John Shannon

John Shannon is an analyst on Hockeycentral.

Dave Keon led the Leafs to their last Stanley Cup title.

The Leafs should mothball a jersey and Gainey surprised few who knew him by his exit strategy.

In no particular order…

- After trading Matt Stajan, the Maple Leafs now have the opportunity to put the No. 14 jersey under lock and key. Ron Wilson, who prides himself in knowing about the tradition of the Blue and White, should insist that Dave Keon's number never gets used again. Keon's legacy is often overlooked, but with the 1967 Cup victory (and Keon's Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP) growing ever more mythical, the Maple Leafs should respect the No. 14 even more.

- I worked along side Bob Gainey in Minnesota in the early '90s. It was no surprise to me, or any that know him well, that he had a plan to turn over the reins as Montreal GM. In fact, what is quite amazing in these days of firings and buy-outs, Bob was able to leave on his terms twice! He molded Doug Armstrong to take over Dallas, then retired. And now in Montreal, he was able to position Pierre Gauthier before deciding to move out of the spotlight.

- Speaking of Dallas, with ownership there saying things are a little tight financially, it's not surprising that Marty Turco's days in Big "D" are near an end. Any team that is looking at him will get a great team player and a goalie that passes the puck better than most defencemen. Marc Crawford told me one day, that Turco completes 94 percent of his passes, which was the best on his team. The downside is that $5.4 million salary, and a post-Olympic Cap hit of about $1 million.

- In addition to the Maple Leafs, Oilers and Hurricanes, some teams will look at the Olympic break to decide if they are buyers or sellers at the deadline on the first Wednesday in March. One manager told me the magic number is 10. That's 10 points out of 8th spot. And when you consider that means that a team that is 10 down would probably have to go 15-5 in its last 20 games to have a chance. Do the math, by Valentines Day the list of teams down by double digits might be prove to make the trade deadline day a wild day indeed.

- Jeff Vinik, who's now going through the ownership gauntlet, will probably be the official owner of the Lightning by the Ides of March. He must be interviewed by the Commissioners' Executive Committee of eight owners, which will then recommend to the other 20 (remember the league is still an owner) owners to allow Vinik into the club. They will take a very simple vote, probably by fax, to make the new Tampa owner official. What is interesting for me is that the whole Tampa sale was done much quicker than the Coyotes' sale. That makes me wonder, what is going on in Phoenix? How close are the Ice Edge boys to taking over? Or taking a walk? Stay tuned.

- Edmonton Oilers are moving their AHL team to Oklahoma City and the Carolina Hurricanes are their affiliate to Charlotte. The reasons are simple…the two "C's"… convenience and cap. The ability to move players back and forth on a daily basis to keep the salary cap implications at a minimum is key. As well, it is a simple way to make an emergency re-call to the big team easier. Edmonton's AHL team had been in Springfield, Mass… 3000 kms and two time zones away from Rexall Place. It was hardly a way to be moving players up based on the clubs' 300-plus man games lost to injury. Reminds me of the plan Cliff Fletcher, Jake Milford, Glen Sather and John Ferguson tried to hatch while they were general managers. The plan was to have all four Western Canadian teams have a four-team loop in the BC interior, Penticton, Kelowna, Vernon and Kamloops. It would have been great. The idea would have saved the teams loads of money, and just maybe saved the Jets.

- Interesting to note that replacement players for Olympic teams can only happened based on a list that was given last year to WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency). The list has to be very extensive, in order to cover any issue. It is so large, I'm told, the Canadian list includes Guy Lafleur. You also have to wonder, with all the public funding that the three levels of government are putting into the Games, why the list isn't made public… ever!

- Finally, I'm off to the Olympics to be part of the Primetime radio broadcast from Molson Canadian Hockey House… it will be my sixth Olympics but first as an announcer, and they never get boring! You can follow me from Vancouver on Twitter: JSportsnet.

Happy hockey everyone!