Adam Proteau gives his take on speculated concerns about the Los Angeles Kings and their coaching, five Alberta Jr. A teams jumping to the BCHL and the musicians announced for the All-Star Skills event.

Welcome once again to Screen Shots, a regular THN.com feature in which we tackle a few hockey topics and break them down in shorter bursts. On to it we go:

The NHL’s coaching cycle seems to always only spin faster, and there’s no better example at the moment than the Los Angeles Kings and their bench boss, Todd McLellan. The Kings got out to a stellar start to the year, winning their first 11 road games and climbing near the top of the Pacific Division. 

McLellan was being hailed as one of the game’s best coaches, but since that 11th-consecutive road win, the Kings have gone 6-9-5, including a 2-6-4 record in their last 12 games. And that’s when cries about McLellan’s job security began to grow louder.

This wouldn’t be the first time a coach has experienced great highs and terrible lows in the same season. In 2007-08, Ottawa Senators coach John Paddock guided the team to first place in the NHL until late November, and he was named a coach at that season’s All-Star Game. But by late February, Paddock had lost the team, and Sens GM Bryan Murray fired him at the 64-game mark. We’re not saying we think McLellan’s tenure is about to end, but the Kings’ performance in their next 10 games will help define the rest of the season for them and their coach.

To wit: L.A. takes on Buffalo (twice), the San Jose Sharks, Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins. Other than San Jose, there aren’t any pushovers in that mix, so McLellan and the Kings have their work cut out for them. But there’s always a coach out there ready for a new opportunity – especially with a team that has as many above-average players as the Kings do – and it would come as no surprise if Los Angeles does go in a different direction. Ask now-former Islanders coach Lane Lambert. It’s the nature of the beast.

The NHL announced the entertainment at the 2024 All-Star Skills event, and the list is heavy on Canadian content, featuring performances from The Glorious Sons, TALK, Chxrry22 and Dinah Jane.

We’re not familiar with any of the performers, but that’s not meant as a slight. It’s just a product of the fragmentation of the modern entertainment industry. It’s hard to be up to date across all musical genres. And frankly, we don’t want to play the grumpy old man card. It’s good to see the NHL is reaching out with new acts.

This is something we’ve seen in video games as well, especially the EA NHL series, with game soundtracks providing a platform for emerging artists. Besides, we never want to see Kid Rock in any NHL event ever again. Better to have a wider variance in performances, and that’s what the NHL is doing here.

Finally, the drama between two junior hockey leagues is ratcheting up. Five Jr. A Alberta teams from the Alberta Junior League – the Blackfalds Bulldogs, Brooks Bandits, Okotoks Oilers, Sherwood Park Crusaders and Spruce Grove Saints – are set to join the British Columbia League next season. The BCHL became a fully independent operation in May, breaking off from Hockey Canada in the process to be able to recruit players whose residences are outside of British Columbia.

Two AJHL games scheduled to take place Saturday were cancelled, and so were two games on Sunday. The cancelled games involved teams that joined the BCHL, which will grow from 17 teams to 22 next season. Meanwhile, the AJHL will shrink from 16 teams to 11. 

The future of the AJHL, which was founded in 1964, is now in doubt. But this splintering of elite Jr. A hockey is a natural product of the incredibly competitive amateur scene. 

To put it mildly, Hockey Canada will not be pleased with this latest news, as its authority only comes into play when the leagues and teams it is responsible for accept direction from the top. At the moment, there’s nothing but squeaky wheels getting all the grease, and the landscape of the junior hockey scene could continue to have massive shifts in its competitive tectonic plates.