Doan basks in recognition for storied Coyotes career
All eyes in Gila River Arena were focused on the franchise-leading record scorer, Shane Doan, during a pregame ceremony and video tribute Thursday night that highlighted his twenty years with the Coyotes.
After taking the ice for the ceremony, Doan was greeted with a watch from his teammates and a picture representing his evolution as a Coyote, but one of the biggest surprises of the night included a $100,000 check from Coyotes CEO and President Anthony LeBlanc. The money will go toward Doan's Arizona Youth Hockey Fund, which works toward supporting the state's youth hockey programs.
"That's way above and beyond, it's pretty special," Doan said about the donation. "That's huge on the Coyotes and that's a special thing that I'm excited about."
What made the night even more special for Doan was being able to share it with his wife, Andrea, and his four children.
"It was really, really nice to have my wife and kids out there," Doan said. "They've obviously, over the 20 years, paid a pretty big sacrifice. My time and their time, hockey's been put first in their lives a lot so it's pretty nice for them to get up there and get recognized a little bit."
The captain received accolades from a handful of Arizona sports icons, like the Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald and the Diamondbacks' Paul Goldschmidt, former teammates and the man who Doan stole the record from in December, Dale Hawerchuk. The former record was 379 goals, and Doan currently sits at 384.
"It speaks volumes for the celebration they had with him tonight, and how engaged he was in that game," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "He recognized how important that game is, and he was a good player in the game for us. Like I say we just got to get some more players in that recognition point that it is desperation, and they just aren't playing at the level they need to."
Coyotes right wing Shane Doan (19) poses with his family during a ceremony commemorating him as the team's all time leading goal scorer with 380 prior to the game against the San Jose Sharks at Gila River Arena.
In addition to Doan's big night, it was also a big night for the team as a whole, as they entered the matchup tied for second in the Pacific Division with the San Jose Sharks. Unfortunately for the Coyotes, they suffered their fourth-straight loss and fell in the rankings.
"We've got to get our energy going and we've got a group of guys that have to play with energy, and when we do that we're a lot better," Doan said. "In the third period we picked our energy up and guys had a little more jump, and we were getting to loose pucks and creating second opportunities, and that's the way we've got to play from the beginning."
