Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman reflects on Penticton past in new video
Published 3:03 pm Thursday, February 12, 2026
Troy Stecher is proud to have been a Penticton Vee.
Donning a Vees baseball-style cap in a recent YouTube video posted by the Toronto Maple Leafs, the 31-year-old defenceman spoke about his junior hockey past, which included three seasons with Penticton in the B.C. Hockey League.
Stecher anchored the Vees’ blue line when the club dominated junior hockey en route to a national championship in 2012, and is in the midst of his first season with the Maple Leafs.
“I don’t want to pump my own tires, or my team’s tires, but my junior team won 42 games in a row and won the national championship,” Stecher said in the video, referring to the 2011-2012 Vees that also featured the likes of future NHLers Mike Reilly and Steven Fogarty.
In 53 games with the Vees in 2011-2012, Stecher scored five goals and had 37 points.
He played in Penticton from 2010 to 2013.
“Yeah, those were the days, the defenceman added. “It was a lot of fun back then.”
The video posted by the Maple Leafs features Stecher wearing a hat with the word “VEES” with a peach underneath. Penticton is known as the Peach City.
Stecher went undrafted in 2014, but has gone on to play for the Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Maple Leafs.
The Richmond, B.C. product has 11 points and a plus-eight rating in 38 games with Toronto this season.