Andrea Doan to chair advisory committee that hopes to bring NHL back to Arizona

Olympian and Valley native Lyndsey Fry will also work with committee

Sep 22, 2025

Andrea Doan is flanked by her husband, Shane Doan (left), and their son, Josh Doan, at Shane’s No. 19 jersey retirement ceremony on Feb. 24, 2019 at then-Gila River Arena. (*Getty Images*)

If there were a royal family of Arizona hockey, the Doans would hold that title. Anyone with a shred of local hockey knowledge understands the family’s significance to the sport in the Valley.

Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chair Tom Galvin has more than a shred of Arizona hockey knowledge. Almost nine months ago, Galvin, a longtime Coyotes fan, lit a candle of hope in front of the state’s downtrodden hockey community. On the day he was sworn in as Board of Supervisors Chair, Galvin announced his intent to form an advisory committee of political, business, community and sports leaders dedicated to bringing the NHL back to the Phoenix metro area after the Coyotes relocated to Salt Lake City in 2024.

On Monday, Galvin will fan that flame by officially naming Andrea Doan as chair of that committee.

"Andrea Doan is a longstanding supporter of Arizona hockey, and is married to Shane Doan, who was instrumental in building Arizona’s hockey legacy," Galvin said. "She is as much a part of the Arizona hockey story over the last 20-plus years as Shane. Andrea has dedicated much of her personal life to our community and building support for Arizona hockey. Andrea’s knowledge of the industry, and her connections to Arizona and the NHL are instrumental to our mission."

Most locals were expecting Shane to be involved with the committee in some capacity, but he is still under contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, so Andrea willingly stepped in to represent the Doan family and lend her own brand of expertise.

Shane Doan captained the Coyotes for 13 years and is widely viewed as the face of the franchise and a Valley icon. Their son, Josh, was a 2021 Coyotes second-round pick after playing two seasons at, and captaining Arizona State. But the backbone that kept both men — and the entire Doan family — running was Andrea, Shane said.

"Understanding what it takes to build and sustain the grassroots side of the game is so important, and Andrea understands that so much more than I even understand it because of how involved she was with Josh when he played minor hockey," Shane said. "She not only saw the game from the professional level, she sees it as a parent and for people that played or got to experience hockey with all the good that it can provide for a family and teaching kids and helping kids and giving them a community outside of just their family or their school. She has the ability to connect all of that."

This announcement has been in the works in some form since late January when Galvin first spoke to the Doans. Out of respect for Shane’s position with the Maple Leafs as a Special Advisor to GM Brad Treliving, Shane cannot attach his name to this venture, but it is no secret that the longtime Coyotes captain is willing and able to do everything in his power to bring the NHL back to the Valley.

"Whatever Shane and I do we are always doing together anyway, but his commitment right now is to Toronto," Andrea said. "So is mine, but this is sort of a separate entity; just working with the NHL and trying to bring the organization back to Phoenix where it belongs and where it can thrive and succeed."

The Coyotes' departure hit the Doan family especially hard.

"It was so sad," Andrea said. "The Coyotes are the whole reason why we were even in Arizona. It was a part of our family's livelihood and it's still hard to actually think about the fact that they're not here. There's always been this underlying instability, which is one of the things we want to change the most, right away, by showing what's really going on in this hockey community. There's this tethered understanding of the culture of hockey in Arizona, and how to grow that.

"The Coyotes were a huge part of this community when they arrived in 1996. When we were down at America West Arena, the way that the team was embraced by the city and by the fans is, to me, what this team is and what it will be. I think the view from outside was skewed in the way that it was sometimes painted that, 'Oh, there's not that many fans.' I think that's the way it is now with social media. You can show one side of something — and not the other — so you can make it more exaggerated than what the reality is. The story that has been told about Arizona hockey is not an accurate story, and we have seen it firsthand."

Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chair Tom Galvin. (*Getty Images*)

There are two critical pieces on which the committee is focused: finding a suitable ownership group with deep pockets, and crafting a plan to build an arena in a suitable location — either in downtown Phoenix, or east of downtown. Both of those searches have also been in the works for several months and some ideas are already on the table.

