Shane Doan deserves better ending to free agency
C’mon, LA, keep your grubby mitts away, won’t you? Isn’t pilfering one athletically gifted, civic-minded Canadian away from Phoenix enough already?
On the heels of Steve Nash’s departure to Los Angeles comes word that nearly a dozen suitors are courting Shane Doan, including the Kings, according to several reports, should the Coyotes captain choose to leave the Valley.
Swell.
That isn’t the lament of a homer sportswriter. It is the reaction of a journalist who has spent several decades covering the games people play and knows how unique Doan is. Rarely does an athlete come along who spends his entire career with one organization and in the process serves as leader, scorer, mentor, promoter.
Yet his 16-year stay in Arizona is at risk of ending because of an ownership mess that appears to be growing more complicated by the minute. And it’s not just the Kings who appear to have interest in Doan. Eleven teams have inquired about the player, his agent, Terry Bross, said Friday. New York, Detroit and Montreal are among the group, according to various reports.
Doan deserves better.