Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Shane Doan leads Coyotes through adversity, ready to show his “DoanFace” again

gyi0060177656

Riding the roller coaster of success and failure in Phoenix has been trying at times, but through it all one thing has been constant and that’s the stoic leadership of Shane Doan. With the Coyotes sitting in fourth place in the Western Conference and locked in a battle with the Sharks for the top spot in the Pacific Division, they’re poised to make the playoffs for a second straight year and a threat to go deep in the playoffs. With attention being turned towards the postseason, Doan says staying locked in on getting there isn’t a problem.

“Right now it’s pretty easy (to stay focused) with the playoffs being as close as they are and everything that’s going on and every team seems to be right in the battle. It’s pretty easy to keep your mind focused on what you have to do. I’ve talked about how we can take care of ourselves and if we keep winning we don’t have to worry about anyone else.”

As things go in Phoenix lately, staying focused with what’s going on on the ice can be a bit trying. The continuing off-ice distractions surrounding the possibility of the team being sold either to Matthew Hulsizer or being relocated to Winnipeg if that bid fails are there and if nothing else it seems to have emboldened the team. That said, it’s a distraction nonetheless even for a veteran like Doan.

“It’s difficult when you’re not on the ice. As a dad or a friend or a husband it’s something that comes up in conversation regardless of how you block it out when you get to the dressing room,” Doan says. How does it work in the dressing room though? The strategy is simple to keep the off-ice business out of sight and out of mind.

“The guys here have been phenomenal. From five o’clock on game day to ten o’clock on game day it’s not an issue. It’s not something we choose to discuss and if there is something that goes on regarding it you pretty much ignore it. You have selective hearing and you hear the things you want to hear and you don’t hear the other things.”

Of course with the playoffs on the way and the impression Doan and the Coyotes left on fans last year, most in particular the now famous “DoanFace” (seen above and virtually everywhere else across the Internet), the thought of an encore production makes us wonder just what could possibly top the grand euphoria of the DoanFace.

For the Coyotes captain, he wasn’t even totally aware of the Internet frenzy he created with his goal celebration from Game 2 against Detroit.

“I didn’t know (it was a big deal). Biz, Paul Bissonnette said something to me but I never really... I’m not an overly techie guy. My phone works and that’s the extent of it,” Doan says.

All right so how about an encore performance?

“Nothing would make me happier than having the ability to get that excited about a goal again. Obviously you’ve gotta find ways to get there then once you get there find ways to contribute and help out. We need to find ways to win as a team and we need to find ways get out of the first round. Everybody wants to get to the playoffs and after you get there you want to make some noise.”

Playoff success would be a huge thing for the Coyotes. After going so long without making the playoffs and then going to seven games with the Red Wings before bowing out, getting back to the postseason and winning there would be a big deal for more than the obvious reasons. Doan keeps the focus straight though.

“Right now our focus is the playoffs and getting there. Once we get there I think that everyone thinks that the experience from last year of what happened after game seven and going seven games and not finding ways to win. It’s disappointing and I think people want to answer that.”

The Coyotes marketing slogan this year has been “Don’t Blink” and judging by how Doan controls the room in Phoenix, you might think he’s the mastermind behind that as well. If it translates into playoff success and ultimately a Stanley Cup in the desert, they might not need to worry about moving anywhere ever again.