A $2B NHL team seized control of youth hockey. Parents are fed up.
Ice is power in the lucrative world of youth hockey. In North Texas, parents say the Dallas Stars hold almost all of it.
Andrea Doan, wife of former Coyotes captain Shane Doan, will chair the new advisory group.The Matt Shott Arizona Hockey Legacy Foundation was named the official community pillar for the effort.
Even though the Arizona Coyotes are gone, the Doan family is still finding ways to make an impact on Arizona’s hockey community.
The community received some hope when Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chair Tom Galvin announced in January that he intended to form an advisory committee of political, business, community and sports leaders dedicated to bringing the NHL back to the Phoenix area.
Galvin also mentioned that he had preliminary conversations with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and other interested parties about bringing an NHL team to Arizona.
Galvin delivered more positive news on Monday, Sept. 22, when he announced that Andrea Doan, the wife of Coyotes great, Shane, will be the chair of that group. Shane will not be part of the group as he is still under contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs as their special adviser to their general manager.
Shane Doan has been living in Arizona since 1997, when the Coyotes moved from Winnipeg. Andrea Doan earned her degree from Arizona State and raised their four children in Arizona. Their son, Josh, was a draft pick by the Coyotes in 2021 and later served as the captain at ASU.
“Arizona means a lot to me and my family, and the hockey community in this incredible state is committed to bringing the NHL back to the desert,” Andrea Doan said in a release. “I am honored to serve as the chair of this advisory panel and look forward to working with my colleagues and fellow community leaders in Arizona on this important effort.”
In addition to naming Doan as the chair, the Matt Shott Arizona Hockey Legacy Foundation was named as the official community pillar. The foundation has helped continue efforts to grow youth hockey now that the NHL’s funding has ended.
More advisory board members will be announced in the coming weeks.