2008-2009 wasn’t exactly a banner year in Coyoteland.
Goaltending was an issue as Ilya Bryzgalov struggled and there was no consistent performer behind him. The team missed the playoffs yet again, and Wayne Gretzky was in the final season of his ill-advised run as a head coach.
The lone bright spot on the team was Shane Albert Doan.
Doaner was in a two year stretch where he’d set career highs in goals, assists, and points while trying to will his team into relevance.
The Halkirk, Alberta native scored a career high 31 goals in 2008-2009 while outscoring his next closest teammate by 31 points.
Doan’s jersey has surprisingly moderate wear for one of his gamers. The early Edge 1.0 material was not great for showing wear, much to many a collector’s chagrin.
The right sleeve has a couple of board burns in the area around the sleeve numbers. The sleeve numbers themselves have red paint transfer as well as a small puck mark. The top of the right shoulder has a few spaced out black marks of unknown origin that are visible in a few photos from that season. There are also a few burn marks on the same shoulder.
The left sleeve is cleaner with only a few small burns.
The front of the sweater has the captain’s “C” embroidered on the left breast, and a 3” slash mark above the crest. There is a small pick or cut below the crest and some assorted picks throughout the lower part of the front.
The back of the jersey shows a few stick marks on the #9 of Doan’s familiar #19. The Detroit Hockey Company set tag is strangely raised through the jersey so that you can see the imprint on the outside.
Captain Coyote’s best seasons on the ice were wasted in the desert.
In fact, you could argue his whole career would’ve been far more impactful on the ice elsewhere. There’s no doubt that fans in a larger market like New York or Toronto would have adored him, and he’d have certainly gotten more recognition.
All of that aside, there is nowhere else where he could have had a bigger impact off the ice.
Shane may not have been able to will the team to success on the ice, but his passion and commitment paved the way for hockey to survive here long after his retirement.
Youth hockey is exploding in Arizona. There are now six rinks in the Valley (not counting Gila River Arena), and more coming thanks to the expansion of ASU into a NCAA Division 1 hockey program.
You can thank Doaner for all of that.
His son, Josh, committed to ASU and is already shaping up to be one of the most impactful recruits the program has snagged in it’s short tenure should he follow through on that commitment.
Now that he’s back with the team in an executive role, we can expect he’ll continue to push the sport to new heights here in the desert.