Arizona’s oldest desert dog not feeling his age
Coyotes captain invigorated playing with young pups such as Domi and Duclair
At age 39, Shane Doan doesn’t feel his age, unless somebody else brings it up.
Like when someone asks what it was like to play against Tie Domi, who retired from the NHL a decade ago. Especially when you consider that Tie’s son, 20-year-old Max, is now Doan’s teammate with the Arizona Coyotes. “When you realize how much younger people are, then you might feel your age,” said Domi.
There’s a lot of excitement in Arizona being generated by youngsters such as Domi and Anthony Duclair — a pair of Team Canada world junior teammates who have earned full-time NHL jobs as rookies.
And they’re making Doan — the third-oldest to suit up in the NHL this year, eclipsed only by Jaromir Jagr and Dan Boyle — feel young again.
“It’s fun to see guys come in and have success and take the next step,” said Doan. “It’s big for our team and it’s sometimes hard to sell a youth movement, especially in our franchise that’s kind of been stuck in a youth movement for a few years.
“We’ve been saying: ‘We’re going to be better, we’re going to be better.’ For them to have success, it’s always exciting.”
Doan was an original Yote. In fact, he’s celebrating his 20th year in the NHL (give or take a lockout or two). His first with the only franchise he’s ever played for was 1995-96, the last year of the Winnipeg Jets before they moved to the desert.
The young Coyotes feel blessed to have Doan around.
“He’s got tons of experience,” said Duclair. “He brings a lot of excitement into the locker room, a lot of energy. Guys look up to him for sure. Just got to follow his lead.”
Doan played his first game Oct. 7, 1995. Duclair was a month and a half old, Domi was six months old.
“He’s the perfect human being,” Domi said of Doan. “We joke about that sometimes. He’s an unbelievable person on and off the ice. Some- one we all look up to. The younger guys watch how he acts off the ice. He’s a special guy.” Domi and Duclair — both 20 — are at the centre of the Coyotes youth movement, but are by no means alone. Forward Tobias Rieder (22), forward Jordan Martinook (23) and defenceman Connor Murphy (22) are taking on bigger roles, not to mention defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who at 24 is one of the NHL’s most respected defencemen.
And coming up probably next year is Dylan Strome, the No. 3 overall pick from the summer draft.
“I’m a huge fan of all of our young guys,” said Doan, “with their talent and their skill. But I’ve been more impressed with their character.
“You have a lot of people who’ve come through over the course of my career. You’re like, ‘he’s so skilled,’ or ‘he’s a great player, he’s fast.’ But you can see the NHL is going to eat him up because his character isn’t the type of player that lasts 15, 20 years.
“(With Domi and Duclair) you see their character and you’re excited. They all have the potential to be guys that last a really long time and have great careers. That’s exciting for any one to see. You hope you can hang around long enough to enjoy it.”