Shane Doan served as the captain and lifeblood of the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes for 13 seasons.
This black kachina game worn jersey is from (at least) the first half of the 2002-2003 season, one year prior to his ascent to the captaincy and the franchise’s shift to more traditional red and white jerseys.
Finding a Doan kachina on the market was not something I was expecting, but it immediately catapults toward the top of my favorite jersey list. The history alone would be enough, but most collectors seem to agree that this style is among the best that the league has produced outside of the Original Six.
Several photomatches to multiple spots of wear from Shane Doan’s 2002-2003 Black Set 1 kachina gamer.
The Phoenix Coyotes wore these jerseys from 10/9/2002 to somewhere after the new year. The exact end date of the set is unknown, but it was clearly worn on 12/22/02 and Doan is also wearing this same jersey with a completely ripped neck on 1/1/03.
Being an older gamer, the jersey does exhibit a decent amount of wear.
The most exciting bit is on the “V” of the neck, where there is a large repair running down from the collar that is presumably from either a fight or a fracas given that Doan was no stranger to those kind of encounters.
It is quite possible that the damage was done in this dustup with Kurt Sauer of the Anaheim Ducks. Sauer does have a pretty good hold on the collar of Doan’s jersey at one point, and the jersey is already photomatched to that game from a photo of a crunching hit on Matt Cullen.
The other noticeable wear, showcased in the photomatch above, is primarily in the left sleeve/elbow of the jersey. There are multiple unrepaired holes, burns, and marks in that area.
There are several marks and obvious wear/pilling in the tan band at the bottom of the jersey. Below the crest there is an unrepaired tear as well. The right sleeve numbers also have several loose threads and visible marks.
Doaner played all 82 games in the 2002-2003 season, scoring 21 goals while adding 37 assists for 58 total points.
He assumed the captaincy in 2003-2004 and spent the next 13 years cementing his legacy as the greatest Coyote in franchise history.