Returning hockey to the desert: Andrea Doan to lead Phoenix NHL push
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A Coyotes fan rues the move to Utah in warm up before a game between the Boston Bruins and the Utah Hockey Club on Nov. 21, 2024. Photo: Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Tom Galvin is bringing out some big guns to help in his quest to return hockey to the desert.
Why it matters: Arizona's last endeavor with professional hockey ended last year with heartbreak and squandered taxpayer funds.
- Galvin tells Axios he wants to bring a National Hockey League franchise back in a smart, sustainable way, and he's tapped some of the sport's biggest champions to help him.
The big picture: Galvin, who earlier this year began conversations about a new metro Phoenix team with the NHL commissioner, has named Andrea Doan chair of his Advisory Panel on Pro Hockey to Arizona.
- Doan, wife of Arizona Coyotes legend Shane Doan, has been involved in the state's pro and youth hockey communities for two decades.
- Arizonan Lyndsey Fry, a member of the 2024 Olympic USA Women's Ice Hockey team, will lead community outreach efforts as co-founder of the Matt Shott Arizona Hockey Legacy Foundation, Galvin also announced this week.
Zoom in: Doan told Axios her family will do whatever it takes to help because "we've seen the vision of how hockey can work here."
- "I've lived here since 1997. I've never known Phoenix without hockey," she said.
Catch up quick: The Valley lost its NHL franchise last year following a lengthy fight over a new arena.
- The NHL facilitated the sale of the Coyotes to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, who moved the team to Salt Lake City and renamed it the Utah Mammoth.
What they're saying: "Losing a sports team ... it's a reputational hit. It's a black eye as to where you're going as a metropolitan area," Galvin told us.
- He added he believes the former owners of the Coyotes failed to advocate for the sport and set the Valley up for success.
- He said there's a "thirst" to get NHL back to Arizona, but it's important not to rush the process.
What's next: Now that the advisory panel has been established, the group will work behind the scenes to answer two major questions: Who would own the franchise, and where would the team play?
- Galvin said the Valley will need a "world-class arena" to draw the NHL back.
The bottom line: "People in Phoenix want to cheer for a hometown team, and we're going to give them something to cheer about," Doan said.
- She added that while there was significant online negativity around the Coyotes toward the end of their Arizona days, the team's presence in the Valley fueled a huge youth, high school and college hockey movement in the Valley that continues today.