Shane Doan 'not bitter' after Coyotes unexpectedly choose to part ways

Show Caption Hide Caption Coyotes part ways with Shane Doan Coyotes captain Shane Doan will not return to the team.

It was about 9 a.m. last Saturday when Shane Doan sat down at First Watch in Scottsdale to meet with Coyotes General Manager John Chayka.

This get-together was arranged by Chayka, who reached out to Doan Thursday, and Doan figured they would talk over breakfast about the direction the team was going and what his thoughts were.

But as the two started to chat, Doan began to realize the point of the sit-down was much different.

He was being let go.

“I had been corporately fired,” Doan said. “That’s the way it felt.”

The Coyotes told Doan he wouldn’t be back with the organization as they weren’t going to offer the soon-to-be free agent a contract, abruptly ending his 21-season tenure with the only franchise he’s ever represented with a decision that rocked not just the Valley but the entire hockey world once it became public Monday.

Coyotes owner Andrew Barroway issued a statement that said, “The time has come for us to move on and to focus on our young, talented group of players and our very bright future. This was a very difficult decision given what Shane has done for the Coyotes and his unparalleled importance to the organization. With that said, this is necessary to move us forward as a franchise.”

After he was told, Doan stood up, shook Chayka’s hand and walked out – leaving the restaurant just eight, maybe nine, minutes after arriving. A bevy of emotions washed over him. He was upset, hurt, angry, confused and surprised. Ultimately, he anticipated it would be his decision of whether or not he returned to the team.

“Obviously, it wasn’t what I was expecting so it’s different,” Doan said.

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

It was explained to him that this decision was made by Barroway, Doan said, and not Chayka or coach Dave Tippett. The Coyotes had no further comment other than to say they offered Doan an off-ice position with the club Monday morning and the captain vacancy will be addressed during training camp.

Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson will be tabbed as the next captain, a source said, and while Doan has heard about a job offer, he said he hasn’t “looked at or seen anything or talked to anyone.”

He also isn’t sure how his departure with the organization will affect any potential future with it. Doan is still trying to get a handle on how he should proceed.

“I’m not bitter,” he said. “The organization as the Coyotes, that’s all my friends and family. I don’t have any hard feelings towards them. I’m friends with all of them. An owner has a right to make their decisions. I disagree with it, but that’s their right to make their decision.”

Not only was he the most iconic Coyote, becoming synonymous with hockey in the desert, but Doan's legacy ranks as the organization’s most successful.

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He holds the franchise records for games played (1,540), goals (402), assists (570), points (972), game-winners (69) and power-play goals (128) – dominating the record book like only four others in the NHL have for their respective teams.

Doan is one of just nine players in league history to play at least 21 seasons with the same franchise and only three players have logged more games with one organization than he has; he needed just 25 games to move into sole possession of second place. Overall, he’s tied for 14th for most games played in the NHL.

“He’s the face of the franchise,” former teammate Zbynek Michalek said. “Hockey is not the most popular sport in Arizona or Phoenix, but everyone knows Shane Doan. That’s how big he is.”

Drafted seventh overall in 1995, Doan spent just one season in Winnipeg before the franchise relocated to the Valley in 1996. He experienced a 98-degree difference from when he left Canada to touching down in Phoenix and immediately fell for the sandy landscape, prickly cacti and sherbet sunsets – scenery he was familiar with from his favorite movie Tombstone.

His goal output was minimal his first four seasons and he was demoted to the American Hockey League in 1997-98, but two seasons later he eclipsed 25 goals and 50 points.

Doan was appointed captain in 2003 and was the longest-tenured in the league before his exit. He scored a career-high 31 goals in 2008-09 – a year after posting a career-best 78 points – and was regarded as one of the game’s juggernauts up front in his prime for his heavy, energetic power-forward style. The Alberta native frequently represented Team Canada in international play, winning gold at the 2004 World Cup and playing in the 2006 Olympics. He played in the NHL All-Star Game twice.

