Coyotes captain Doan: Chances at winning Stanley Cup next few years as good as anybody
Apr 19, 2014, 12:00 AM | Updated: 12:00 am
As the longest tenured captain in the NHL, Shane Doan has seen a lot of ups and downs throughout his 18-year hockey career with the Phoenix Coyotes.
After missing out on the NHL playoffs for two consecutive seasons, Doan remains loyal to the program during a low point, telling Burns and Gambo of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM that as far as any regrets for sticking with the franchise, there are “none.”
“I obviously would like to be in the playoffs, but the chances of us winning the Stanley Cup in the next two or three years are just as good as anybody,” Doan said. “I think Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Keith Yandle are special and I think our goaltending is special. This year, obviously, things didn’t work out the way that we wanted to and our scoring has to be better. That’s not just saying it to say it. I just think you have to have the best players and your best players have to be your goalie and your defensemen and we have that. That’s what makes me excited.”
However, it didn’t help the Coyotes that Doan missed 13 games due to Rocky Mountain fever and Mike Smith missed the final 10 games of the season due to a right leg injury.
“I think we don’t have to make massive changes at all,” Doan said. “If you go through the year and Smith doesn’t get hurt, and if I don’t get sick, and when I come back I’m not as terrible as I was for an additional six weeks, you go through year after year and say ‘you know what, there’s seven points’. Well, seven points puts us in seventh or sixth in the West. There are not massive changes, we just have to be more consistent as a group.”
