Shane Doan reacts, reflects as playing career with Arizona Coyotes ends

The Coyotes triggered a new chapter in their hockey history with the decision to not bring back longtime captain Shane Doan, news that became public Monday after Doan was told Saturday.

Doan shared a detailed account of how he learned of the team’s decision but also opened up about what his future could look like, reflected on what his time as a Coyote has meant to him and passed along a message to fans.

BICKLEY: Shane Doan's dismissal has Valley hockey fans reeling

More about that meeting

Doan was told he wouldn’t be offered a contract by the Coyotes during a Saturday morning sit-down with General Manager John Chayka at First Watch in Scottsdale, a place Doan often frequents and usually eats at with his family Saturdays during the season.

Chayka initially reached out to Doan Thursday and asked if he could meet that day. Doan couldn’t, so they settled on Saturday. Doan figured they were meeting to discuss the team’s future plans, giving him an opportunity to share his thoughts.

When he walked into the restaurant around 9 a.m., Chayka was already waiting for him and told Doan he wouldn’t be ordering because he didn’t have time to eat. They small talked for about five minutes before Chayka delivered the news and thanked Doan for his time and service. Doan was in the restaurant for only eight to nine minutes before leaving.

“I actually walked out first," he said. "I just stood up. I shook his hand and said, 'Thank you,' and walked out."

Doan felt he had been “corporately fired.”

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"I appreciated that John was in a tough position, but that's the way it felt," Doan said. "You understand that's the way it happens. ... I understand that it's part of our game. Lots of people get fired. You get cut and fired. It happens. I felt the way anyone that happens to (would feel)."

After leaving First Watch, Doan drove straight home. His wife, Andrea, laughed when he walked in.

“She’s like, ‘That was quick,’” Doan said. “I was like, ‘Yeah.’”

He felt upset and hurt by the decision, which surprised him, but Doan also realized it’s part of the business.

“Hey if you're a hockey player, this is par for the course," he said. "This is what happens. It hadn't happened to me in this long. I'm pretty fortunate."

Is a reunion possible?

The Coyotes offered Doan an off-ice position with the club Monday morning, a job Doan said he’d heard about but had yet to learn the specifics of.

While he acknowledged he isn’t bitter about his departure, it’s unclear if this will affect a future partnership with the team.

“I don’t know,” Doan said. “I haven’t really thought that far ahead.”

Return vs. retire

An off-ice role with the Coyotes may be irrelevant at this point in time if Doan decides to continue playing.

He has yet to determine if he’ll suit up for a 22nd season or retire. Before Saturday’s news, he had been waiting to gauge the Coyotes’ plans to help with his thought process. Doan has also been training, working out alongside the likes of center Brad Richardson and defensemen Zbynek Michalek and Kevin Connauton.

"As of this moment, I'm just trying to get a grasp, just get an idea of what the next step's moving forward and figure it out," Doan said. " ... If it’s not the perfect situation, then it doesn't make sense. I've had an incredible career. I've been appreciated and respected more than a lot of people that have a lot more skill than me. I totally understand and always a little bit awed and humbled by it and aware of it and all the flaws in myself and my game and everything that goes along with being a player. So I don't know what my plan is to go forward. I wish I could know exactly. I thought I did know. Now it's different, so I guess that happens."

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Handling adversity

Last season was one of Doan’s worst in terms of offensive production as he managed just six goals and 27 points. In 2015-16, he led the team with 28 goals – which tied the third-highest output of his career.

Doan played the first six-to-seven weeks of the season with a broken right hand he said he suffered in training camp when he got hit with a shot. The hand was taped the entire season.

"It wasn't a big deal," he said. "I could play with it and if you can play – I just wasn't as effective as I should have been."

A third-to-last finish in the NHL didn’t flatter most players on the Coyotes, and Doan explained how a bleak season can affect a player’s mindset.

"I'm an emotional player that needs to play with heart and emotion and for the most part, I felt I got behind a little bit with my hand," Doan said. "After that, it was a little bit tough and couldn't really get back on track and the team struggled. It happens, and I wasn't very good. Then the team wasn't very good, and you lose your heart a little bit. For someone like myself, I need to play with that. I need to have that going forward. If I was in a position where you're playing for something, I think I can be very effective."

What’s next?

Doan is driving up to Canada with his son Josh and their dog. The rest of his family is flying.

"You try to regroup and figure out what those plans are and look forward," he said.

MORE: Doan's reign ends as Arizona's longest-tenured athlete

‘Bizarre’ Saturday

The Coyotes may not have needed to nix ties with Doan as it’s possible he may not have wanted to return after learning longtime teammate goalie Mike Smith had been traded to the Flames later Saturday.

“It might have made my decision for me," Doan said. "But at that moment, I was not really thinking about that."

Doan said he disagreed with the decision to trade Smith and called the day “bizarre.”

Shipping Smith to Calgary was “on the list of a few others I disagreed with,” Doan said, before continuing, “but hey, I sometimes forget that I need to be cognizant of the fact that I’m a player and that’s all you are and you need to be aware of that.”

Arizona has been in rebuilding mode ever since it dealt key veterans at the 2015 trade deadline, signaling a shift to younger players. While the direction has rebooted other teams around the league into playoff form – like the Oilers and Maple Leafs – progress has been uneven for the Coyotes.

“As a fan you want your team to win," Doan said. "As a fan, you want to cheer for a team that is winning and we didn't win enough and hey, I'm as guilty as anyone was. I was captain of the team. That's tough."

Next in line

The Coyotes said they will address their captain vacancy during training camp, but a source said Oliver Ekman-Larsson will be Doan’s successor.

"He’s awesome," Doan said of Ekman-Larsson. "I don’t think I could say enough good things about him as a player. He's a guy that's capable of being great, so I'm excited about seeing what he can become and what his career can be. I really, really like my teammates, like really like my teammates – all of them, not just Oliver. But I'm excited about what they could be."

Ekman-Larsson’s agent, Jarrett Bousquet, said, “Obviously if he was presented with an honor like that, he'd gladly accept that."

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Message of hope

Amid ownership changes, rumors of relocation and the search for a new arena, Doan has been an unwavering optimist and his commitment to the franchise has given fans a stable presence when so much has been in flux.

That uncertainty only seems to have increased this summer considering these roster decisions, another change with ownership and the ongoing pursuit of a long-term home for the team in the Valley. But when asked what he’d tell fans, Doan's message didn’t change.

“There’s always hope," he said, "and two months from now, things could be drastically different. Two months from now, some things could happen that makes everything great. That's kind of been my approach for the last few years. There's been times when it has been and obviously there's been times when it hasn't panned out. But we have an ongoing joke, 'Just two weeks. We'll find out more in two weeks.'"

People over pucks

Asked what his best memories were with the team, Doan didn’t rattle off any particular goals, games or accolades.

He said it was the people he got to know playing in the Valley and the players he skated alongside.

“I’ve been given way more than any one person deserves," he said. "So I’m very grateful for it."

Reach the reporter at sarah.mclellan@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8276. Follow her at twitter.com/azc_mclellan.