Clear the Track

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Almost a quarter-century after his retirement from the NHL, Eddie Shack
is still “The Entertainer,” only now he is entertaining via print
rather than through his antics in the NHL. After an opening chapter in
which he challenges the naysayers’ view of Shack (a man who can
neither read nor write) as “a bum waiting to happen,” Brewitt
unfolds his biography of Number 23 in a more or less chronological
fashion from Shack’s birth in Sudbury in 1937 to his life today
following prostate cancer surgery.

During Shack’s playing days, chants of “We want Shack” confirmed
his place in fans’ hearts. Shack’s awkward “clear-the-track,
here-comes-Shack” skating style delighted crowds, who responded to his
image as both a quasi-enforcer type and an on-ice clown. Brewitt argues
that as a result of this image Shack’s real hockey skills have been
greatly undervalued. In addition to being a member of four Stanley Cup
winning teams, Brewitt points out, Shack had 20-goal seasons for five of
the six different NHL teams on which he played during his 17 years in
the NHL.

The last third of the book deals with Shack’s off-ice interests and
activities, including his family, friends, and business interests, as
well as his involvement in the retired players’ fight with the NHL
over their pensions. Clear the Track is filled with entertaining and
amusing anecdotes provided by Shack’s teammates and opponents. In
writing the biography, Brewitt had direct access to Shack. Shack’s
“playmaking” with his “arthur,” as he called Brewitt, was
reminiscent of his hockey game—rough, unpredictable, but always
all-out and exuding a sense of fun.

Two eight-page sections of black-and-white photos capture both the
hockey player and the family man. Particularly interesting is the
reproduction of Eddie’s “contract” to play Minor Bantam (10- to
11-year-olds) in the Kinsmen’s Kidhockey League. Clear he Track is a
worthwhile addition to hockey collections serving those who recall the
“characters” of an earlier NHL. Recommended.