his city. Stecher, a friendly person by nature, always has time to say hello to fans who see him in public. He’s recognized in the city he grew up in, and there’s a reason he’s nicknamed Troy from Richmond. He knows where all the best restaurants are, and that’s a lot more important than you may think.
34. Wyatt Arndt‘s tweets about him. If you know, you know.
35. The Tony Stretcher story. This story will go down in Vancouver sports history. In his first professional game as a member of the Utica Comets, Stecher’s name was on the game package as “Tony Stretcher”, which is also what he was announced as by the PA announcer. This story is the reason you may hear Stecher’s teammates in Vancouver call him Tony, or Tony Stretcher. No matter what happens, this story must never be forgotten when Stecher is inevitably inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
36. He’s the greatest athlete of all time. As broken down perfectly by the Vancouver Courier’s Daniel Wagner, Troy Stecher is, in fact, the greatest athlete of all time. The Canucks would be foolish to trade the greatest athlete of all time.
37. He’s a Toyota guy. In true Vancouverite fashion, Troy Stecher almost certainly cares about the environment, which is probably why he drives a Toyota Corolla Hatchback, which is fully decked out with eco-boost and all those other great environmental features. (This article is not sponsored by Toyota in any way, although it should be.)
38. He’s comfortable driving in the snow. What happens when it comes crunch time and a Canucks teammate calls in distress because he’s too scared to drive in the snow? Who are they going to call? That’s right, Troy Stecher, who is an ace at driving in the snow.
39. His favourite snack is ketchup chips. While this may not seem like a big deal to some, John Garrett assures me that this is a good indicator of a person’s character.
40. He gets the bike life. If you’re going to live and play in Vancouver, you should embody what it means to be a resident of the city. A huge part of that is biking, Stecher once said that a new bike was the best Christmas gift he’s ever received. Ever worried about traffic making you late for practice? Not a problem for this guy.
41. Don’t want to make it awkward for him. If he were to be traded, Stecher would obviously still come back to Vancouver during his offseasons. It is his home after all; but how awkward would it be bumping into Canucks fans who are constantly saying things like, “hey Troy, big fan, we never should have traded you!” That would get more tiring than reading this article in its entirety!
42. He was a supporter of Nick’s Spaghetti House. It’s a shame that Nick’s Spaghetti House on Commerical Drive in East Vancouver had to close down a couple of years ago. What we do know is that Stecher did his part in keeping the business alive and well.
43. He had season tickets to the Canucks. Well, his Father had them, and it was through his work, which likely means Stecher didn’t get to go to every Canucks game, but before every game, the Stechers would stop by Nick’s Spaghetti House. Would the Canucks really trade a former season-ticket supporter and a guy who knows good Italian food?
44. He knows Uber is underrated. The only way this would make the Canucks even less likely to trade him is if he plugged Lyft, but the point remains the same, Stecher knows ridesharing is underrated, and that scores huge brownie points with the owner of the Canucks.
45. His reaction to Todd Bertuzzi walking into the Canucks’ locker room. Stecher grew up in the era of the West Coast Express, and you can tell he’s heard the name Todd Bertuzzi before when the Canucks’ great walked into the dressing room ahead of the home opener:
My favourite part about this entire video is seeing the big smiles on the faces of BC boys Jordie Benn and Troy Stecher, who obviously watched some of the WCE’s best moments growing up. pic.twitter.com/M2p6eiJYaq
— David Quadrelli (@QuadrelliD) October 12, 2019
46. His hat game. You may have noticed Stecher wearing a backwards hat in that video. Stecher is well known by his teammates for always having a hat on, and more often than not, it’s a Canucks hat. You’re really going to trade a guy who reps your merch? I think not.
47. He was totally fine playing wing alongside the Sedins. When he was a rookie, the Canucks pulled off a hilarious April Fools joke on Stecher. They told him he was needed on the first line with Daniel and Henrik Sedin, so for a whole practice, Stecher skated on that line, without questioning the decision. Rightfully so, Stecher was confused, and his reaction to finding out it was all a joke is just priceless. The Canucks need versatile players like Stecher who can slide up to the first line wing position when needed.
48. He’s mastered Chris Tanev’s art of blocking shots with his face. I could only find one instance of it actually, but Stecher blocked a shot with his face that went underneath his visor in March of last season — and he still made his scheduled appearance on After Hours that night. If that’s not toughness, I don’t know what is. Chris Tanev approves.
49. If you trade him, you’re trading his dog, too. Stecher’s dog Phoebe is reportedly dating Brock Boeser’s dog. Phoebe is also good friends with Bo Horvat’s French Bulldog Gus. To abruptly end these relationships between the canines is especially cruel, and I fear that PETA could be all over the Canucks’ front office if a trade is made.
50. He stares down opponents pregame. Although he admits he’s not that intimidating, Stecher stares down his opponents during the pregame warmups as part of his gameday routine. Even if it doesn’t intimidate them, it surely makes opponents do a double-take.
51. The Canucks like having him on their team. If you’re reading this, props to you. I just checked my word count and this thing is near 3,000 words and I’ve put roughly seven hours into this article. Was it worth it? 100%. Finally, the Canucks won’t trade Stecher because they like having him on their team.
In all seriousness, Stecher has been here for the brunt of the Canucks’ dark days and he’s a player who the Canucks have always had as a part of their long-term plans. I’m not convinced that those plans have changed, and if the Canucks need any more reasons not to trade Stecher, then they’re more than welcome to read whatever it is I just wrote.