The Doan Legacy

I have been a fan of the Arizona Coyotes since they first moved here from Winnipeg 28 years ago and became the Phoenix Coyotes. 

From the moment they arrived I was captivated by the cast of characters that made up that inaugural Coyotes team. From Big Walt banging home 52 goals to JR always making things interesting, to Teppo Numminen anchoring the defense, to Oleg Tverdovsky dancing up and down the ice, to Kris King and Jim McKenzie slinging leather, to the Boolin Wall tending the goal. But there was one young man who would leave a lasting legacy beyond all of those guys. A quiet, unassuming young lad who would go on to become the Valley’s favorite son. He made his home in the Valley and raised a family and became one of us, in a way that no other Coyotes player ever did. Through thick and thin, Shane Doan was the epitome of Coyotes hockey. He connected with the fans and the community in his own special way and that endeared him to everybody. He is the closest thing to hockey Royalty that we have here in Arizona. 

Shane Doan is a working class guy who can relate to most anybody. He’s your next-door neighbor. He’s your kid’s hockey coach. He’s the guy you hoist a beer with at the local watering hole. He’s the guy you shoot the shit with while standing in line at the DMV. If you struck up a conversation with him, you wouldn’t even know he was a hockey star unless you brought it up. He’s just Shane. 

Shane has meant the world to hockey fans in the Valley. For twenty odd years he was the one thing that Coyotes fans could count on. Through all of the tumult and chaos of multiple ownership changes, multiple relocation rumours, and multiple work-stoppages, Shane has been the one constant. He stood by the team through thick and thin, even though he could have easily left on several occasions and Coyotes fans wouldn’t have thought any less of him for it. He stayed because he is one of us. 

So Shane stayed here in the Valley and raised his family. And what a family. Shane and his wife Andrea are like a modern-day Ozzie and Harriet. They raised four beautiful, very well-rounded children. 

One of those children, Shane’s first son, has chosen to follow in his Father’s footsteps. Josh Doan grew up idolizing his Father, as most young hockey fans in Arizona do. He developed his hockey skills in the Junior Coyotes program, wearing his Dad’s #19. He joined a fledgling Division I hockey program at Arizona State and scored the very first goal scored at Mullett Arena. (Foreshadowing, anyone?) He was drafted into the NHL by his hometown team, the first home-grown product drafted by the Coyotes. He began his professional Hockey career down the I-10 with the Tucson Roadrunners. And on Tuesday night, he made his NHL debut with the Coyotes.

This did not feel like a Tuesday night game between two of the worst teams in the league. There was an atmosphere around the game that could only be described as magical. There was an air of anticipation from the moment on Sunday night when it was announced that he would be called up. Josh’s family beamed with pride from the Mullett Arena suite where they gathered to watch his debut. Shane made his way rinkside to watch Josh take his solo skate during warmups. He could not have looked prouder. 

Social media was abuzz with Coyotes fans checking in to share their excitement in anticipation of Josh’s debut. I knew the moment that Josh stepped on the ice for his first shift. The crowd rose to its feet and a roar filled the air and I knew that Arizona’s favorite son had strided into the history books. There can be no doubt that Josh is one of our own. He was born in Arizona, played for the Junior Coyotes, played for the ASU Sun Devils, played for the Tucson Roadrunners…and here he was back at Mullett Arena, skating for the only NHL team he has ever loved. He was born for this moment. And his moment has finally arrived.

The fans hung on his every movement each time he stepped onto the ice. Every touch of the puck was greeted with bated breath in anticipation of Josh’s first goal. Would he get it tonight? Would he have to wait until his seventh game as his father had in Winnipeg? He didn’t look at all out of place. Every shift he and his linemates were buzzing, making positive things happen. A collective gasp rose up when Josh came in on a partial breakaway, and a collective groan escaped when goalie Elvis Merzlikins made a remarkable save on a pretty good move by Josh. 

Then, at last, the moment we had all been waiting for. At the tail end of a strong forecheck involving Doan and his linemates, Jack McBain and Matias Maccelli, Josh forced a turnover and followed the puck to the front of the net. After the puck jumped into the air off of Merzlikins’ stick, Josh batted the puck out of midair and into the net for his first NHL goal. The Mullett Arena crowd erupted. The game broadcast showed a clip of the Doan family jumping for joy in the suite. It was a cathartic release for all of Coyotes Nation. 

Doan would add another goal later in the game, deflecting a shot from the point over the goalie for what turned out to be the game-winning goal. It was the perfect ending to a perfect night. Josh appeared on the broadcast’s post-game show, where Shane presented him with the puck commemorating his first NHL goal. It was a real proud-papa moment. 

