In Memoriam
Eddie Shack was born (February 11, 1937-July 25, 2020), in Sudbury, Ontario, and passed away in Toronto, Ontario.
NHL Career
Eddie Shack began his NHL career in 1958-1959 when the New York Rangers signed him. He played on Broadway for three seasons before being dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs early in the 1960-1961 campaign. Shack was to be traded to the Detroit Red Wings with Bill Gadsby for Red Kelly and Bill McNeil, but the deal fell through when Kelly chose to retire rather than be traded.
Toronto
Shack’s most successful years in his professional hockey career were playing in Toronto for the Maple Leafs; after seven years with the Maple Leafs, Eddie won the Stanley Cup four times: 1962, 1963, 1964, and again in 1967. He also scored the Cup-winning goal in 1963. He later would exclaim that he scored the goal off his backside as he tried to get out of the way.
After winning the Stanley Cup in 1967, Eddie was traded to the Boston Bruins for Murray Oliver and cash. Shack’s hockey career was declining at this point; his offensive output was down, but with the trade to Boston and playing on a line with Derek Sanderson and Ed Westfall, Eddie was rejuvenated, scoring 23 goals in 1967-1968.
With injuries hampering the left-winger, Eddie would move from team to team over the course of the next four seasons, playing for the Los Angeles Kings, Buffalo Sabres, and Pittsburgh Penguins before eventually coming full circle back home to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he would end his career in 1974-1975.
Eddie Shack was known as “The Entertainer” for his on-ice antics. After his playing career, he began entertaining in a new way when he became an advertising spokesman for The Pop Shoppe, Schick razors, and a small doughnut chain in 1994 called Eddie Shack Donuts. He made many appearances throughout the rest of his life at alumni all-star games.
Meeting Eddie “The Entertainer” Shack.
I first met Eddie Shack at an all-star alumni game on February 17, 1991, in Regina, Saskatchewan. While walking down the hallway, meeting NHL legends Alex Delvecchio, Norm Ullman, and Maurice “Rocket” Richard, I greeted Shack. I politely asked him If I could take his picture, and in a loud voice, he said, “Well, that’s what you brought a camera for.” The second time I met Eddie was in the 2000s at another alumni game in Regina, Sask, for Hockey Day In Canada. I was wearing my Pittsburgh Penguins Jersey with the number 66 on the back when someone in a loud voice yelled at me from behind, “What are you wearing Pittsburgh for? It’s Hockey Day In Canada.” when I turned around to see who it was, There was Eddie Shack grinning at me, Eddie then said, “Oh it’s a Mario Lemieux Jersey, he’s Canadian that’s o.k.”.
Notables
In Eddie’s heyday, he was so popular that in 1966, a song by Brian McFarlane called Clear the Track, Here Comes Shack was written about him. Douglas Rankine performed the song with The Secrets; it reached number #1 on the Canadian Pop Charts and stayed there for nearly three months.
