Doan Calls Number Retirement 'A Huge Honor'

GLENDALE --Shane Doan is expecting to experience a very emotional return to the ice inside Gila River Arena on Feb. 24, 2019, when the Coyotes will officially retire their longtime captain's sweater No. 19.
"I know myself and I'll probably be a little bit more emotional that night than I'll want to be," Doan said. "I don't think anyone wants to be overly emotional out there in front of everybody, but at the same time the Coyotes organization has been incredible to me so I'll just deal with those emotions that night and understand that that's just the way it is. It will definitely be interesting to go back out on the ice for the first time."

The Coyotes announced Wednesday that the team would salute Doan with a ceremony before a game against the Winnipeg Jets.
"It's a huge honor," Doan said. "To join the players who already have their names and numbers hanging inside the arena - the Jets players from before the move and some of my former teammates - is pretty special for me. Teppo Numminen, Keith Tkachuk and Jeremy Roenick are guys I played with for years and always admired, always looked up to, and always tried to emulate. So, just thinking about having my name and number placed alongside theirs is something I have a hard time even comprehending or reacting to with words. I'm really grateful."

Doan will be the first Coyotes player to have his jersey number retired. Numminen, Tkachuk, Roenick and former Jets Bobby Hull, Thomas Steen and Dale Hawerchuk are members of the team's Ring of Honor inside Gila River Arena.
"Shane Doan is Mr. Coyote and a Valley icon," said Ahron Cohen, the team's president and CEO. "No one has done more for the Coyotes or the game of hockey in Arizona than Shane. For the past 22 years, Shane has been an incredible ambassador for our franchise and has represented the Coyotes with class, dignity and professionalism. He has given his heart and soul to the Coyotes and is most deserving of this tremendous honor."

Doan retired last summer after playing 1,540 NHL games, all for the Coyotes organization. He holds franchise records in many statistical categories including games, points (972), goals (402) and assists (570). He served as team captain from 2003-2017.
"Shane was a great hockey player and played the game the right way, but more importantly, for me, he's a great human being," said Rick Tocchet, the team's head coach and former teammate of Doan in the late 1990s. "He's a really good person and he cares about everybody around him, and I think that separates him from a lot of people. I'm looking forward to the ceremony because one, Shane deserves it, but also because I want our young players like Clayton Keller, Christian Fischer and those guys to see him rewarded for doing the right things. He's a great role model."
Arizona picked the game on Feb. 24 to honor Doan because the opponent is the Winnipeg Jets, the franchise that morphed into the Coyotes in 1996 when it moved to Arizona. The Jets, of course, drafted Doan seventh overall in 1995 and he played 74 games for them as a rookie in 1995-96.
"I think it's cool that the Winnipeg team will be involved," Doan said. "Obviously that's the place where my career started and it will always be special to me."

Doan spent his first season of retirement serving as a senior advisor for the NHL's Hockey Operations department. As part of his role, he attended official Board of Governors meetings, general managers meetings, competition committee meetings, a few outdoor games, the All-Star Game, and the Stanley Cup Finals.
"It's been interesting to see the ways in which everyone interacts with each other," Doan said. "It's been a good experience for me. I've learned a ton. I'm definitely enjoying retirement. I don't enjoy not being a player, but I'm enjoying the freedom that I have by not being a player. I'm home about 80 percent of the time, and that's so nice, and I've gotten to plan my schedule. For the first time in 25 years, I have a say over what I'm doing from September until May."
Despite being away from the Coyotes, Doan has remained friends with many of the behind-the-scenes people he worked with as a member of the team for 21 years. He said it's tough not seeing them every day, but he's adjusting.

"I miss the people I dealt with on a daily basis," Doan said. "I was fortunate to spend a lot of time with a lot of those guys for many years and once you retire all of a sudden those daily interactions and conversations are gone. I miss that, of course, and I miss my teammates because the players that you get to play with become your good friends. I miss the friendships with those guys and the support staff and the security guards, people like that, and at the same time you understand that that's how it goes. As far as playing, I miss knowing if you're good or bad. I think that's one of the hardest things as an athlete is you're driven by instant feedback because you know if you're good or bad on any particular day. The highs are highs and the lows are lows. You're either good and you won, or you're bad and you lost."
He added, with a laugh: "Now I don't know if I'm good or bad on any particular day."
Doan didn't waste time getting back to a hockey rink after retiring. He helped coach his son Josh's youth hockey team, the Arizona Junior Coyotes, last season. It was fun, in part, because Doan's dad once coached him.
"Being able to be part of my son's team and to coach them and have fun with them has been huge for me," Doan said. "I've known all of those boys for quite a long time; it's a really good group of young men so being around them is pretty special for me and something I've really enjoyed."
Having played his entire career with the Coyotes, some argue Doan's loyalty to the team throughout the years dwarfs the plethora of his impressive on-ice accomplishments.

"I don't have any regrets," Doan said. "I'm very grateful for the opportunity I was given to stay with the same organization for my whole career, and I appreciate all of the people who allowed that to happen over the years. I still consider myself the biggest Coyotes fan. I love the organization. It means so much to me, and I want the team to do well, and I want all the young guys I played with at the end of my career to continue to develop and succeed. I'm a huge, huge fan of all the guys I played with and I wish them all great success."
Like Doan, fans attending the game on Feb. 24 likely will be emotional during his jersey retirement ceremony. After all, Doan is without question one of Arizona's most beloved pro athletes of all-time.
"The fans have been incredible to me over my career," Doan said. "The people of Arizona have always been so overly generous with their support. Everyone has just always seemed to take care of me and I appreciate that quite a bit. I was so fortunate to be able to stay in the same place and I've developed friendships with a lot of different people not part of the team over a long time. Those relationships mean a lot to me and to be able to say thanks to them next February is something I'm already really looking forward to."