‘WALKING IN A ROOM, HE TOOK CONTROL OF IT’: EDDIE ‘THE ENTERTAINER’ SHACK, 1937-2020
He’d just been named one of game’s three stars, so he decided to show the fans some flair. He swiped the hat off an usher’s head, placed it on his own and hopped on the ice. He delivered a pretty pirouette. He hopped back off the ice, placed the hat back on the usher’s head and was gone. The crowd roared. That was Eddie Shack, a player so charismatic and beloved that a song written about him once topped the Canadian pop music charts. He was known more for his trademark cowboy hat, bushy mustache and TV commercials than for his play. They called him ‘The Entertainer’ for a reason. The NHL had never seen a personality quite like his. It was a painful loss for the game when Shack, 83, passed away Sunday after a battle with cancer. Shack’s early life trajectory wasn’t what most people call normal, and that was fitting for him. Growing up in Sudbury, Ont., he dropped out of school at a young age and spent much of his life functionally illiterate. He worked in a butcher shop until he tried out for the Ontario Hockey Association’s Guelph Biltmores. He…