Eddie Shack

Eddie Shack
Born (1937-02-11) February 11, 1937
Sudbury, ON, CAN
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shot Left
Played for New York Rangers
Toronto Maple Leafs
Boston Bruins
Los Angeles Kings
Buffalo Sabres
Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career 1959–1975

Edward Steven Phillip Shack (born February 11, 1937), also known by the nicknames "The Entertainer" and "The Nose"[1] is a retired Canadian hockey player who played for six National Hockey League teams from 1959 to 1975.

Playing career

Shack was born in Sudbury, Ontario in 1937,[2] the son of Ukrainian immigrants. He left his butchers job to try out for the Guelph Biltmores, knowing he could return if hockey did not pan out as a career.

Shack played junior hockey for the Guelph Biltmores[3] of the OHA for five seasons starting at the age of 15. His best season was 1956–57, where he led the league in assists[4] and starred in the Memorial Cup playoffs.

Signed by the New York Rangers and playing half a season for their AHL Providence Reds farm team, he made the NHL in the 1959 season and played two seasons for the Blueshirts. In 1960 he was to be traded to the Detroit Red Wings with Bill Gadsby for Red Kelly and Billy McNeill but the transaction was cancelled when Kelly retired rather than be traded.[5]

In November of the 1961 season, Shack was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he played five seasons on the left wing as a colourful, third-line agitator who was popular with the fans despite a lack of scoring prowess (Canadian hockey writer Stephen Cole likened Shack's playing to 'a big puppy let loose in a wide field'). During the 1966 season Shack broke out, scoring a career high 26 goals on a line with Ron Ellis and Bob Pulford, and his popularity was such that a novelty song called Clear The Track, Here Comes Shack written in his honour and played by "Douglas Rankine with the Secrets".[6] It reached #1 on the Canadian pop charts and charted for nearly three months.

Shack was a part of the Maple Leafs' last Stanley Cup-winning team in 1967, though his production fell significantly and he was traded in the May of 1967 to the Boston Bruins for Murray Oliver and cash.[7] Playing on the right wing on a line with Derek Sanderson and Ed Westfall, Shack revived and scored 23 goals.

Eddie Shack (in referee uniform) hams it up at an NHL oldtimers charity event.

Injuries marred the following season, and he spent the next four seasons moving between the Los Angeles Kings, the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pittsburgh sold him back to Toronto for the 1974 season.[8] Eroded by age and injuries, Shack's skills had largely deserted him, and he retired after the 1975 season.

After retirement, Shack was a popular advertising spokesman in Canada, most notably for the Pop Shoppe soft drink brand[9] and a Schick razor promotion (for which Shack shaved his mustache), and a welcome presence in many alumni all-star games. He also used his name for a small chain of doughnut stores.[10]

Shack also revealed that he had been illiterate most of his life and has become an advocate for literacy programs in his native Ontario.[11]

Achievements

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Eddie Steven Phillip Shack". Legends of Hockey. Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
  2. ↑ Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley (2003-03-02). Who's Who in Hockey. Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 396. ISBN 978-0-7407-1904-2. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  3. ↑ Staff, Bathroom Readers' Institute (2005). Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Shoots and Scores. Raincoast Books. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-55192-849-4. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  4. ↑ Diamond, Dan; Zweig, Eric (2003-09-01). Hockey's glory days: the 1950s and '60s. Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-7407-3829-6. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  5. ↑ "Eddie Shack on hockey-reference.com".
  6. ↑ Kearney, Mark; Randy Ray (1999). The Great Canadian Book of Lists. Dundurn Press. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-88882-213-0. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
  7. ↑ "Leafs Trade Shack for Bruins' Oliver". Windsor Star. 16 May 1967. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  8. ↑ "Trade Doesn't Surprise Shack". The Star-Phoenix. 6 July 1973. p. 14. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  9. ↑ Matthews, Blair. "The Epic of The Pop Shoppe". Soda Pop Dreams Magazine. Playing with Words Specialty Publications. Archived from the original on 2008-11-27. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
  10. ↑ Belasco, Warren James; Philip Scranton (2002). Food Nations: Selling Taste in Consumer Societies. Routledge. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-415-93077-2.
  11. ↑ Rutherford, Krissie (2007-05-19). "Eddie Shack teaches personal literacy lesson". The Oakville Beaver (Metroland Media Group). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-11-27. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
  12. ↑ Hockey’s Book of Firsts, p.57, James Duplacey, JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9

External links

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