Doan look back in anger – Shane chooses Phoenix

Maybe some things just aren’t to be.

The mythical beast that is Shane Doan will not be coming to the Vancouver Canucks at the start of next hockey season, the Internet has learned:

Canucks Army soldiers, naturally, are shocked and saddened by the recent developments, but maybe it’s for the best.

As our friend Dimitri has already pointed out today in one of our (holy crap) five posts about the former Phoenix Coyotes captain, the hype over Doan is “caused moreso by circumstance” in that he was the last available free agent of consequence on the market and the public bidding war for his services.

Doan is a leader, a playoff performer, an indescructible machine, and a beacon of hope all in one. The dissapointment is understandable, fans, but somewhat misguided. he’s the proverbial “final piece of the puzzle” for a contending team that has been knocking on the door for four consecutive seasons under Mike Gillis but hasn’t turned that into a Stanley Cup team.

I’ve mentioned it several times before, there are other entries. Since Lord Stanley donated the Dominion Challenge Cup, every single team who has won it and lifted it into the air has done so without the services of Shane Doan. Not to say he isn’t a useful player, whose physical presence in the top six would help this team out, it’s that there are more ways to skin a cat.

It stings right now, but we can take comfort in the fact that Doan skipped the big dollars and chose to stick with the franchise that has kept him employed since his days in Kamloops. His sort of player is too rare in this day and age, and the last time the Canucks signed over a captain from another team, things didn’t work out so well.