At age 40, Arizona Coyotes captain Shane Doan continues to serve honorably as one of hockeys great ambassadors. While leading a rebuilding club last season, Doan enjoyed one of the better seasons of his 20-year pro career and paced the Coyotes with 28 goals. This season, Doan has been tasked with mentoring one of the leagues youngest teams, which includes teammate Jakob Chychrun, an 18-year-old defenseman who was born almost three years after Doan was drafted, in 1995.The arrival of all this young talent -- including Arizona native Auston Matthews, with whom Doan skated as part of the Coyotes youth program -- makes Doan excited about the future of the game. Even if it does make him also feel kind of old.ESPN.com: How complicated is it being a veteran on such a young team?Shane Doan:?At one point we had nine guys 21 and under. Thats pretty incredible. I dont think its like that anywhere else in professional hockey, including the AHL or the East Coast League. Obviously, its exciting for the future, but its a little more difficult for the present.ESPN.com: You have four teenage children. Does that help you deal with the kids on your team?Doan: My oldest daughter is the same age as some of them. There are obviously similarities. But these guys are so mature. As a hockey player, you leave home when youre 15, 16 years old. It forces you to grow up. Our guys are great. Theyve handled themselves incredibly well. Its fun to be around them.ESPN.com: Are younger players better prepared for the NHL today?Doan: I think, because of social media, you get to see the day-to-day life of an NHL player a lot more. If you follow someone on Twitter or Instagram or whatever, you see what goes on a little bit more because of that. That makes it a little bit easier. You understand things you may not have understood in the past because there just wasnt exposure to it.ESPN.com: Do you wish you had social media when you were younger?Doan: No. Im so glad, so thankful that I didnt. Its crazy how much it affects our day-to-day lives as players and how much it affects the young guys.ESPN.com: What are the main differences today for young players compared with 20 years ago?Doan: Their skill level. It all comes down to exposure. When someone in the Swedish Elite league makes an incredible move, then the kids everywhere get to watch it and practice it -- and it becomes part of the hockey community. I think it pushes the skill level so much quicker because everybody can see things and their imaginations are kind of expanded by being able to see what other guys are doing around the world. In the past, if you saw it on the late-night sports TV shows, it was pretty amazing, but you only saw it once. Now everyone watches it over and over and can break it down. I think that helps. The skill of the young guys is just incredible now.ESPN.com: Youre skating alongside players whose fathers you played with and against. Have you talked to any of them about playing with their dads?Doan: Ive played with quite a few of them.?Max Domi?and Connor Murphy. Weve had?Philip Samuelsson?and Brett Hextall on the team. Getting to play against Matthew Tkachuk after playing with his dad, or Josh Manson in Anaheim. They were in our dressing room as kids when I was a player.ESPN.com: Have you reminded them about how you saw them as kids in the dressing room?Doan: For sure. Without a doubt. Thats one of the things that, as a player, you remember. Matty and Josh were so young, they dont really remember. But my daughter is the same age as Matty. They were both born here [in Arizona]. Ive gotten to know Josh as he got older. Its exciting. Its fun. You feel old, but you enjoy it, for sure.ESPN.com: Do you ever chat with Matthew Tkachuk about how you bought and moved into his childhood home in Arizona?Doan: Oh, yeah. We have horses here and Matty would come out and go riding at the farm. It was fun.ESPN.com: You skated with Auston Matthews while he was in the Coyotes youth program. What do you remember about him as an emerging young player?Doan: I got to know his family a little bit. His mom and dad go to the same church that we go to. Hes an unbelievable kid. Hes an even better person than player, and thats exciting because hes an incredible player.ESPN.com: Was his talent evident right away?Doan: The first time he skated with us, it was just shinny. I think his team won or lost 5-4. He had all his teams goals and it was against NHL guys, and he was a year away from being drafted. I was pretty impressed.ESPN.com: How important is it for youth hockey players in Arizona to see someone like Auston make it?Doan: Its huge for us. It gives validation to an organization like the Junior Coyotes. Any time anyone asks how the program is, you can say Auston Matthews grew up in the program. Thats huge for minor hockey and grass roots.ESPN.com: Your general manager, John Chayka, is more than a decade your junior. How often does he come to you with questions?Doan: Hes not afraid to come and ask for your opinion. But at the end of the day hes the one who makes the decisions. Thats the way it goes. As much as I think every player wants his opinions heard, its not our [call]. Hes very professional in that he asks questions and wants to gain perspective from people who might have experienced a few things. At the same time, he recognizes its his call and he makes those decisions when he needs to.ESPN.com: Youre coming off one of your best statistical seasons, but have you given any thought to retirement?Doan: It crosses your mind daily. But you dont make those decisions on a daily basis. Ten days ago, if you had asked me I probably would have retired on the spot. Today if you asked me, I think Id sign a five-year deal. It kind of goes back and forth. You understand you cant make rash decisions like that. It has to be something you make over the course of the year. I kind of approached last year the same way I approach this year. Ill just see how I feel at the end. Nick Bosa Womens Jersey . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games. Dante Pettis 49ers Jersey . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. http://www.49ersrookiestore.com/49ers-Kwon-Alexander-Jersey/ . The Cleveland Indians, Tampa Bay Rays, and Texas Rangers all won on Sunday meaning the Rangers will host the Rays in a play-in game on Monday. Deebo Samuel 49ers Jersey . Its an influence in football and a big part of the game. Mike McGlinchey Youth Jersey . On Saturday night, the normally free throw-challenged centre did just that. Howard scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 13 of 19 free throws in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 122-111. MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Six-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson has some clarity regarding his pit road penalty last week in Phoenix.He wants even more.Theres been quite a few voicemails back and forth, Johnson said Thursday as NASCAR previewed its upcoming championship weekend. Theres been enough texting and voicemails back and forth communicating, so I have a better understanding.Johnson plans to delve deeper into the rule when drivers get to Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday.I still look forward to (Friday) and understand what would lead to that again in the future and how aggressive theyre going to be in calling that week after week, stop after stop, Johnson said.NASCAR picked last week at Phoenix to enforce a rule against passing the pace car when a driver dips onto pit road for a stop. Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. were penalized for the infraction, and the punishment was holding the car for a lap on pit road.I just want consistency is all Im after, Johnson said.Fellow championship contender Kyle Busch said there have been times before races that officials told drivers that passing tthe pace car would be allowable, at tracks like Richmond and Martinsville.dddddddddddd The defending NASCAR champion added that he saw a video this week showing how close he was to passing the pace car at Homestead last year, which could have been a costly penalty.Somebody was trying to point out that it looked really, really close of me coming down Homestead for the final stop last year where I was right even with the pace car, Busch said. It was hard to tell whether I was in front or behind him, but it was close enough where I guess maybe I was given the benefit of the doubt in that situation. But I never throttled up like Jimmie did even to keep those guys behind me. If you look at the film, I got everybody bottled up and theyre all nose to tail beating the bumpers off of each other coming to pit road. It wasnt like I gassed it up.I guess its just all in how its perceived and how it looks, so dont make it look bad.---More AP auto racing: www.racing.ap.org ' ' '