On trade deadline day, as he raced to stuff a suitcase, as he scrambled to catch a flight, as he bid farewell to Arizona and prepared for a playoff push with the Calgary Flames, defenceman Troy Stecher also carved out a few minutes for an important phone call.
Two of his biggest fans, his maternal grandparents, would want to know he was on the move.
They’d be thrilled to hear his next destination.
“My grandpa was shocked,” Stecher said. “And then I heard my grandma scream in the background.”
You may have actually heard them screaming at the Saddledome, hooting and hollering in support of the local team.
“They’ve been in Calgary my whole life,” said Stecher, who was born and raised in Richmond, B.C. “I spent a lot of Christmases here growing up, coming to visit my grandparents. I’d be out on the outdoor rink.
“So it’s been awesome. I’ve been able to go their place for dinners and still have a home-cooked meal, and they haven’t missed a home game since I was traded here. They’ve been big Flames fans for a long time, big hockey fans. They used to volunteer for the Hitmen. I know they are just so excited to see me in a Flames jersey. They’ve been having a great time at the games and starting to meet some of the other family members, so it’s been great.”
The Flames, trying to chase down the Winnipeg Jets for the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference, will be home for a big chunk of their defining stretch. After they conclude a two-game SoCal swing, seven of their final 10 regular-season showdowns are under their own saddle-shaped roof.
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Stecher and his new teammates pit-stopped Monday in Los Angeles for a clash with the Kings, both a crucial divisional matchup and a mini-trip-down-memory-lane for the mobile blue-liner. On this exact date a year ago, he was traded for the first time in his NHL career — shipped from Detroit to L.A. on the day before the annual freeze, another deal from a lottery squad to a playoff hopeful.
Stecher, 28, has frequently referenced that swap over the past few weeks, saying that he could lean on the experience as tries to make an immediate impact in Calgary, where he’s been working with Nikita Zadorov on the third pair.
“It’s just not changing who you are, and that’s similar to here,” Stecher stressed. “Obviously, you’re not the headline guy on deadline day. But at the same time, you have to take pride in the fact a team is acquiring you and wants you to play. So it gives you some confidence to step in and be yourself.”
Of course, just because you’ve been traded before, that doesn’t mean there won’t be butterflies during the introductions.
“I know in my first game here, I was nervous as heck,” Stecher said. “It’s not that you doubt yourself, but you don’t want to make a mistake and be the reason why you lose and it’s your first game and the guys are looking around at you.
“There’s pressure, but it’s just how you channel it. You have to channel it in the right direction.”
So far, so good.
Flames coach Darry Sutter praised Stecher’s work over the weekend, saying the recently-arrived right-hander “brings some energy” and “has done a good job for us.”
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Heading into Monday’s late date with the Kings, the new guy in No. 51 had registered a pair of assists in eight outings in the Flaming C. He’s not the most imposing presence at 5-foot-10 and 184 lb., but Stecher did more than just hold his own last week in a spirited scrap with Paul Cotter of the Vegas Golden Knights. (Cotter’s jersey was shredded in that scuffle, the collar ripped to twice its usual size.)
Stecher is set to be a free agent this summer, so his stay in Calgary could be relatively short.
He is determined, however, to ensure it extends beyond mid-April, when the Flames wrap their regular-season work.
Two of his biggest fans are certainly hoping to see some high-stakes spring hockey at the Saddledome. After all, it doesn’t get much better than a 15-minute scoot down Macleod Trail to watch your grandson chase his childhood dream.
“That’s why you play hockey is to win a Stanley Cup, and you don’t get a chance unless you make the playoffs,” Stecher said. “Coming here, obviously I saw the standings and the fight that we were in and I was super excited to have that opportunity. We’ve started to close the gap here. We still have work to do. But it’s why you’re here, it’s why you want to play is to make the playoffs, so there’s not much that needs to be said.”
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