But the third pillar of any new franchise's foundation must be a commitment to, and connection with the community; something none of the ownership groups that followed Richard Burke ever fully understood or embraced.

That's where the Doans' deep connections to the Valley matter.

"I think we have an obligation to the city and an obligation, honestly, to the NHL, to make this happen," Andrea said. "We have been given all these opportunities because of hockey and so you want to help by giving back and doing whatever you can. It's just not going to feel complete until the team is back here. And I don't care if I have to wait until I'm like 80 years old. We're going to work hard on this and it's gonna be back."

Andrea Doan characterized her role with the committee as a behind-the-scenes role; one that meshes with the committee's desire to keep a low profile and only announce significant milestones, rather than overpromising like past ownership groups.

"As Chair of the advisory council, Andrea will help lead conversations with Arizona leaders and the NHL about developing a strategy to attract an expansion team to Arizona," Galvin said.

The committee that hopes to bring NHL hockey back to Arizona has not set a timeline for ownership recommendations or selecting an arena site, but Galvin provided some general thoughts.

"I’ve had numerous conversations over the past few months with interested parties about potential ownership and viable locations in the Valley for an arena," he said. "Those conversations are preliminary and more will be shared as progress is made. I expect this to be a years-long process, but I wanted to get started right away."

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly have made it clear that when the league is ready to fully embrace expansion, it will not play favorites with potential markets, but if the ownership and arena issues can be solved, the league has always liked Arizona.

Galvin expects to publicly name other members of the advisory committee at a later date, but one person who will play a key role in helping the committee is already known. Matt Shott Arizona Hockey Legacy Foundation co-founder Lyndsey Fry will spearhead the committee’s efforts to keep youth hockey growing in Arizona, and to maintain a cohesive hockey community.

"We're really like a partner of the committee, but very much aligned," Fry said of the Shott Foundation. "We communicate with them every week, multiple times a week. The best way I can describe our goal is like this: If Gary Bettman, in all of his free time, were bored and wanted to go Google 'Houston hockey' or 'Atlanta hockey' or 'Arizona hockey,' when he Googles 'Arizona hockey,' I want there to be a ton of positive stories coming out on a consistent basis, and programming and good USA Hockey numbers. I want it to be an absolute no-brainer for the NHL to see Arizona as the place to be.

"We see ourselves strategically as a bridge between one NHL team leaving and hopefully another one coming back. We're doing that through programming and making sure we get new hockey players. We're doing it through media, where we're really leaning in with our partnership with our PR firm, just making sure that we're getting hockey stories out there on the news, in print media, wherever we can. And we've had a lot of success doing that so far with Shott's Tots and making sure our learn-to-play programming is filling up. In one year, we've already put over 400 kids and counting through learn-to-play. We just want to maintain the growth."

While finding a suitable arena site and ownership group will require time and careful research, the committee also understands that time is of the essence. Atlanta has well developed ownership and arena plans — although it has competing groups — and Houston may have a willing owner in Dan Friedkin, who would still need an arena plan.

Now that the NHL has a new collective bargaining agreement in place, it appears ready to at least discuss expansion. If the Arizona committee wants to get in on the first wave of expansion, it may need to get ahead of at least one of those cities, and possibly others that have already expressed interest.

"Commissioner Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Daly are aware of our efforts and would like to see a viable plan for bringing the NHL back to Arizona," Galvin said. "As the fifth largest metropolitan area in the nation, we are well positioned with the fanbase, infrastructure, and local support to get the NHL back.

“Arizona is a premier destination for sports tourism, attracting visitors from all over the world to see our professional teams annually. There is no better place to be than Phoenix for year-round sports. I’m not worried about other markets; I only care about Arizona, which has the best hockey fans in the world."

Here are some additional sites or accounts to follow if you want to keep abreast of developments, youth hockey, or get involved with the effort to bring NHL hockey back to Arizona: