Shane Doan no longer wears the “C” as the captain of the Arizona Coyotes. But after a 21-year playing career and a stint in the NHL league office, the All-Star right wing was brought back by the Coyotes in mid-January in the somewhat nebulous role of Chief Development Hockey Officer. It’s the ideal gig for the Alberta, Canada, native. Doan is learning the business, marketing and community relations aspects of the organization while on the hockey side serving as a sounding board and working with the team’s younger players. Who better to learn from? Doan is the franchise’s all-time leader in games, goals, assists, points and myriad other categories, and also is known by local media to be one of the nicest and most genuine personalities to emerge from the Valley pro sports scene. (In 2018, he served as a pallbearer at late Arizona Senator John McCain’s memorial service.) We spoke with the father of four about his new job, his long-term dream and why his recreational league hockey teammates keep telling him to shoot the puck.