I think the reason this moment was so powerful for long-time Coyotes fans is because it feels like validation for years of suffering. With all the arena-search issues and subsequent relocation rumours, Coyotes fans have been searching for some feel-good news all season. Aside from a start just good enough to inspire hope for a playoff run, there has been little for Valley hockey fans to cheer about. For Coyotes fans, this was a full circle moment. It was like seeing the torch passing from the elder Doan to his son. Everything made sense. There was a Doan wearing a Kachina jersey being cheered by adoring fans. It felt like, even if for only a moment, all was right with the world. And Coyotes fans have needed that for some time. So thank you, Josh Doan, for carrying on your father’s legacy. 

Happy World Poetry Day

I’m sitting here inside my home,

Thinking I should write a poem.

I’ve turned my brain inside and out,

But I can think of nothing to write about.

I could write about my failing health,

Or of my woeful lack of wealth.

I could write of missing all my friends,

But that is a sadness that never ends.

I could write about a long lost love,

But it’s too depressing even to think of.

I could write of all my hopes and dreams,

But I really have none left, it seems.

I’ve nothing left to write, I think.

I just might go and have a drink.

Oceanside Ice Arena

Today is a very sad day for many Valley residents, especially those who are familiar with Oceanside Ice Arena. As somebody who grew up in central Phoenix, I didn’t spend an awful lot of time at Oceanside, which is in the East Valley. But as a Hockey fan, I am definitely familiar with it. 

Oceanside Ice Arena sits in a sparse, industrial area between Tempe and Scottsdale. Its name derives from its proximity to the former site of Big Surf water park, a miniature, man-made ocean in the desert (the first of its kind in the U.S.). 

For nearly fifty years the Arena has housed Hockey in one form or another. I remember as a kid going to watch Phoenix Roadrunners Old-Timer teams play exhibition games at Oceanside. The Oceanside Sharks were a Junior Hockey team that played out of Oceanside way back when and I played with and against some of those guys in various adult leagues later on. In the 1980s I watched the Edmonton Oilers practice there on their way to somewhere. When I worked for the Phoenix Roadrunners IHL team we would occasionally practice there when the ice at AVMC was unavailable. I myself played in their adult league for a season or two and played in a regular pick-up game there many times.

In more recent times, the ASU Hockey program called Oceanside home for many years before moving to the new Mullett Arena.

Today is a sad day because it will be the last day of skating at Oceanside Arena. As I write this, they are hosting an event to say goodbye to the old rink. I haven’t skated there in probably at least 20 years, but somehow it feels like losing a part of me, of my life. I still have my memories, some good and some not so good, but somehow knowing it’s gone has me feeling melancholy. Due to health issues I was not up to attending, but maybe it’s just as well. It would have been too sad, like losing an old friend.

Good bye, Oceanside. You were a treasure and you will be missed.

Me and the Bee

Requiem

I am at a loss. I still can’t believe the news I heard yesterday. I am getting used to hearing about old friends and acquaintances passing away. But when you hear about three in one day, it hits so much harder. It’s overwhelming.

Yesterday, while skimming over my social media feeds, I came across a familiar face. Somebody had posted a picture of Todd Gillingham, a former professional Hockey player with whom I was acquainted many years ago, when we were both much younger and still active in the game. The picture was accompanied by the caption, “1970-2023.” I was shocked. I remembered Gilly as such a happy-go-lucky guy…he always brightened my day every time I saw him. I didn’t know him well. We were never on the same team together. The closest we came was when he played for the Phoenix Roadrunners the year after I had left the team. I always knew him as a visiting player, mostly with the San Diego Gulls and Salt Lake City Golden Eagles. Nevertheless, he greeted me with a big smile and a hearty hello every time I saw him. He was one of those guys who just always seemed happy to be doing what he was doing, like he never had a bad day. And that was infectious. I don’t recall ever interacting with him where I didn’t end up smiling. He was a really good dude.

I don’t know how he died. No details were given and I hadn’t heard anything about him being sick, so I have no idea. What I do know is that the world is a darker place without him. I will miss him. But I thought about him yesterday and it made me smile. Cheers, Gilly.

Moments later, I saw a post about Ryan Pisiak. Again, I never worked with Pisiak and knew him only as a visiting player. But I remember him as a well-respected tough guy with the Louisiana Ice Gators of the ECHL and the Austin Ice Bats of the WPHL. I didn’t know him much at all, mostly just by reputation. But I know he was well-regarded by those who knew him. Again, I don’t know what caused his death; only that he was much too young. Rest in Peace, Ryan.

The last gut punch came with the news of Gino Odjick’s passing. I never met Gino, but of course I knew who he was. Everybody who followed Hockey in the '90s knew who he was. He was a bit of a legend. He played 12 years in the NHL, most of it with the Vancouver Canucks. Like Gillingham and Pisiak, he was a tough guy and those guys tend to be well-liked. They also tend to be really personable guys. Some of the nicest men I’ve met have been some of the toughest Hockey players I’ve known. 

