He played 16 seasons with six different NHL teams, but Eddie Shack was considered to be a Toronto Maple Leaf. The team announced that the forward, who helped lead the Toronto franchise to four Stanley Cup Championships in the 1960s, passed away Saturday after a long fight with throat cancer. He was 83 years old.
Shack was a popular player in his time in the NHL, who held several nicknames throughout his career, including “The Entertainer,” “The Nose,” and even had a novelty song written about him called “Clear the Track, Here Comes Shack.” However, his on the ice play, especially in his years with the Maple Leafs was what stood out. Shack played nine seasons with Toronto, including a seven-year run from 1960 to 1967 where he played on four Stanley Cup title teams in 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1967. He also scored the game-winning goal in 1963 to capture the cup and was well known for his celebrations on the ice after scoring a goal.
He did get traded five different times throughout his career and spent time with a number of other teams, including the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins, before finally wrapping up his career with two more years in Toronto before retiring after the 1974-75 season. He was even almost traded to the Detroit Red Wings in a package in 1960 for Red Kelly, but the trade was cancelled after Kelly opted to retire rather than be traded. Shack played in 1,047 games, scoring 239 goals and accumulating 1,439 penalty minutes over the course of his career. He was just a handful of players to score 20 or more goals for five different teams.
Everyone at PHR wishes the best for the family and friends of Shack at this time.
My sincere condolences to Eddie’s family. He will be greatly missed by us Original Six era folks and we will always love his great stories that he shared. Thanks for the memories, Eddie. Thank you to Eddie’s family for sharing him with us.
Always enjoyed watching him skate ,as if he had another gear.Rest In Peace #23.
I used to kid an older friend of mine who played some minor pro hockey way back when that he was on a line with Eddie Shack. He’d always reply that he wasn’t that old!
RIP Eddie
I remember as a kid I was such a huge hockey fan. Clear the track for Eddie Shack or probably the rendering in the article is more accurate but this is just what I remember. Those were the days hockey was so incredible. Then we go outside play street hockey with a tennis ball.
RIP.