PHOTO: Hockey Canada
PENTICTON, BC. – Hockey Canada announced Friday the 25 players who will head to Riga, Latvia for the 2021 World Hockey Championship with the roster including Penticton Vees alumni Troy Stecher.
Stecher, 27, just completed his fifth season in the National Hockey League (NHL) and his first with the Detroit Red Wings after beginning his career with the Vancouver Canucks for four campaigns. The Richmond, BC native amassed 3 goals and 8 assists for 11 points in 44 games played this season and has registered 14 goals and 86 points in 330 career NHL games.
Stecher was a fixture on the Vees blue line for three seasons, hoisting the RBC Cup with the team in 2012, which just celebrated their nine-year anniversary. In 159 career games in Penticton, Stecher scored 18 goals and 91 assists for 109 points while racking up numerous accolades, including a 2012 Second Team All-Star and being named the RBC Cup’s top defenseman. In 2013, as captain of the team, Stecher was named the BCHL’s best defender as well as a First Team All-Star before heading to the University of North Dakota.
The World Championships in 2021 will not mark the first time Stecher has played with the maple leaf on his chest. The rear guard played twice with Team Canada West at the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge and suited up at the Worlds in 2019, helping Canada to a silver medal in Slovakia.
