Its Saturday July 28.
Friday July 27 came and went without a phone conversation occuring between Doan and the prospective new owner of the Coyotes.
The silence is deafening, as of of midnight on Saturday, Shane Doan and his agent have yet to speak with Greg Jamison. The deadline for contact has come and gone. Is there an exit strategy from Phoenix in Doan's near future?
On Thursday, Doan's agent, Terry Bross, told the Arizona Republic that Friday was the day that his client would listen to what Jamison had to say about his potential purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes. Bross said that he thought it unfair that he and Doan have been holding NHL GMs at bay for teh past month, as Doan awaits a hopeful resolution to Jamison's bid to purchase the Yotes and to keep them headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
"We're expecting some type of announcement or debriefing (Friday) regarding the ownership group, and hopefully we get good news and (General Manager) Don (Maloney) and I can start putting pencil to paper," said Doan's agent, Terry Bross. "If we don't, I think we're going to start to negotiate with some of the other clubs.
Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic tweeted at 10pm EDT Friday night that Doan and Jamison had not yet spoken with one another. Does this sound like a positive situation?
On Thursday, Bross rolled out the Doan strategy:
"It's time to fish or cut bait," Bross said. "All the obstacles are out of the way, so I can't hold these teams off forever. They have franchises to run, and they need to make moves for their clubs as well. I don't think it's fair to Shane or the other clubs that might be interested to continue to drag this out."
I suspect that Doan will be activating his frequent flyer miles in the days to come as he will be visiting the teams that have shown interest in signing the UFA.
Doan and his agent have their short list of teams in hand. Is it time for Doan to bid adieu to the desert? I get the feeling that he will expedite the search for a new team on Saturday. He has a trip planned to visit Montreal. Ditto Pittsburgh. No Buffalo trip scheduled, yet.
Doan will not come cheaply. The team that eventually signs him will have to commit four years and $7.5 million per season.
_______________________________________________________________________
Join the Discussion:
»