Josh Doan is carving his own legacy with the Utah Hockey Club
Same team, different city, new legacy.
The brand-new Utah Hockey Club has had an outstanding start, winning its first three games – including two in overtime. The energy and feeling around the room couldn’t be any higher.
For the 22-year-old rookie Josh Doan, the transition to Utah after spending his whole life within and around the Arizona Coyotes organization has exceeded expectations. He’s seen everything. But, most importantly, he has seen a shift in how the group is treated and respected.
“There’s a little more confidence around the group right now,” said Doan, the son of former Coyotes star Shane Doan. “We’ve fed off of the fans’ energy that we’ve had in Utah, and we’re feeding off the whole environment of being a new team and having a new group behind you, having an owner that’s been awesome so far and has treated us unbelievably well – it all carries over.
“When you have stuff like that – the treatment away from the game carries into the game. As far as you can tell, everybody has been having fun and enjoying themselves and just playing hockey and focusing on that.”
Away from the rink, Doan has had plenty to adjust to. He’s living with teammate Michael Kesselring in a place that Doan found over the offseason. The two of them are certainly a bit more graceful on the ice than they are with the chores around the house, but Kesselring has been putting the rookie to work.
“We’ve spent a lot of time the last couple of months setting the townhouse up and building our own furniture, but it’s been fun,” Doan said. “We were struggling a little bit, but we’ve become quite good at it now – good at reading labels and instructions. He’s more so giving me the instructions and I’m on the ground doing the handy work.”
Doan only went on one road trip last season with the Coyotes, traveling out west to San Jose, Seattle, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary. However, with the early trip to New York City, there have already been some significant upgrades.
“The travels have been a little bit smoother, you’re getting to places a little bit quicker – just nicer travel with the team being with Delta and getting an opportunity to work with them has been awesome so far,” Doan said. “We’ve been pretty fortunate this year.”
You can sense that the group is excited about this fresh start and the opportunity to build something of their own. But for Doan, Arizona will always have a special place in his heart.
“As a kid growing up, it’s always been Arizona Hockey for me and I’ll continue to promote as much as I can for the youth there, but it’s nice to get a fresh start and build your own legacy in Utah and try do something similar to what my Dad did in Arizona and grow the game as much as we can. Hopefully, one day, we’ll have a group of kids coming out of Utah playing hockey and making a difference around the league.”
Before turning pro, Doan spent two years at Arizona State University of the NCAA. ASU coach Greg Powers couldn’t be more thrilled to see what his former captain can do.
“Josh is a special player and an even more special person. He makes anything he’s involved in better by just by being there,” Powers said. “Josh is a special player and an even more special person. He makes anything he’s involved in better by just being there.
Through three games, Doan has one goal, coming in a 5-4 win over the New York Islanders. He has seen his ice time grow with each game, reaching a season-high of 18:40 against the New York Rangers on Saturday night. As he gets more comfortable with the grind of the pro game, he’ll chase opportunities higher in the lineup. For now, it’s all about getting adjusted.
This is only the beginning of a long process for the franchise as a whole. But the biggest thing for Doan is to keep having fun.
“We just have to keep enjoying it,” Doan said. “It’s been a fun couple of games and we’re going to continue to do our best to keep this run going and have a strong year. At the same time, enjoy it day-by-day because you only get one inaugural season.”
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