Sarah McLellan

azcentral sports

The late-afternoon sun is leaning west as a pickup truck rolls to a stop on a sandy driveway.

Shane Doan climbs out, his uniform very much different from what he wore only hours ago while practicing for the upcoming season.

Gone are the hockey pants, a shoulder-to-ankle network of pads and his helmet.

Faded brown boots have replaced his skates and are paired with blue jeans and a gray t-shirt.

And instead of a Coyotes emblem, Doan sports a multi-colored belt buckle he received for having the Arizona horse of the year in 2013 for team roping as a header.

Finn, his five-year-old Australian Labradoodle, also emerges from the truck and rambles alongside Doan as he walks deeper onto the property.

“He knows as soon as I put my boots on (where) we’re going,” Doan said.

Ice Barns, a five-acre boarding ranch in Cave Creek, has been a haven for the Coyotes captain for six years, but riding is a passion that spans almost all of Doan’s life.

His time on a horse even predates his first organized hockey team, and the hobby is likely to outlast his final NHL stop.

Doan is in his 21st season in the NHL and 20th in the Valley after signing a one-year, bonus-laden contract to remain with the only franchise he’s ever represented.

It’s unclear if this season will be Doan’s last, but the 40-year-old is certainly nearing retirement.

While he may not know when that next phase will start, Doan has contemplated what his future could look like.

And the view will be similar to the one he’s had all these years.

“It could be very soon, so you’d be foolish not to think about it and be aware of it,” he said. “But at the same time, I don’t dwell too much on it. I’m pretty comfortable with: When it happens, it happens. But this is nice. This is always going to be something I do.”

A rural upbringing

As a youngster, Doan was on a horse more than he was in skates.

He grew up in Halkirk, Alberta, a hamlet between Edmonton and Calgary, as the oldest of three and when he was six months old, his father, Bernie, opened Circle Square Ranch – a Christian camp for youth that featured 50 horses and is still in operation.

“We’d ride from 8:30 to 5:30 Monday to Friday, and then Saturday we’d do our rodeos,” Doan said.

There was barrel racing, some bull and bronc riding and steer and calf riding; Doan and his sister, Leighann, did tricks off horses while Doan also occasionally worked as a clown. He has a grandfather and uncles in the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame who count titles from the Calgary Stampede and Canadian Finals Rodeo among their accolades.

“In Alberta, the Doan name is way more known for rodeoing than it is for hockey,” he said.

Similarities exist between the two; although Doan is relaxed when he’s on a horse – a far cry from his usual hard-nosed style on the ice – riding as fast as he can feels just like rushing up the ice.

But hockey was what he wanted to pursue.

Doan started skating when he was 2, the same age he was when Bernie first took Doan out riding, but it wasn’t until Doan was 7 that he started playing organized hockey. He starred locally, staying mostly along the highway that ran near Halkirk, until going off to Kamloops, British Columbia, to start his junior career in the Western Hockey League.

There wasn’t much of an opportunity to ride there during the season; same when he joined the Jets in Winnipeg in 1995 after being drafted seventh overall that year.

And when the franchise relocated to Arizona in 1996, Doan still wasn’t sure if he’d be able to resume the activity. But when he discovered head equipment manager Stan Wilson had horses here, Doan brought some of his own from Canada to the Valley and has been riding here for the past 17 years.

Eventually, while boarding his horses elsewhere, he spotted the land that now houses Ice Barns and purchased it in 2010. It has 50 stalls, all of which are full in the winter, and the venue can be rented out for events.

Doan has nine horses living at Ice Barns, another four in the state and 100 more on a 1,500-acre farm in Alberta.

“I think that’s part of why he likes Arizona so much is part of that western atmosphere that he grew up with, living in the country, having animals and horses,” said Doan’s wife, Andrea. “It’s just being with animals and being with the horses and working with them and training them. It gives him something else to think about other than hockey.”

Return or retire

What is currently a once-a-month escape from reality could become a regular commitment once Doan stops playing.

Already he breeds horses to train and sell, focusing on their disposition, body shape and looks, and Andrea could see him continuing that when he has even more down time; the family plans to remain in Arizona once Doan retires.

“I think he’s always tried to make sure hockey wasn’t his identity,” she said. “Of course it’s his way of life and all that he knows since he was very young, so there will definitely be an adjustment and a period of time that you move on and have the emotions that are part of that. But he will have other things that have kept him interested.”

This transition could have happened by now as Doan wasn’t sure earlier this year if he’d return.

At one point, he thought 2015-16 was his last but he sure didn’t play like his career was approaching its "best-by" date.

He scored a team-high 28 goals, the third-highest total of his career, becoming only the fourth player in NHL history to lead his team in goals at the age of 39 or older. Amid that outburst, he surpassed Dale Hawerchuk for the most goals (396), power-play goals (125) and points (945) in franchise history while also eclipsing the 1,400-game plateau.

“It’s not like it’s wearing me out,” Doan said. “I enjoy it. I like to play games and by training, by playing games, it keeps you athletic.”

Even so, Doan still waited until after the season to discuss his future with Andrea and their four children.

“He wanted to make sure as they’re getting older they’re OK with that, and of course they’re all OK with it,” Andrea said. “And for me personally, I think retirement is such a personal thing of course you’re going to talk about it with your family. It’s something I would never ever say, ‘OK, you have to quit.’”

Back for more

Doan signed a one-year contract in July that essentially amounts to $5 million and from now on, he plans to evaluate where he’s at on a year-by-year basis.

Andrea will be the first one he tells when it’s time to stop. She hasn’t gotten the impression he’s ready to exit the league and can picture him playing next season but she checks in with him to gauge how he’s feeling when he’s at the rink and whether he’s happy being there.

She knows he doesn’t want to continue if he’s not contributing and his role has diminished, but Andrea believes Doan won’t let his career go that direction.

He wants his love of the game, competitiveness and friendliness to be his legacy; no doubt he would love to capture a Stanley Cup before he’s done, but whether he accomplishes that is unlikely to define his career.

“Teppo Numminen is probably one of the classiest, best players that I’ve ever played with, someone that I would love to emulate more than anybody else,” Doan said. “ … And he never won a Stanley Cup.”

The Coyotes continue to add youth with five rookies currently in the mix for ice time, a trend that has shifted Doan down the depth chart. He understands this is what needs to happen for the team to improve, but he still expects to help the Coyotes win, chip in offensively and be a voice of encouragement.

“He is 100 percent still loving every second of being there and competing and has the energy for it and has that mental state of mind still that he’s all-in – like all,” Andrea said. “There’s not one part of him that’s wavering yet. So I think when you can do that, that’s amazing. Mentally, that’s a gift in itself and take advantage of it and keep going as long as you can.”

Truth be told, though, Doan will never be completely done with hockey, vowing to suit up until he can no longer move.

“Literally I will play for the rest of my life,” he said. “No one will be watching when I’m playing in a few years but hey, I’ll still be playing.”

He hopes to stay involved with the game in retirement and while he doesn’t bear any expectations, he would like to help the Coyotes – who he feels are moving in the right direction.

“I’m going to be the biggest fan,” he said.

Time to ride

Once a blanket is draped on the back of RJ, a 5-year-old gray gelding quarter-horse with a “19” branded above his left rear leg, Doan lifts into place a saddle the Coyotes gifted him for playing 1,000 games.

Soon he’s guiding RJ to the road while Finn roams alongside them. At the edge of the ranch, Doan stops to plant his left foot in the stirrup before swinging into position.

And then he begins to ride off into the sunset.

“It’s so relaxing, and the last thing on your mind is what happened at the arena or what’s going on,” he said. “I’m in the moment of just enjoying it. Really, it’s hard to be in a bad mood when you’re riding – for me.”

Doan and RJ are cantering, maneuvering around cactuses and shrubs along a sometimes uneven terrain that includes two or three dens of coyotes nearby.

Eventually, Doan turns to the north and pauses.

“You can see how it’s relaxing, but I can come running down this wash and you can run hard down these washes,” he said. “It’s pretty cool. It’s pretty sick adrenaline.”

Within seconds, Doan is galloping through the desert.

His journey isn’t over, not yet.

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