Coyotes, community remember Shott for work in growing hockey
Christian Fischer likes to think that the Arizona Coyotes’ last game was in many ways played for Matt Shott.
The Coyotes and Fischer, who scored a goal that night, won 6-5 in overtime over the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 17, already aware that Shott was in hospice care. With the Coyotes’ senior director of hockey development in their thoughts — every player had signed a card for Shott’s mother before the game — the team went out on the ice in California and scored the most goals it has in a game all season.
Shott passed away early on Sunday after a long battle with liver cancer. His death, at age 34, was met with an incredible outpouring of sadness and gratitude for all he did for youth hockey and access to the sport for adults and those with disabilities, and left no doubt how much his work and positive outlook on life meant to the Coyotes organization and the local growth of the game.
“That love for Matt, you could say it’s a blessing that we won that game,” Fischer said. “When it comes to our family, and Matt’s a part of that, it means a lot to us.”
Fischer recalled the numerous times he would take part in youth camps or clinics, and how Shott would be there every time.
“Matt was always making kids happy,” Fischer said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re six years old or 24 or 50 years old, I think every single person could learn something from Matt and how he is as a person and everything that he stands for.”
When those among the large group of new players who arrived to the Coyotes this past offseason were looking for a place for their young kids to play hockey, it was Shott who reached out and set them up.
Shott and the Coyotes hockey development department helped girls, boys and adults from all walks of life, all communities, not only find a place to learn and play hockey, they coached teams and shared their love of the game all over the Valley and state.
Lyndsey Fry, Coyotes’ director of External Engagement, Youth & Women’s Hockey, was as close to Shott as anyone who worked with him. She regarded him as family, as she knew Shott since she
was a youth player. In adulthood, Fry worked with Shott for years building girls hockey and the Arizona Kachinas program that has grown exponentially.
“In those six years, I can probably count on one hand the number of days we didn’t have some sort of communication with each other,” Fry said in an email. “I told Matt on Saturday that it felt like the Kachinas was our baby that we’ve been raising together and now we have 200-plus girls who all adore him. When you build something that special together, it builds an incredibly strong bond.
“The night before he passed he told me to promise him that I would keep changing the narrative for him,” Fry added. “He didn’t want to be remembered as a dying man. He wanted his legacy of growing the game to live on and that’s exactly what everyone who worked with him and was close to him intend to do. Matty loved this game more than anything. We remember him by loving it and sharing it with others forever.”
It didn’t take long for anyone new to the organization to see what Shott was all about and how tirelessly he worked, never seeking the credit for himself or the spotlight. Coyotes President and CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez was among those, when he joined the Coyotes a year and a half ago.
“The ultimate thing that defined him was that he truly was a man for others. For him, it was never about Matt Shott, it was about the youth hockey community, it was about the Coyotes, or it was about the sport of hockey,” Gutierrez said. “It was about the kids that got to coach or have his teams play against, it was about the other coaches, it was about the community at large that loves this sport and
this team.
“The one thing that I’d hope really comes across is the impact that he made on others,” Gutierrez said.
When news of his passing began to spread, tributes poured in from across the Valley and even from other NHL clubs. Former Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet called him a “super star,” and recalled how Shott’s reputation and hard work was talked about across all departments within the organization, from hockey operations to marketing.
It was Shott and Fry who, in working with Leighton Accardo as a youth player and learning about her fight against cancer from her parents, started the nowtreasured relationship between the Accardos and the team. The Coyotes honored Leighton in November 2019 on Hockey Fights Cancer Night; two years later, they celebrated Shott in much the same way on the same night at Gila River Arena.
Leighton passed away after her own fight against cancer in November 2020.
Shott coached Josh Doan, whom the Coyotes drafted in the second round this past summer, and several other young men from the area who are just beginning their college, juniors or international careers.
“He helped me to coach my son’s team for two years. He was always helping,” said Shane Doan, Coyotes’ chief hockey development officer. “It was incredible to see his love for the game. It was just the pure joy of the game. ‘Shottsy,’ as they all called him, he would come in the room and it was like Norm from ‘Cheers,’ they just loved him. He connected.
“Even though he was a guy that would teach and coach, he was just good at being a hockey guy.”