On Thursday, October 24th, the Sports Business Club hosted Shane Doan, former NHL and Arizona Coyotes star.
Originally from Canada, he played for the Winnipeg Jets before joining the Arizona Coyotes for 21 years and retiring in 2017. Doan’s time with the Coyotes didn’t end there; his dedication and leadership led him to the NHL front office and eventually the position of the Chief Hockey Development Officer of the Coyotes. Now, he’s back to working in Canada with the Toronto Maple Leaves as an advisor to the general manager.
His outlook today is largely shaped by the ups and downs he faced throughout his career. An impactful moment of his talk is when he walked the club through his process of encountering a negative thought. For instance, when remembering a time when he did not score a goal at a high-stakes game, rather than criticizing himself, he lets the memory pass and moves on to the nex thought. In light of this idea, Doan found horseback riding particularly therapeutic. While he might have started a ride with teammates by stressing over a game, by the end, he felt grounded.
Doan values the opportunity to talk to high school students. When asked what this opportunity means to him, he said, “The ability to see the people that you’ve seen only on TV gives you confidence that you can achieve big things.”
After his talk, students felt inspired. Here are some of their thoughts:
Reid Umar, a sophomore at PCDS and Junior Coyotes player, watched Doan as he grew up, so this interaction was really special for him. Reid says, “I think that the most important thing that I took away from hearing what he had to say is that even if sports give you setbacks, the worst thing you can do is feel bad for yourself…if you work hard, it’s gonna beat skill every time.”
JD Jones, junior at PCDS, was also motivated by Doan’s wisdom and level-headedness. Because Doan didn’t go to college, he humbly took criticism with an open mind from players, interns, and other people in the business.
To sum it all up, Sid Vadnerkar, junior at PCDS, says, “It was lit. He’s a great guy.” In all seriousness, students were left with nothing but positive comments in regards to Doan’s visit.
