Working to bring hockey back to the desert, Craig Morgan of the Arizona Insider reports that Andrea Doan, wife of Shane Doan, will lead the new exploratory committee, hoping to bring professional hockey back to Maricopa County. In early January, Board of Supervisors Chair Tom Galvin shared his desire to create the committee to bring hockey back to Phoenix.
Saying it best, Morgan wrote, “If there were a royal family of Arizona hockey, the Doans would hold that title.” While many anticipated Shane’s involvement, he is likely unable to participate in a formal capacity due to his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a special assistant to the General Manager. Instead, Andrea will be the formal head of the family’s interests in bringing another team to Arizona.
In the report, Andrea acknowledged as much, saying, “Whatever Shane and I do we are always doing together anyway, but his commitment right now is to Toronto. So is mine, but this is sort of a separate entity; just working with the NHL and trying to bring the organization back to Phoenix where it belongs and where it can thrive and succeed.”
The exploratory committee faces a challenging task ahead. The group is burdened with finding a committed ownership group and finding suitable land to build upon in Phoenix. Over the past year, Mat Ishbia, the majority owner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, has been the sole candidate to express interest in returning hockey to the desert.
If the exploratory finds a suitable candidate, they won’t have any hurdles to clear with the most recent franchise owner in Phoenix. In mid-July of last year, Alex Meruelo dissolved the Coyotes’ intellectual property, which is now owned and operated by the NHL.
Commissioner Gary Bettman has said in the past that the league won’t play favorites when it comes to potential future expansion, although it may have been a bit tongue-in-cheek. Ownership groups have emerged in Houston, TX, and Atlanta, GA, but the NHL, particularly under Bettman’s leadership, has consistently aimed to sustain hockey in Phoenix.
Regardless, the group has a long way to go to return an NHL franchise to Arizona. Still, given the Doan’s deep roots in the community, they should have no issue growing sentiment and excitement in the public to sway the NHL’s leadership to give hockey in Phoenix another opportunity.
Moving a team from a successful market to Phoenix was 1 of Bettmann’s 1st and biggest mistakes as the commissioner of the league. Refusing to quit doing it was his 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th biggest mistakes.
What are Andrea Doan’s qualifications? Beside, Bored housewife.
You clearly don’t know a damn about the resolve of hockey moms
She’s local …. and a big part of the amateur and professional hockey community here in Phoenix. And “local,” if you know anything about Arizona hockey, is what we’ve never had with our many worthless, out-of-town ownership groups.
Only thing that needs to be explored is making sure Meruelo isn’t involved.
I mean I’ll give her credit for being persistent but can we please leave this be? It’s barely been a hot minute since the last franchise left after numerous failed attempts to keep them there. Would love to have a 10 year hold on any discussion on playing NHL hockey in Arizona or Atlanta for that matter. Sorry Arizona but you guys had your chance – time to let others have their go.
ha ha
Phoenix ‘explored’ hockey for 20+ years already
this sounds dumber than whatever your local government is cooking up
Ridiculous. Phoenix had their shot and didn’t support the team.
Phoenix is one of the largest markets in the US, and the Coyotes did a very good job of developing youth hockey in the desert. The market was NOT the reason that Coyotes failed. It was the ownerships and the arenas.
There is 0% chance that hockey cannot succeed there. And, the benefits of having that TV market is very important to the NHL owners. They want a team there, and they’ll have one once stable ownership and a proper venue are in place. Count on it.
BTW, I’m a Sabres fan living in Portugal. I’ve been to almost every NHL city, and I can attest first hand to the viability of the AZ market.
“Largest market” doesn’t mean jack if the people *don’t go to the hockey games.* The best season the Yotes ever had at the gate was the very first, and they were sixth from the bottom in league attendance.
Sorry, but you “attesting first hand” to the market, against the actual recorded attendance over 25 years, is more by way of “Ignore the facts, listen to what I say instead.”
From 2013-2020 Florida had broadly the same attendance figures as Phoenix.
And in 2014-2015:
Coyotes 13345
Panthers 11271
As recently as 2021-2022, Florida averaged under 15,000.
