EDMONTON — “I want him healthy and I want him to help us win. He’s a better player than I am. That’s just the reality of the world.” — Troy Stecher on Mattias Ekholm.
At maybe five-foot-10 and 184 pounds — and with a string of sub-15-point seasons on his HockeyDB profile — Troy Stecher should never have played in 560 NHL games.
In this sport, if you’re a small defenceman who doesn’t run a power play like Quinn Hughes or skate like Erik Karlsson, heck, they’d just as soon hand the job to a six-foot-four guy who can get 11 points in a season and maybe push some people around at the same time.
Yet, somehow, Stecher has found work now through six franchises and nine seasons.
So, you want to know why? This is why.
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After replacing Ty Emberson in the Oilers lineup 10 games into the post-season, Stecher has been excellent. Courageous, consistent and predictable, Stecher has had this strangely settling effect on Darnell Nurse like the goat in the thoroughbred barn.
The big defenceman’s game has never been better this season when he’s played alongside Stecher, to the point that he may as well be dubbed the Nurse Whisperer.
Every guy in this Oilers dressing room absolutely loves — and respects — Stecher for the career he’s forged with the tools he was handed. But now it looks like Mattias Ekholm is ready to return, and eventually, that’s going to land Stecher in the press box.
So, here’s the point where you find out why Troy Stecher’s teammates think so highly of him — wherever he’s played.
“I just want to win a Stanley Cup, man,” he said Monday, between Games 3 and 4 of the Western Conference Final. “I don’t want to talk poorly (of anyone), but my time in Vancouver, we weren’t very good. And my time in Arizona, we weren’t very good. My time in Detroit, we weren’t very good. I just want an opportunity to play on a contender.
“Obviously I want to be in the lineup … (and) I’m going to do everything in my power to prove to the coaches I deserve to play. But the most important thing is just winning hockey games,” the 31-year-old said. “I’m very fortunate to be in the position I’m in.”
The undrafted journeyman from Richmond, B.C., is playing the best hockey of his life at the most important time — but it matters not.
On Tuesday, or Thursday, or Saturday, some six-foot-four Swede is going to take his job simply by being declared healthy.
It’s a metaphor for Stecher’s career, really.
“That’s fair,” he said, standing in front of an NHL stall — his NHL stall — in the room of a true Stanley Cup contender. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way. You know, I love what I do. There are no bad days in this league.
“Sometimes, “ he said, taking the conversation to a time we’d forgotten about, “I maybe worry about my spot or my role. Definitely throughout the regular season, there were some long nights where I went home pretty concerned. But you wake up the next morning, you put your hard hat on, your work boots on, you come to the rink and you get back to work.
“That’s something that my dad instilled with me at a young age. There are only two things you can control: your work ethic and your attitude.”
Pete Stecher was in aluminum, copper and brass sales.
“He sold all the hand railings in Rogers Arena in Vancouver,” Troy said.
Troy’s dad died in 2020, but as a father, we’ve got to give him props. This is exactly how you’d want your son to represent when faced with Stecher’s situation — the kind of teammate we all hope to raise.
“Look,” Stecher reasoned, “Ecky (Ekholm) is a 1A or a 1B, depending on how you view Bouch (Evan Bouchard). He’s played in the 4 Nations for Sweden. He’s been in the Cup Final with Nashville …”
“Like, he’s a better player than I am. That’s just the reality of the world and the business we live in,” Stecher said. “I want him healthy and I want him to help us win. If I’m the one that comes out, I’m going to be disappointed, but it probably gives our team a better chance to win.”
I’ve been covering this league for 35 years, and I can’t say I’ve ever heard a guy say something quite like that.
But it’s a strange time all around in Edmonton, where we never thought we’d type the words the Edmonton Oilers really don’t need Mattias Ekholm back that badly. But here we are.
The Oilers are laying down their best defensive game all season minus their best defender in Ekholm, prompting a scribe to phrase his question regarding Ekholm’s pending return with an exquisite mix of cross-examiner and smart-assedness.
“You spoke the other day about how well the defence is playing without you,” came the query. “So whenever you do come in, how do you not screw this up?”
After the scrum finished having a chuckle, Ekholm acknowledged, “Valid point.”
“You look at Stecher right now, he’s playing unbelievable. John (Klingberg) and all these guys have come in and they’re play really well,” he said. “If I do come in, it’s just a matter of keeping it simple and trying to fit in.”
When Ekholm does come in — and make no mistake, he will as soon as the doctors give him the OK — Ekholm will hop back on to the first pair with Bouchard, eventually eating up all of Stecher’s minutes and more.
Barring an 11-and-7 scenario, which is possible with Connor Brown ruled out of Edmonton’s Game 4 lineup, Stecher will take a seat upstairs, ready to pounce on the next lineup spot presented to him via injury or poor play.
He’s back in the chase position for an NHL job. But that’s fine.
He’s only been there since he was 18 — when nobody drafted him.
