John Shannon

John Shannon is an analyst on Hockeycentral.

Steve Yzerman played his whole career in the Western Conference and selected 16 of 23 players from it to fill out his Olympic roster.

As January starts, some thoughts on the NHL (in no particular order):

- Andy Murray's firing in St. Louis was probably no surprise to the group of coaches that have started hockey seasons overseas. In the mid-90s, Darryl Sutter and Tom Renney were fired by their teams (Sharks and Canucks, respectively) following visits to Japan. Last year, Renney, Melrose, Therrien and Hartsburg were coaches of the teams that went to the first group of Premiere Games, and now Andy, whose team won both games in Stockholm against Detroit. Peter deBoer, Joel Quenneville and Mike Babcock were the others this October in Europe.

- Kevin Bieksa's injury and subsequent surgery again has put some light on the quality of protective socks that players should be wearing. And you have to wonder what trainers are doing differently to make skates such weapons. Corvo, Markov and Ward, to name a few, have seen their seasons cut short. Manufacturers are in the midst of creating a new cut-resistant sock and not soon enough.

- This month many teams will be doing a great deal of complaining because of four-games-in-five-nights stretches and strange road trips, all to jam in as many games as possible in January before the Olympic tournament gets started.

- And speaking of Olympics, they are going to have to do a bit of construction on those NHL benches at GM Place in Vancouver, what with one extra forward and one extra defenceman ready to jump over the boards. One of the many reasons the Canucks leave their home after January 27 and don't return home until March 13.

- During the Games, the first round of tournament really only decides the seedings for the second round. No team is eliminated. Preliminary round; qualification round; quarter-final round; medal round, that's a lot hockey tickets!

- If the non-hockey world enjoys the game as much as most of us do, what is the NHL's exit plan to help promote hockey following the Games? Hopefully, it will be better than what was done after Nagano, Salt Lake City and Torino.

- It's becoming increasingly obvious that the Western Conference is a better brand of hockey. Look at Canada's Olympic team: 16 of the 23 players are from the West. Or is that because the whole management team is from Western Conference teams; Yzerman and Holland from Detroit, Armstrong from St. Louis, Lowe from Edmonton. But then again Brian Burke's America has 12 players from the West. (Hey, isn't that where Burke really cut his teeth as a manager?) The true measure of the balance will be in the final points standings. It could take something in the mid- to upper-90s to get a playoff spot in the West, while it might be only mid-80s in East.

- The Winter Classic is done for another year. The challenge for the NHL is to keep the event (because it is an event, not a game) relevant outside the two cities playing. There is no doubt it was fun to be in Boston and at Fenway, but how does that translate to other places? And finally, I'm sure most GMs and coaches would agree: keep the outdoor games to a minimum.