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18 - The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday May 19, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Eddie Shack teaches personal literacy lesson By Krissie Rutherford OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Eddie Shack is still `The Entertainer.' The former Toronto Maple Leaf earned that nickname on the ice more than 40 years ago, and the 70-year-old fan favourite showed he can still get crowds going at Iroquois Shore Ridge, recently. The reason Shack was invited to the school was serious ­ to speak about the illiteracy he's battled his whole life ­ but he still managed to get teachers and students laughing. "I think homework is a pain in the ass," Shack, decked out in a cowboy hat and with his classic mustache, told a group of English students in the library. "But I say, when you're in school, work hard at it. When school's over, you can play." The four-time Stanley Cup champion ­ he won his last in 1967 with the Leafs ­ told students it's been a tough and sometimes embarrassing battle to get through life without being able to read or write. One time, because he couldn't read a train schedule, Shack says he got on the wrong train and ended up in Hamilton instead of Toronto. "I had to get off and hitchhike back to Toronto. I was so embarrassed. I was a nervous wreck, because I couldn't read." Today, Shack says he can read and write "a little bit." "I wish I could have learned to read WATCH FOR YOUR CHANCE TO $2500 or a presented by T here's No Place Like Home" SPECIAL METROLAND SUPPLEMENT Wina Gift Certificate from ToolPackage (Valued at $1350) LAWN&GARDEN LAWN&GARDEN and write, I wish I hadn't been so bullheaded. I wish I could have pushed through it," Shack said. "Not reading and writing, it's a difficult thing." Shack covered a lot more than just literacy ­ he talked about his hockey career and his days as a fighter, how he got the crowd going, and what it feels like to win a Stanley Cup. "Winning the Stanley Cup is a team effort ­ it's everybody," Shack said. "You do what you have to do together, you have to be a team that sticks together." A right winger, Shack's role on the team often involved a gloves off brawl. "I used to be a fighter, and always had to fight with the biggest and toughest guy," he said. "But I liked to pick on the little guy." Like Henri Richard on the Montreal Canadiens. "Here we are, I'm with Henri Richard and we're doing the cookaracha," he said, his fists clenched, drawing a laugh from students. "And I can't get my hand loose to get a good shot." So, Shack "coco-bonked him" with his head, another term that had students laughing ­ it means smacking his head on his opponent's. Later on, Henri's brother Maurice Richard told Shack, "Thank God you never hit my Eddie Shack brother with your nose or you would have split him in two." Shack told students he was often teased for having a big nose ­ kids even called it a banana. Students and teachers, who presented Shack with an Iroquois Ridge hockey jersey and got autographs from Shack before he left, drilled him with questions, including about what kind of cars he drives, how he gets his frustration out and more. The best player he ever played against: Bobby Orr. The toughest guy he ever fought: John Ferguson. The best coach: George `Punch' Imlach. Shack was also asked how his career would have been different if he was able to read. "I think it would have been very different, doing speaking engagements, doing different things," he said. "I could have probably been a good coach, I could have probably been a good business man. I fought so hard, but I couldn't read." One regret, he said, is that he didn't try harder in school. "I wish I would have spent more time in school. When I was in school I was a little bit of a, what do you call it, a bugger," he said, smiling. "I wish that one teacher could have got ahold of me, talked to me and made some sense. In school they never did get ahold of me in the proper way. I was lucky I was a good hockey player." Shack has had a successful life after hockey, too. He's owned golf courses, his own doughnut chain, run hockey camps and more. "I've done a lot of different things, but I've had a lot of help," he said. "Sometimes I had to work hard at it." Before he hit the golf course Friday, Shack left this message with students: "Try as hard as you can to educate yourself. Work as hard as you can." Sunday Brunch 11am to 3pm The quaint dining rooms of the Glenerin Inn offer the perfect atmosphere to enjoy Brunch every Sunday. 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