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Defenceman Troy Stecher, born and raised in Richmond, is now in his third season playing for the Vancouver Canucks, the NHL team he grew up cheering for.

After three years at the University of North Dakota — following three with the B.C. Hockey League’s Penticton Vees — Stecher made the decision to jump into the NHL world of free agency.

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He signed a two-year deal with the Canucks in April 2016, just over a week after he and Brock Boeser led the Fighting Hawks to the NCAA hockey title.

Stecher, 24, signed a new two-year deal this past summer.

This week, we caught up with the blue-liner to talk about playing at Rogers Arena, the pressures that come with being in your hometown and how he deals with the day-to-day life of a pro athlete.

Photo by Jeff Vinnick / PNG

Q: When you were first looking at coming to the NHL, how did you handle being approached by your hometown team?

A: I definitely tried to put that in the back of my mind. I take the whole hockey thing as a business. You weigh your options. You look at depth charts. What they’re saying.