Shane Doan says he considered playing in the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic men’s ice hockey tournament and even spoke to Team Canada general manager Sean Burke about the possibility.
Doan, an Alberta native who retired this summer after a 21-year NHL career in the Arizona Coyotes organization, currently works in the league’s hockey operations department. He joined Randip Janda and Perry Solkowski Thursday afternoon on their Sportsnet 650 program On Point.
“It was really intriguing,” Doan admitted, noting that he spoke to his family about it. “I had kind of a game plan of how I would go about doing it if I was to [play]. It was something we talked about as a family, and really one of the things that [it] came down [to] was I respect the Olympics so much. I think it is the greatest symbol of sports because it brings the whole world together.”
The NHL announced earlier this year that its players would not participate in the 2018 Games, ending a run of five consecutive Winter Olympics featuring the league’s players.
“If you’re going to play in them, you really need to be dialled in and really capable of doing your best,” said Doan. “I didn’t know if I’d be able to do that. I didn’t know if I had the desire to move away and go play somewhere else for a little bit in order to stay ready.”
Doan, 41, scored six goals and 27 points in 74 games with the Coyotes last season. Listen to his full interview in the link below.
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