TEMPE, Ariz. — The Arizona Coyotes are gone, but the retirement banner for Shane Doan, who spent his entire 21-year NHL career with the franchise, remains behind. While the Coyotes are being boxed up and shipped to Salt Lake City, Doan’s No. 19 banner was found in a dusty crate in the depths of what was then called Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz.
It was left there when the Coyotes departed for what was supposed to be a temporary stay at 4,600-seat Mullett Arena on the campus of Arizona State two years ago as they sought to fund and build a new arena of their own. That didn’t happen, leading to what Doan called the current set of “sad” circumstances.
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“It’s emotional because you’re in the moment when you’re grieving a little bit,” Doan said in between the first and second periods of the Coyotes’ final game, for now, in Arizona. “You love something a lot and now it’s gone. It’s something a lot of people cared about.”
Doan came from Winnipeg with the franchise as a first-year player in 1996 and played in the first NHL game in the Valley on Oct. 10 of that season, a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks at what’s now called Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix. In a neat bit of symmetry, he was in the Mullett for the finale, a 5-2 win over Edmonton Wednesday night.
Doan, who was the heart and soul of the Arizona franchise for two decades, set franchise records for games played (1,540), goals (402), assists (570) and points (972), and his number was retired and raised it to the rafters in 2019 to much acclaim.
Matthew Jacobson, who worked at the club’s former arena, found Doan’s retirement banner just sitting in storage, rolled it up and returned it to the former player before Wednesday night’s game. It was a big surprise.
“A fan handed it to me,” Doan said with a laugh. “I’m glad to have it back. It’s part of history. I love the Coyotes, and my family has been accepted here. We’ve been treated better than anyone deserves.”
If you’re looking for omens that predicted the Coyotes’ fate, there are two. First, the public vote last May in Tempe to approve a $2.1 billion entertainment complex that fell short by about 3,500 votes. The team’s future in the Valley was basically sealed on that day. And then this past offseason, Arizona owner Alex Meruelo allowed Doan to leave for the Toronto Maple Leafs as an assistant general manager. Neither Meruelo nor club president Xavier Gutierrez were in the building Wednesday night.
The Coyotes without Doan is like Phoenix without the Coyotes. Both came to pass. Doan returned this season with the Maple Leafs and later to see his son, Josh, wearing No. 91 in honor of his father, play his first NHL game for the Coyotes. Josh was on the ice Wednesday as his dad watched from a luxury box, trying to contain his emotions.
“I don’t think the plan was for him to come back tonight, but he did,” Josh said after the game about his dad. “He was supposed to stay in Toronto and be involved in the playoffs. For him to come back and be involved shows how much it meant to him.”
It’s a family affair he added. “It’s something they’ve been involved with their whole lives. It’s very emotional for them.”
It goes back 28 years and has come full circle.
Doan’s son will move with the franchise in his second season, just like his dad did when the franchise moved from Winnipeg to Arizona.
“When we talked about it, I told him it was the exact same thing that happened to me,” Doan said. “It was sad, and it was hard to leave Winnipeg. We came here and started a new life, and it was great. So, I said, ‘Go to Salt Lake City and enjoy it.’ Obviously, his heart is broken. He’s been a fan of the team his entire life.”
When the deal is completed Thursday with a vote of the NHL’s Board of Governors, Arizona’s hockey operations department and players will be rebranded and relocated to Utah in time for the 2024-25 season at a cost of $1.2 billion.
In a complicated transaction, Meruelo will receive $1 billion from Jazz owner Ryan Smith, but Meruelo will maintain the Coyotes’ name, logos and trademarks, plus ownership of the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners.
He will continue to pursue building a $3 billion arena and entertainment project in North Phoenix, and in the event that’s accomplished, he will have the opportunity to resurrect the franchise within a five-year window.
It’s an arduous process that will begin with a June 27 land auction at a starting price of $68.5 million. If Meruelo wins that, there’s over $100 million in infrastructure costs, and $1 billion needed to build the arena, training facility and a theater in a first phase that could take three years. There’s sure to be political problems and financial issues along the way.
If you’re a cynic, the reality is we’ve probably seen the last puck ever dropped to open an NHL game in the Valley. If you’re like Doan, there’s always a silver lining.
“I’m the worst person to ask because I’m always an eternal optimist,” he said. “And so, I’m going to assume it will happen. I’m viewing this as a chapter that’s closing, but it’s not the end of the book. Nobody wanted it, but you have to move on and hope that something good will happen.”
Doan having his banner returned to him was a nice subplot to that last chapter.
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