Unlike the others, I knew that Gino had been sick for a while. His diagnosis for amyloidosis had been made public, and it has been known for some time that he probably did not have much longer to live. That being said, I think he hung in there longer than a lot of people expected. In the end, he died of a heart attack, his heart having been weakened by his condition. 

It’s tough enough to keep hearing about people we respect and admire passing away, despite the knowledge that we all will eventually come to the end of our time on Earth. But it seems exceptionally cruel to have three fall in one day. It just doesn’t seem real. It can’t be real. But…somehow it is. I am at a loss. I don’t know what else to say. 

Rest in Peace, Gentlemen. You will be missed.

Merry Christmas

This will be my first Christmas without my Mom. I have always been raised to believe that family was the most important thing...not just on holidays but especially then. I will always remember how much Mom loved Christmas. It really was her favorite time of the year. She always loved picking out and buying gifts for all the children. But more than that she loved watching them open the gifts and seeing how their faces lit up. She took more joy from that than she did from opening her own gifts. I think she often enjoyed it more than the kids did opening their own gifts. 

Growing up I knew that we weren’t rich. But nobody would ever think we were poor. And come Christmastime my Mom always made sure that I got some good presents. I may not have always gotten what I hoped for, but I always got something I liked. I am reminded of one Christmas when I asked my Mom for a saddle for Christmas. Mom asked me why I wanted a saddle, given that we didn't own a horse. I told Mom if I had a saddle, I could lay it over our corral-style fence and pretend I had a horse. My Mom said if I could pretend that fence was a horse then I could pretend a blanket was a saddle, and gave me an old blanket. 

Yet, somehow, she never left me feeling like I had done without anything I really wanted or needed. My Mom did without nice things for most of her adult life but always made sure I had nice things. And I could always see how much it meant to her to see me happy. I never doubted that. As I got older I came to know how she felt. I always took greater pleasure in watching family members open their gifts, especially gifts from me, than opening my own gifts. 

Thinking about this holiday without my Mother in it for the first time in my life has reminded me of the importance of family. Through thick and thin, they are the ones who will always be there for you. And they will love you and accept you with all your faults and imperfections. And that’s what this holiday means to me. It’s a time to remember and show how much you love and appreciate your family. And forgive whatever petty disagreements you may have had throughout the year and just focus on the good times you have shared. 

And I would like to extend that to my adopted family. All the friends, close and casual, that I have met throughout the years. So Merry Christmas to all my family, by blood and by choice, and may the new year bring you all Peace, Love, Health and Happiness. I love you all.

Merry Christmas, Mom. I miss you.

Never Forget

It’s important to remember 9/11. It’s important to remember that our Nation was attacked in a most cowardly fashion by terrorists on that day, resulting in the deaths of over 3,000 people. It’s important to remember that there are still people around the world that wish to do us harm simply because we are Americans, and that those people don’t care who they maim or murder in their quest to achieve their goals of destroying our Nation. 

But it’s even more important to remember the aftermath of the attacks on 9/11. Americans put their differences aside and came together as countrymen. Many first responders marched into the towers and into the face of danger to help their fellow man. Many of them lost their lives in doing so. Many at the sites of the attacks came together to help their neighbors escape the fiery crucible, or to comfort them in their final moments. Many people from around the Nation (and, in fact, the world) volunteered their time and energy to help out in any way they could. People from all over descended upon New York City to help in the rescue/recovery efforts, working tirelessly to free people trapped in the rubble. Many people offered their money, their time, their compassion and empathy, and anything else to help those affected by the attacks. 

We were all proud to be Americans and were able to put our petty differences aside and support each other and mourn and grieve all as one. Nobody cared if you were Republican or Democrat, gay or straight, black or white, rich or poor. We were all in it together.  

Americans have always been able to put aside our differences in times of national crisis. We have always been galvanized and made stronger together when facing difficult times. That has been a defining trait of Americans.  

Now, more than ever, we need to find that ability within us and come together as a Nation. We are facing a crisis unprecedented in our history. We need to come together as Americans, or we will be destroyed as individuals. We need to figure out a way to work together for the betterment of all. We need to find a way to support each other. We need to learn to treat our fellow countrymen as neighbors, and not as enemies. I have never seen such rabid animosity for people who are different. Our Nation was founded on the principle of people coming here from different places, with different backgrounds, and different beliefs and building a home where we could all live and thrive. 

I believe with all my heart that we can get back there. I know that it starts with letting go of hate and reaching out with Love. I do believe that Love can conquer all.