James McClure
James McClure is a contributor to THW's features on hockey history. When not procrastinating, he is a doctoral candidate who studies Shakespearean drama. His graduate work also analyzes representations of Canadian national identities in literature of the First World War. He blends this serious approach to literature with his hockey humour blog in order to offer a humourous approach to reviving hockey's past in the present.
Author's Posts
Unbreakable Records: The St. Louis Blues and the 1978 NHL Draft
December 11th, 2018 In 1978, the St. Louis Blues set an unbeatable record at the final NHL Amateur Draft. In the following year, the NHL allowed teams to draft players from the defunct WHA and those who had played overseas. In light of these changes, the league renamed the annual inventory-taking event as the NHL Entry Draft to reflect that many players...
Enemy at the Games: Should Countries Boycott the 2014 Olympics?
August 5th, 2013 Although the Cold War ended more than two decades ago, the first Olympic Games to be held in the new (more-or-less) democratic Russian Federation has managed to spark rumblings of a boycott of the games. This motion doesn’t stem from military action as when the USSR’s occupation of Afghanistan prompted 65 countries to boycott the...
No Wall Space for Old Men:Tim Leiweke vs. Hockey History
July 18th, 2013 Forget James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier’s fight to seize the crease next season. MLSE’s new CEO Tim Leiweke embroiled the Toronto Maple Leafs in a new controversy that will dominate discussion of the blue-and-white this summer. In an interview published earlier this week, Leiweke proudly paraded about his plans...
Crowded Crease: Benefits Behind the Bernier-Reimer Rivalry
July 12th, 2013 If anything can be considered for certain in an off-season that has already seen Daniel Alfredsson snub the Ottawa Senators and Ilya Kovalchuk defect to the KHL, it's that the Toronto Maple Leafs' controversial acquisition of goaltender Jonathan Bernier will be rehashed repeatedly. At first, opinions on the trade generally ranged from...
Free Agency: The WHA's Greatest Legacy
July 9th, 2013 We might refer to the the day in which free agents can sign contracts with any team in the league as "NHL Independence Day" since this event bears many similarities to America's celebration of nationhood. Themes of war, resistance, and liberty prevail in both remembrances of the American Revolution and the World Hockey Association's...
Backdraft: How High Were Today's NHL GMs and Coaches Drafted?
June 29th, 2013 While preparing another post on the draft, I discovered that more of today's NHL General Managers and head coaches were selected at the 1978 Amateur Draft than any other draft to date. In order to verify that fact, I had to go through the bios of every GM and head coach to find out when they were drafted. This research produced a fun...