Coyotes celebrates the life of a hockey supporter who helped grow the game in AZ

PHOENIX The Coyotes celebrated the life of one of their front office workers who has helped raise the game in the valley for those who might otherwise have never played hockey.

Of those who came to the Gila River Arena to celebrate the life of Coyotes chief operating officer Matt Shott, many were not in traditional black clothing.

Instead of dressing in black, participants dressed in hockey blouses against the ice in the seating area. how Shott shared his love for the game, with those who may never have known what a power game would have been if it hadn’t been for him.

When you’re tired, just keep pushing because Matt wanted to, Savannah Allen said, dressed in his Kachinas shirt.

Allen is one of many teenage hockey players on the Kachinas girls team that Shotts started in a grassroots effort to grow the game in Arizona.

He gave me a chance to drive two hours to practice and be on that team, Allen said.

Convincing the teenage girls to dress up and get on the ice was a little easier with the help of Shotts ’lifelong friend, Lyndsey Fry, a native of the valley and the U.S. Olympics.

It felt like we were raising these kids together, and who wouldn’t want to praise their kids, Fry said as he talked about Kachino.

Just a few days before Christmas, December 19th^th, Shott lost his battle against cancer.

Even though his decade-long career was behind the scenes at Coyotes, he knew cancer could set a time limit for life.

So when 9-year-old Leighton Accardo fights the disease himself, Shott helped organize an unforgettable day for young Kachinas. A day that included meeting players, dropping the puck on the middle ice, and signing a one-day contract as a coyote.

His mother, Carly, said that day, “Leighton forgot he had cancer.”

I know they’re together now, and it comforts me when I know he has a friend, Carly said she imagines Shot and her daughter spending time together.

That’s exactly what Matt did, he changed lives, he impressed and was all the better, said Arizona Coyotes CEO Xavier Gutierrez.

A few of the kachinos say the girls team made it to the Nationals last year. When they didn’t bring the prize home, some of the girls said Shott told them there were unfinished things this season.

The girls say this year they will make sure they get the job done and bring home the award in honor of coach Shot.