OverDrive - Stecher on the Maple Leafs' season, his role and the culture of the team

Episode Date: April 27, 2026

NHL Defenseman Troy Stecher joined OverDrive to discuss his season with the Maple Leafs, the culture of the roster, the truthful care of the organization from top to bottom, his future with the team and more.

Maple Leaf defenseman, Troy Statch. You ever have to deal with something like that, Troy? Someone using their blade or their stick to choke you out or try to cut your tongue off? No, I think the times have changed a little bit there. Yeah, you never played the British professional hockey league? Not quite. Okay. What did you make?

I'm sure you saw the Ridley-Greg sucker punch as a player in the league. What did you think of that? Yeah, I mean, I obviously won't say too much. I think Biz actually said it pretty well on the panel. It was kind of like a difference between like those rabbit punches and a scrum or whatnot and a full and uppercut. So I'm sure something will happen whether there's just a suspension or a fine or if he's going to have to answer the bell for next year. That's just kind of a code that kind of runs across the league that you don't do, something like that. So, Trey, what do you do now?

Do you take a little bit of time for yourself? You know, today's athlete, it seems like, You know, you shut it down for a week, 10 days, and then you're right back in the gym. Is that fair to say, or do guys take a little bit longer, depending if they're banged up or not? I kind of depends on the guy, and also your age, you know, like, this is my 10th year. I've kind of changed my training regimen throughout the years just on what my body needs. And for me, I was back in the gym today for the first time. Not that I was lifting weights, but just stretching and getting mobile again and just kind of working on your flexibility.

it just kind of seems like that next generation of players coming up or going out at 24-7. So it's kind of motivating it as a guy at my age right now still. Well, we always hear. You know, players that continue to work hard, you know. We always hear, you know, players that don't make the playoffs say, okay, I can use this to my benefit because I get a longer offseason to kind of prepare. Do you see any? Obviously, you guys wanted to make the playoffs, clearly.

That goes without saying. but can you take any positives out of the fact that now you've got a longer offseason to prepare for next year? Yeah, for sure. I mean, you said obviously first and foremost you want to be playing, so you're disappointed in that regard. But, you know, early in my career in Vancouver, we didn't make the playoffs the first three years. And just for myself individually as a smaller game, man, it was kind of a benefit. I got five months, three years in a row to really work on my strength and work on my game.

away kind of from a system team setting. Same thing for this year, you know. I've been the past two years on Emmington. We've had long playoff runs going to the finals and losing twice. And your summer's only about nine weeks. So a third of that is kind of just recovering, resting. And then the next thing you know, you're kind of in panic mode, being like, oh, I got to train.

So this year will be a good opportunity for me to get a good summer in, for sure. Troy, you mentioned your smaller D-Man, but mobile and skating, being able to move the puck. Is that to feel like that's where the league is at when it comes to defensemen and their value from the back end as being able to advance the puck and jump into the play now? Yeah, for sure. I think you kind of see the theme of that across the league

and a lot of these D-Men that are coming up. I do still think there's a big importance on how you defend, though. And I think that becomes pretty evident when it comes playoff time. But I don't know. I guess the whole mindset of just like playing defense has changed. The best defense is playing no defense. So if you have the puck all the time, it's a lot easier in that regard. And it seems like a new generation of D-Man coming up to like to play at the puck and have possession.

So you don't really have to defend that often. Troy, I'm not sure. I would imagine I think you're a hockey guy and you're watching these playoffs. Is anything like stuck out? Any teams got your attention, individual performances? What's kind of caught your eye? just all the matchups in general, I think it's been really entertaining to watch.

I was really shocked out all I got swept. I didn't see that one coming. The Tampa Montreal Series has been super entertaining. It's really cool to see Utah do as well as they have so far, especially being in Arizona not long ago, and a lot of those core guys still there, so really happy for them. Obviously, Edmonton kind of let me go,

which I was disappointed about, but still have a lot of relationships with those guys and hope the best for them, and it's kind of shocking to see where they are right now, too. Yeah, what's your read on that? It's kind of been opening. Troy, like the fact that the others are up against it, do you think the fact they played so much hockey the last two years

factors in, or is it more about what Anheim's doing? I think a bit of both. I think you'd argue both sides of it. As far as the series, I just think it's pretty free-flowing and kind of open. Just kind of trading chances back and forth. But yeah, you did hit it. Like, they played a lot of hockey, especially some of their big guys, you know,

going to the Olympics for Devo and the four nations. It adds up. With Troy Stetcher. So in terms of your time in Toronto, like when you were acquired here and claimed, you stepped in, you played a ton, you played really well, you indeed yourself to a fan base immediately. We were talking about you almost daily on this show. What sparked that, in your opinion, when you arrived?

Why did it kind of work? And what did you take out of your season in Toronto? I don't really know. I think just opportunity. I came in. Like, there was a lot of injuries when I got here, and especially to the back end. So I stepped in right away and just played.

I felt like I played well the first three, four games. And from that, you just kind of get confidence. And I kind of ran with it for, I guess six, eight weeks there, like, at the start, my game definitely dropped off. I had a certain point, too. Like, I went through a lull. Not to make an excuse myself, but just like everybody on our team, you know, it seems like everybody kind of hit a rough patch of a certain point through the season.

So my overall assessment in my year is, you know, I was proud to prove to the people in the hockey world that I continue to play, you know? You kind of doubt yourself sometimes when you're put on waivers. At the same time, you know, there's no place for any complacency. Like, I understand that you've got to strive to be better every single day because somebody's always knocking on the door trying to take your job. So I was content, I guess, is what you could say. So, Troy, you take a look at, you know, you're in Edmonton,

you go to the last couple years. You see that culture. They see that set up. And then you come to Toronto. And, you know, from the outside, I'm sure you've had your preconceived notions of what it was like. And now you're behind the curtain. And do you see the framework of something good there? Do you feel like there's, you know, a base to work with?

And obviously, a lot of uncertainty moving forward with the organization. You know, what do you make of it? And would you like to be a part of, you know, that moving forward? Yeah, there are obviously a lot of good pieces in Toronto and just first and foremost how the organization treats you as a player is, we're very fortunate. You're not treated that way across the league in many spots, if any other. So it's a real privilege to be able to, you know, be a Maple Leaf in that regard.

I have felt very fortunate. There is obviously a lot of uncertainty around the organization right now. Would I like to be back? Yeah, I really enjoyed playing there. There's a great group of guys, a lot of good players. We had injuries, obviously, to our captain and our best defensemen, not to make excuses. You know, those are two important people that were in our lineup.

and just Toronto in general is just a hockey beast. Like how can you not get up for those games to go there and represent that city and understanding how important the magnitude of the Toronto Police is in Toronto. It's very cool to be able to play for them. With Troy Stetcher, when you say you're treated, you know, better in Toronto than anywhere else, or maybe anywhere else, can you give us examples on that?

Like, what do you mean by that experience that makes the least, you stick out? It's just like little things, but you have player-only bus on the road, which can be great, you know, before game or after game, regardless of the results, but it's just the guys there together, you know, talking. On the road, you stay overnight in a lot of cities just because they feel like there's a benefit in you getting a better night's rest instead of hopping on a flight and getting into a hotel late.

If you really want to get into it, like a lot of the things want to do that just on their budget alone. You know, you're paying for an extra night of hotel, then you've got to play for the playing. So they do everything they can to try to maximize and get the best of every single player. And it's pretty evident, especially for myself when I've been around the league and played for

multiple teams, you can kind of compare one to the other. It was cool there in Toronto to be treated where we were. Yeah, that is cool. You mentioned uncertainty just with obviously the situation in Toronto, with nobody at the helm running the organization. What does that do

for a player at all different levels, whether it's Austin Matthews yourself, like as opposed to a regular season where you're like, all right, you know, see you next fall, whatever, uncertainty up top, what would that be like for a player or how much anxiety would that bring for any player of any level? It's a good question. I don't know. It's pretty loaded. I think it would be you get a different answer on based on who you asked and where they

are within the organization. obviously Austin being the captain. It's going to have a lot of different feelings of myself who potentially might not be back. For me, obviously, there's like somebody that's going to take charge and stick to his guns and do what he thinks best with the organization. But for me right now, like, I'm just very focused on my offseason and try to become the best version of Troy Stecher that I can right now.

Well, we'll be tracking how this plays out for you, Troy. We enjoyed watching as a leave. Hopefully it continues into the future. And good luck come July 1st and throughout the offseason. And we appreciate you doing this today. Yeah, thanks, guys. Thanks for having me. You got, Troy Statcher of the Maple Leafs.

And again, free agent this year. We'll see what happens. I'm Luke Wilson. Join me each week for Film Never Lies. Since retiring from the NFL, I've had a lot of my mind. And now, I've got my own show. So if you're tired of lazy takes, if you want honest conversations, join us each week.

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