ARLINGTON, Va. -- Putting on the Utah Hockey Club’s full home uniform for the first time at the 2024 NHLPA Rookie Showcase on Wednesday gave Josh Doan another reason to get excited about the upcoming season.
“It looks good,” the 22-year-old forward said of the predominantly black kit with white and light blue striping and white lettering and numbers. “It’s definitely something we were all excited to see for the first time, so it’s pretty cool.”
There will be a lot of firsts for Doan and his teammates in Utah’s inaugural season after the team officially joined the NHL on June 13 and purchased the contracts of Arizona Coyotes executives, coaches and players. The move is a little bittersweet for Doan, though.
He grew up in Arizona, where his father, Shane Doan, played for the Coyotes for 20 seasons (1996-2017) and is the Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets franchise’s leader in games (1,540), goals (402), assists (570) and points (972).
“It’s weird,” Josh Doan said. “Obviously, it’s hard seeing a hometown team leave, but being on the other end of it and being part of a team, it’s something I think that’s only going to benefit the NHL and the team right now with what the circumstances were in Arizona at the time. So, I’m excited for Utah and to kind of experience a new city and see what it’s like.”
The move also represents an opportunity for Doan to establish his own legacy in a new city separate from what his father accomplished with the Coyotes. Shane Doan went through a similar change when the Jets moved to Phoenix to become the Coyotes following his rookie season of 1995-96.
“I’ve talked to him a lot about that, about how he had to move when he was a rookie and join a new city and a new organization with Winnipeg moving to Arizona,” Josh Doan said. “He told me to embrace it and welcome everybody. It’s pretty easy to watch hockey now on TV, so people are getting used to the game there. But to finally have your own team to cheer for and a local team to cheer for is something that a lot of the people in Utah have been looking forward to for a long time.
“So, it’s something that we’re excited for them, and hopefully, we win some hockey games for them.”