They are now selling out. With a competent owner capable of building a winning organization, Phoenix might do something similar.
You fallen into the same trap that the other “it’s a failed market” complainers have. You’re thinking like a 20th century fan, and not like a 31st century owner. (And, the owners’ opinions are what matters.)
Market size impacts TV contracts, and the owners crave a national footprint for the sport. Looking at fan attendance is not just less important to the finances of the sport. It also overlooks mitigating factors that have plagued markets such as Miami and Ottawa. The location of the arena is a prime factor in the success, or failure, of turnstile results.
In short, think better – think better. How many games have you attended in Arizona?
I wouldn’t say that the Amerant Bank Arena is poorly located.
The Devils relocation to the downtown Newark was supposed to solve their attendance issues but it hasn’t.
What really matters is winning. The Sabres have one of the most loyal fan base but the lack of success has emptied their building. The same is on the cards in Pittsburgh.
If the Coyotes had won a Cup they wouldn’t have to relocate. With Alex Meruelo they never had a chance. But if they were owned by someone like Elon Musk they would have become one of the premium franchises.
How many games have I attended in Arizona? None. And neither have a whole whopping lot of people, over 25 years.
And this does not make you anything other than not being an authority on the PHX hockey market. You are – literally – ignorant on this matter.
I prowl PHR regularly and have come to find you as one of this sites more astute observers.
Do you live in the Algarve?
No. I wanted a more authentic Portuguese experience. (The Algarve is crawling with expats – English is the presumed language there.) I live in the Silver Coast area north of Lisboa.
Good choice. The Algarve is a tourist trap. What place on the Silver Coast?
We’re in Leiria; we’re renovating a house about halfway between Leiria and Fátima.
Sounds like you know Portugal well. It’s a great place to live!
Ideally, you want to be to the west of Leiria rather than to the east. The ocean air will reach the western edge of Marinha Grande but not its eastern edge. Ocean air gives you a mild climate. The further east, the more extreme the climate. The difference is huge.
I prefer to visit the coast rather than live there. The microclimate along the ocean can be bizarre. I’m actually in Nazaré for a couple of months while our house is being renovated. I’m looking forward to living in a small, super-friendly town with nice vistas and cool breezes.
Tomar is also a very cool place. I’m just content that Leiria often gets omitted from the travel commentators. It’s a big town that’s very walkable and with a castle on top of a big hill in the center.
The avg high in Tomar in July-August is 31 degrees. In Nazaré it’s 25. This difference is huge and directly affects the quality of life. The same goes for January lows. Ground frosts in Tomar are a frequent occurrence. Nazaré never freezes.
Nazaré is obviously a tourist trap although not as bad as the Algarve, or Funchal which is the worst. However Valado dos Frades isn’t a tourist trap. At least 15 years ago it wasn’t.
But if a more extreme climate isn’t a problem, suggest visiting Dornes. It’s a hidden gem on a lake in the middle of nowhere. When I was there 15 years ago, I was the only visitor. I can’t even remember seeing a soul.
Flogging a dead horse, my dear.
Any place that has had as much time to prove themselves worthy of a franchise while being unable to fill a “refrigerated” building as Phoenix has will need a fundamental change in supporting parameters. Massive population growth and/or loss of local professional teams competing for the same(?) entertainment dollar might give them a chance…wealthier, and/or more committed ownership, too.
Adding expansion teams in Atlanta and Arizona will be a drain on the NHL. Greedy owners want the entrance money.
Oh, yeah, let’s definitely work on bringing hockey back to where it has repeatedly proven not to work. Ditto for Atlanta. Bettman and the owners are as stupid as they are greedy. And all the uncritical NHL media outlets that let this progress without rational analysis, i.e. waving blazing red flags of truth, are pathetic.
I think the topic has been explored, tried and found not to work. Wish it were different.
I certainly wish Quebec would get the same favoritism that Atlanta, And Arizona has received, I’d love to see a team In Quebec City again, Also, Why hasn’t Bettman tried harder for a team in the 4th largest market in the U.S.? I’d love to see 10 Canadian teams, But that will probably never happen.