GLENDALE, AZ - OCTOBER 02: Shane Doan #19 of the Arizona Coyotes during the NHL preseason game against the San Jose Sharks at Gila River Arena on October 2, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES – Shane Doan is the last Arizona Coyotes player to step off the ice after a morning skate.

Without fail every gameday of the season, Doan pushes his 39-year-old body to stay on an ice sheet as players several years his junior opt to enter the locker room, done with the workout and ready for their pre-game naps.

The reason is simple. The Coyotes have the ice for a certain amount of time every morning on a gameday, and Doan doesn’t want to waste it. He enjoys the feeling of his feet in skates. The glide he gets with each stride, the cracking sound when he whips a shot.

“I love to be out there to shoot and work on different things and do things,” Doan said in a one-on-one interview with Puck Daddy. “I understand it’s all going to end soon, not soon but at some point … for me playing in the NHL, but you’re still going to play hockey somewhere because I love to play. I’ll be playing only no one will be watching and that will be the difference. It is an unbelievable sport. It’s fun, it’s the best way to stay in shape, it’s just a fun activity and you enjoy it.”

Doan is essentially still a kid. Even though he’s closing in on 40 he still has that kind of young aura around him – even with a crooked nose and scars on his face from years of hockey battles.

At the start of his 20th NHL season there is wonder for one of the league’s foremost modern-day gladiators – questions he has some answers to and some he will learn the answers in the coming months.

Is this his last year in the NHL? Would he want to go elsewhere during this season if he feels the end is close and the team continues to falter? He’s an unrestricted free agent after this season. Will he want to return to the rebuilding Coyotes?

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As he nears the end of his career, what does he think of his legacy? Is he a dirty player? Is he a hard-nosed player? How will he be remembered?

“My legacy would be hopefully they think I’m a good person and cared about my teammates and about the people I came in contact with. The game itself? That I got to play it and that I love hockey,” Doan said. “There’s somebody who loves the game and loves to play and had fun playing it. That would probably be the best thing anyone could say would be that I had fun playing it.”

Nicest guy in the league

Doan is well-known and well-liked by almost all players past and a few present. Off the ice he’s apologetic, polite and always has time for conversation.

In the bowels of Staples Center, Hockey Hall of Famer Rob Blake – now the Los Angeles Kings’ assistant GM – stopped on his way to a pre-game workout to say hi to Doan and chat with him.

During their handshake Doan erupted with a “Blakey! How ya doing?”

“He is a guy who gives time, he loves the game. He’s a veteran player but he’s like a little kid when he comes to the game,” Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. “Great family man but he covers a lot of bases in life but that’s who he is.”

Doan makes time for everyone. A Coyotes staffer joked that they sometimes need to tell Doan to go home to be with his family, just because he loves being at the rink so much and interacting with the players, trainers and media.

Along with scoring goals and making plays, this quality helps enable longevity.

In order to play in the NHL for 20 years a guy needs to have a unique personality that helps him stay level and makes those around him want to spend time with him.

“I think you have to be a certain type of person to go through all the different things that are ups and downs,” longtime Coyotes equipment trainer Stan Wilson said. “You have to be a stable guy to start with but he also is a great person to be around. People enjoy being around him so I think that’s part of it. People want to have you around if you’re a decent guy and a good person. That helps a lot.”

Doan’s key is that he tries to stay as normal as possible.

His daily family life at home sounds like a typical dad trying to get his kids out to school before the workday.

His oldest daughter starts school at 7:30 a.m. and can drive herself. His youngest daughter goes to school in Phoenix, which he says is about 35 minutes away.

His two boys go to public school nearby so they ride their bikes.

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