Halfway through his freshman season with the Arizona State Sun Devils, Josh Doan switched his number from #91 to #94 to honor Arizona hockey legend Matt Shott. Shott had passed away in December of 2021 after losing his battle with cancer.
Doan, who is a desert hockey product himself, had seen firsthand the impact Shott had on growing the game in Arizona.
Matt Shott had been the Vice President of Hockey Development for the Arizona Coyotes and had championed the sport to all comers and in all corners of the desert. Personally, he helped do the fitting for my own son’s first set of gear when he participated in the Little Howlers program in 2015. To say his impact was immense would be an understatement.
Josh Doan wore #94 throughout the second half of the 2021-2022 to honor Shott before swapping back to #91 for his sophomore season at ASU.
Doan set the school record for points in a season by a freshman with 37 points in 35 games.
Sun Devils hockey wore their brand new white jerseys in 6 games in 2021-2022 after unveiling them prior to the start of the season. They were added to the jersey rotation to replace the former white home jerseys from the second generation of ASU sweaters.
In general, Arizona State wore these new white jerseys very sparingly as they were superseded by the variety of white-based jerseys introduced beginning in 2021-2022 such as the club retro, the Vegas gold, the Barry Bonds/baseball, and the digi flame sets.
Josh Doan’s white set gamer is a very interesting case in this set because it is a very contradictory piece.
Thanks to the introduction of the Club Retro jersey, these new all-white adidas jerseys were not worn in the second half of the 2021-2022 season. That means that this particular jersey never touched the ice after Doan swapped from #91 to #94.
Despite that, however, it was auctioned as game worn by Sun Devils hockey and there is clearly wear consisting of a few light stick marks in the front and/or sleeves, one large/long burn on the right sleeve, and obvious discoloration and bleeding from the jersey having been washed.
That leads me to believe it is the jersey he wore in the first half of the season, despite there being no major evidence of a number switch. As I said, it’s an interesting piece to be sure.
Undeniably the nicest touch on this special jersey is the custom set tag made for Josh to honor Matt Shott.
The tag features the pitchfork, the kachina, and a cancer ribbon along with Bible verse Joshua 1:9.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”