Former Leaf Eddie Shack appears to be in bad shape.

Sad news to report.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Former Leaf Eddie Shack appears to be in bad shape.
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We have what sounds like some pretty sad news to report. 

According to comments made by former Toronto radio host Howard Berger, former National Hockey League forward Eddie Shack, often referred to as Eddie The Entertainer, has been placed in palliative care at 83 years old. When people hear the term palliative care they quickly associate it with a fatal medical condition although I will stress that we do not know this to be the case with Shack at this time so hopefully he will pull through. Shack is currently battling cancer, a disease that many of us have grown all to familiar with, so I will go so far as to say that things certainly don't sound good for the 4 time Stanley Cup Champion.

Shack, who was a butcher before deciding to give hockey a try, would go on to have an incredible career in the NHL that spanned over 1000 games with the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, Buffalo Sabres, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Over his 1047 game career Shack would go on to produce 239 goals and 226 assists for a combined total of 465 points in the regular season. It was in the playoffs however that Shack achieved his greatest levels of success, securing 4 Stanley Cup rings as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs all of which came under the leadership of legendary coach George "Punch" Imlach a man that he would go on to play for later as a member of the aforementioned Buffalo Sabres. Shack also has the rather unique distinction of being only one of 9 players in NHL history to score over 20 goals on 5 different teams, the others being Ray Sheppard with six teams, and Ray Ferraro, Mike Gartner, Dean Prentice, Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, Pat Verbeek, and current Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin.

In spite of his success on the ice however Eddie Shack is probably most fondly remembered for the way he carried himself off the ice. The nickname Eddie the Entertainer was well deserved and he became an advertising spokesman for brands like Schick and also served as an advocate for literacy programs in Ontario after revealing that he himself had been illiterate for most of his life. My favorite contribution from Shack however was how he described his Stanley Cup winning goal as him scoring the goal off his backside while merely trying to get out of the way. 

Keep up the good fight Eddie, there will be many of us rooting for you. 


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