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Shane Doan hopes Ice Edge Holdings LLC is not just another mirage in the Arizona desert.
As the longest-serving member of the Phoenix Coyotes, Doan has been with the team since its controversial move from Winnipeg in 1996. In that time, he has seen plenty of so-called potential saviours emerge for the often-struggling franchise only to see them disintegrate into the bronze sands of the Valley of the Sun.
Yet there is guarded optimism here. And with this new ownership group having signed a letter of intent to purchase the Coyotes from the NHL and keep the league’s white elephant in suburban Glendale for at least the next 26 years, perhaps this is the hockey oasis Doan has been waiting so long for.
“On one hand, given what’s happened off the ice in the past, I’m taking all this with a grain of salt,” said Doan, whose Coyotes face off against the Maple Leafs in Toronto tonight. “But it would be incredible if this (roller-coaster ride) finally comes to an end.
“I will say this: I’ve heard these guys (with Ice Edge) are good people.”
You would think Doan would want to escape the off-ice circus that has surrounded the Coyotes in Phoenix. In fact, had moneybags hockey nut Jim Balsillie had his way in Arizona bankruptcy court earlier this year, Doan and his teammates would be playing their home games just an hour west of Toronto at Copps Coliseum as members of the Hamilton Blackberries.
With apologies to both Mr. Balsillie and the fine citizenry of Hamilton, however, Doan always wanted the Coyotes to remain in Phoenix.
When it is suggested that all those empty red seats at jobing.com Arena — and the subsequent red ink that is smeared all over the franchise’s books — are a direct correlation with fan apathy, Doan takes issue.
“The solution is simple,” he said. “Win. If we had consistently won, the situation would be different.
“It can work there. Without a doubt. I’ve said it over and over again. I mean, previous to the last couple of years we were averaging 14,000 per game, even more.
“But we haven’t been to the playoffs in seven years. This franchise hasn’t even been out of the first round for something like more than two decades. Even in Canada, if you had struggled that long with droughts like that, your team would struggle for support too.”
Some would argue that there is a flaw in Doan’s logic, given the Leafs have not hoisted a Stanley Cup in 42 years. But at least there has been modest success for the blue-and-white, with visits to the NHL’s Final Four in 1993, 1994, 1999 and 2002.
The Coyotes haven’t even come close to that. For the record, the franchise has not won a playoff series since 1986-87 when they were still the Jets.
“I grew up in Alberta,” he said. “When Edmonton and Calgary were struggling, they weren’t selling out either.
“There is so much to do in the Phoenix area. The NBA Suns. The NFL Cardinals. Baseball’s Diamondbacks. It’s a popular area for teams to hold spring training. You have college football and basketball at Arizona and Arizona State. Phoenix Open golf.
“The key is, if you win, they’ll support you.”
For the short-term, the Cinderella Coyotes are winning. At 19-12-2, they would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.
“We probably would have made them last year, but we had a brutal three-week stint after the all-star break that cost us,” Doan said. “We know people expect us to flop on our faces but we don’t plan on having that happen. Not this year.”
A potential new ownership group. A playoff berth. All in the same season, perhaps?
It could happen. But Doan won’t buy into it until it actually does.
mike.zeisberger@sunmedia.ca