Pucks On The 'Net: Shane Doan At Home In Arizona

Shane Doan recently played his 1400th NHL game, all with the same franchise. (He started playing with the original Winnipeg Jets, who became the Phoenix Coyotes and have now been renamed the Arizona Coyotes).

How rare is Doan's accomplishment? Only seven other players in NHL history have played more games with one franchise than Doan:

Gordie Howe: 1687 GP (DET)

Nicklas Lidstrom: 1564 GP (DET)

Alex Delvecchio: 1549 GP (DET)

Ray Bourque: 1518 (BOS)

Steve Yzerman: 1514 (DET)

Mike Modano: 1459 (MNS/DAL)

John Bucyk: 1436 (BOS)

Shane Doan: 1400 (WPG/PHX/ARI)

Ovechkin Hits 900

Alex Ovechkin got his 900th career NHL point in a 6-2 win over Calgary on Tuesday. Ovechkin is the fifth Russian player to reach 900 career NHL points:

Sergei Fedorov (483-696—1,179)
Alexander Mogilny (473-559—1,032)
Alexei Kovalev (430-599—1,029)
Alexander Ovechkin (479-422—901)

Buffalo Hunting

The Montreal Canadiens became just the sixth team in NHL history to begin the season with seven consecutive victories all in regulation time.

The others? The 1975-76 Buffalo Sabres, 1985-86 Quebec Nordiques, 1993-94 New Jersey Devils, 1993-94 Toronto Maple Leafs and 1994-95 Pittsburgh Penguins.

Only the Sabres reached eight straight regulation wins.

Loyalty Pays Off For Shane Doan

It has always sounded funny. Dale Hawerchuk, the all time great of the original Winnipeg Jets, is the highest scoring player (929 points) in Phoenix Coyotes history. Make that Arizona Coyotes history. Now it sounds even funnier.

That might change this season. Shane Doan, a former Jet himself who has since become the greatest player the franchise has known since the relocation to the desert, could surpass Hawerchuk in two major statistical categories.

Doan is 68 points shy of Hawerchuk for the all time scoring lead. Doan also needs 26 more goals to catch Hawerchuk for the all time goal scoring lead (379).

Ah yes, loyalty has it's rewards for Shane Doan. For years the Coyotes were on the verge of leaving the desert. It seems like he was the only person in hockey who did not want the team to move. Through all the uncertainty and ownership/courtroom drama, Doan kept playing his hardest for the franchise seemingly no one else cared about. 

And now he gets rewarded. Franchise milestones are within reach. The team has found stability and is making steps to improve on the ice, too. In all likelihood Doan will be able to play out his career in Phoenix, a town he calls home and never wants to leave. He is raising 4 children there and he and his wife maintain a horse ranch in the area. They truly love it there