He made the playoffs nine times with the team's 2012 run to the Western Conference finals the closest he's been to lifting a Stanley Cup, but a 2010 series against the Red Wings was also memorable – for his raised-arms celebration after scoring and then a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the final four games of the series in his first playoff action in eight years.

"It was so hard to watch him going through that because he cared so much about his team, cared about being in the playoffs," Michalek said.

Doan frequently bypassed the lure of free agency to remain put, signing a five-year extension in 2007 before another four-year commitment in 2012 and then a one-year, bonus-laden contract last summer.

By then, the Coyotes were wards of the league after getting dropped into bankruptcy but Doan remained a loyal optimist – not only for the team but because this was home to his wife, Andrea, and their four children. He’s been active in the community, can still be spotted on local commercials and is a staple at the rink where his passion for being on the ice is hard to miss. Doan has often said he'll be playing hockey for the rest of his life but eventually no one will be watching.

He's typically one of the last off the ice before posting up at his stall to chat with whoever's nearby, pumping as the heartbeat of a dressing room that unites and includes everyone.

The sport has grown at the grassroots level in Arizona, with USA Hockey registration numbers more than tripling since the team’s arrival, and Doan has been a major catalyst. The spotlight he helped focus on hockey captivated Scottsdale’s Auston Matthews, who was drafted first overall last summer and is already an NHL superstar.

“He’s probably a good reason why the team is still here and why they’re doing everything they can for the team to survive and stay here long-term,” Michalek said.

The 40-year-old is still mulling the possibility of suiting up for a 22nd season and has been training.

“I was waiting to see kind of what the Coyotes’ plans were,” he said. “Obviously, you think you know what’s going to happen and then things change.”

What could help his thought process is gauging the free-agent market when it opens July 1. Doan’s agent, Terry Bross, said he’d be shocked if four to six teams didn’t call because of what Doan has to offer. Bross said he would have preferred Doan to be put in a different role last season, when he was used lower in the lineup, and believes Doan could rebound on a contending team alongside veterans.

“I think there’s going to be a good market for Shane,” Bross said. “You’re not talking about a long-term deal and besides the fact, I still think he’s a very productive player. I think on the right team with the right line he could be a 20-goal guy again this year.”

Doan struggled to produce in 2016-17, scoring just six goals after tallying 28 the previous season. He played the first six-to-seven weeks with a broken right hand after getting hit with a shot in training camp – an injury he said he could play with.

“I got behind a little bit with my hand and after that, it was a little bit tough and couldn’t really get back on track,” Doan said. “The team struggled. It happens, and I wasn’t very good and 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.”

Retirement, though, is an option for Doan, who turns 41 Oct. 10, and if a “perfect situation” doesn’t materialize elsewhere, Doan feels he’s had an incredible career and is in awe of and humbled by the respect and appreciation he’s received over the years.

It’s possible Doan could have chosen not to return to the Coyotes before they told him their decision as he didn’t agree with the team’s trade of former No. 1 goalie Mike Smith to the Flames on Saturday.

“That was just probably on the list of a few others that I disagree with,” he said.

Arizona is in the midst of a five-year playoff drought and seems to be committing even more to the youth movement that’s headlined its multi-year rebuild.

“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. Hey, I’m as guilty as anyone was. I was captain of the team. That’s tough.”

How the Coyotes piece themselves back together from their Saturday shakeup remains to be seen, as they opened up holes in a crucial position between the pipes and one on the wings where they were thin already.

But a move like this doesn’t just resonate on the ice as backlash among the fans already seems to be stirring.

"It's a very sad day for Arizona hockey," Bross said.

Parting with an aging veteran coming off a down season isn’t unusual in sports and it’s true the Coyotes do need to upgrade their roster, an opportunity that’s now readily available with the contracts they’ve recently shed.

But perhaps no one wanted that improvement more than Doan.

And now, he’s iced from the process – a reality that stings but one that doesn’t appear to change what this journey has meant to him.

“I love the Coyotes,” he said. “I’m the biggest Coyotes fan there is.”

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

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