👋 GOOD MORNING - Happy Tuesday! I hope your week is off to a good start.

Pretty cool I get to write about hockey today (!!!), but I did want to give some props to Sun Devils kicker Jesus Gomez, who was named the Big 12 Co-Special Teams Player of the Week after going 4-for-4 on field goal attempts in Arizona State’s win over Baylor on Saturday.

Gomez converted on a 43-yarder to win the game, notching a big road victory for the Sun Devils while also recording their first walk-off win since Sept. 18, 2018 against Michigan State. He is 9-for-10 on his field goal attempts this season. Congrats, Jesus!

On to the show!

— Patrick Brown, PHNX Sports Daily Editor

Finally, a little hope.

It’s better than nothing, and it sure has the right names leading the charge.

Arizona hockey insider Craig Morgan posted an article yesterday indicating Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chair Tom Galvin officially named Andrea Doan the chairwoman of an advisory committee focused on bringing the NHL back to Arizona. For those who have already blocked it out of their memory, our beloved Coyotes were shipped off to Utah following the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, and are set to begin their second season in Salt Lake City as the newly-rebranded Mammoth.

If you recognize that name (and you should), Andrea Doan is the wife of Arizona hockey legend Shane Doan. Shane is unable to take an official role given his current position with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it doesn’t mean he and his family don’t want to help bring hockey back to the desert.

To many — including this writer — the Doan family is synonymous with Arizona hockey.

The Matt Shott Arizona Hockey Legacy Foundation, whose namesake was the former Vice President of Hockey Development for the Arizona Coyotes before he tragically passed away from cancer, said in a release yesterday that it will be a key pillar in Galvin’s plan to bring the league back.

Former U.S. Olympian Lyndsey Fry, co-founder of the Foundation, has deep roots in the Arizona hockey community, and confirmed her involvement in the release, as well.

“We are excited to continue introducing hockey to the local communities and build an everlasting love for the game,” she said in the release. “We know the importance of having a NHL team in Arizona, and we will do our part to preserve and grow the game to hopefully pioneer a new era of the Arizona Coyotes in the future.”

The plan, as highlighted by Morgan and reinforced in yesterday’s release, lays out three main pillars that are the focus of the group:

Yeah, this is one of the most obvious ones out there, but the reality is a group with deep pockets is going to need to be engaged. The way to really make this work is to work with interested owners that are committed to the Arizona market. Not real estate deals. Not entertainment districts. Community.

I personally loved the Coyotes’ former home in Glendale, but that experiment failed wildly after the Coyotes left town prior to the 2022-23 NHL season. Former owner Alex Meruelo and his team focused their efforts on Tempe — which fell totally flat among voters — and then on a parcel of land in North Phoenix that has since been purchased.

To me, this may be the trickiest part of all. Who’s going to pay for it? As history indicates, it certainly won’t be the taxpayers.

This is where the Matt Shott Arizona Hockey Legacy Foundation really comes into play, especially considering many of the individuals there have previously worked in hockey development roles.

The Foundation currently provides youth programming out of rinks in Tucson, Flagstaff, Gilbert, Tempe, Peoria and Mesa as well as adult programming through the Mesa, Peoria and Gilbert rinks. It also offers a gear up-cycling program to make the game of hockey more affordable and accessible to all.

Youth hockey remains strong in Arizona, and we need to keep it that way!

My Take: This is great news, and another step in the right direction for a process that is going to take years. Andrea Doan signaled her commitment with an encouraging quote to Morgan, stating, “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.”

I sure hope it does return, but I’m also incredibly grateful to Galvin, Doan, Fry, and everyone else working so hard behind the scenes to keep this moving forward. It’s just a small step, but an exciting one, and you can bet I’ll do everything I personally can to help, as well. And if you’re wondering what you can do, well, check out this site and be part of the solution to bring the NHL back to Phoenix!

It’s Now or Never: The Diamondbacks kick off a critical three-game set against the Dodgers today, wrapping up the home portion of their regular season schedule while in the hunt for the NL’s final Wild Card spot. The Dodgers lead the division by three games and are trying to clinch, so this one’s going to be a dogfight.

Get out to Chase Field to cheer on those D-backs!

Looking to Draw Even: The Mercury face the Lynx in Game 2 of the WNBA Semifinals tonight, and if you’re looking at the spread, Minnesota is a heavy 7.5 point favorite to emerge with a win. The Lynx are the top seed in the league but a split in Minny is critical in order to avoid an 0-2 hole in the best-of-five series.

Hear it from an old friend:

Actual footage of me after hearing about the plan to bring the NHL back: