Troy Stecher was quietly having a great postseason, then he made it loud and clear

“There are always going to be bumps and bruises and you just keep going through it,” Troy Stecher’s late father, Peter Stecher, wrote in an unsent letter expressing his love, pride, and advice for his son, who was still a rookie with the Vancouver Canucks at the time of it’s writing.

“My brother and I went there to clean out his apartment, and I actually found a letter he wrote in my rookie year but never gave to me,” Stecher told Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. “When I found that letter, I definitely broke down. That’s something I’ll hold and probably frame and keep with me the rest of my life.”

After the sudden passing of his Dad on Father’s Day, Troy Stecher has had a lot on his mind and heart but has used it as motivation for his continuously strong play. With much support from teammates and family, Stecher had a breakout game against the St. Louis Blues in Game 1 of the playoffs.

“I couldn’t be happier for Troy to get that one, I think I can speak for everybody..” Captain Bo Horvat says in the postgame press conference before choking up and waving for the next question.

“I got emotional as well, gave him a big hug after the game.” Jacob Markstrom tells reporters. Markstrom is someone that went through a similar loss this season after losing his father to cancer earlier in the year.

“I miss my Dad every day,” said Stecher after the Canucks’ game one victory over the Blues on Wednesday evening.

Stecher carries his Dad with him while in the bubble with his necklace always hanging in his dressing room stall.

This team has bonded over the course of the season through trials and triumphs. This is no exception as Stecher has been consistently and quietly great for the Canucks.

Through five playoff (for stat collecting purposes) games since the restart, Stecher has a 55.36% Corsi for percentage (CF%) while playing in a sheltered role on the blueline. To have this level of play happening outside of the top four is instrumental to the success had up to this point. Last night, Stecher led the team in Corsi for percentage with a staggering 60.71%.

He also led the team in expected goals for percentage (xGF%).

Our very own Chris Faber dropped another juicy tweet regarding Stecher’s big postseason where he consistently has been above team average.

What may have been a quiet but impactful body of work up to this point, changed on Wednesday night when he hammered home the game-winning goal to break the tie game. Stecher will certainly never forget his first playoff goal, which was capped off with a touching celebratory tribute to his father, who was also a Canucks season ticket holder for much of Troy’s youth.

Stecher has been giving everything he can this postseason for the Canucks on the biggest stage of his career. With a full and heavy heart, his team, his family, and the Canucks fans have been there to support his efforts.

It’s always nice to see good people have the success they deserve.

Troy from Richmond, we know that your Dad is proud.

If you’d like to read more about the touching unsent letter from Peter, you can read this article from Iain MacIntyre.