Wolves to honor Snyder on Saturday
Posted Friday, March 26, 2004
Photos from the game -- Thank you Buffy!!
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Before the first puck drops Saturday at Allstate Arena, there will be video tributes, speeches and awards ceremonies. Wolves players will skate in pregame warmups wearing No. 19 jerseys that will later be signed and auctioned for charity.
All to honor the memory of former Wolves player Dan Snyder, who died days before he was to get his chance to play full time in the NHL this season with the Atlanta Thrashers.
"He'd probably say, 'What's all the fuss? This isn't all for me," Graham Snyder said of his fun-loving, humble son.
Yes, it is all for Dan. Since he died Oct. 5 following a car crash near Atlanta, a car that was driven by friend and teammate Dany Heatley, everything has revolved around Dan as far as the Wolves - and hockey in general - are concerned.
"This season is about Dan Snyder," Courtney Mahoney, the Wolves executive director of communications, said at the time. "Everything we do for him this year is for him - to raise money in his name ... anything we can do to help the family."
And the Snyder family - Graham, along with his wife, LuAnn, son Jake and daughter Erika - will be on hand Saturday for what will no doubt be an emotional evening.
"I've got mixed feelings," Graham said. "It gives us a chance to see people that were important to Dan, his friends, and have a chance to see him being honored. We try to take whatever positives we can. We like to celebrate Dan's life.
"He loved Chicago. He seriously thought about buying a house there. He enjoyed the city and liked the fans. Even before he played there (Snyder played in Orlando before joining the Wolves for the 2001-02 season) he liked the fans."
And the fans loved him. Not just for his feisty play on the ice that keyed the Wolves' Calder Cup championship run in 2002 (5 game-winning goals in the playoffs), but for his compassionate side off it. If the Wolves, who have named their Player of the Year Award after Dan, needed a player for a charity event, Mahoney said, Dan was always first in line.
"He did that (charity work) early on in his career," Graham said. "In Owen Sound (OHL) he won an award for it, and now that award is named after him.
"We probably set a good example. We've always been involved in the community and helping out with minor sports."
The Snyder family's compassionate side sure showed after the crash that took their son's life. Instead of making an already ugly situation even uglier, they decided not to press charges against Heatley, opting instead to let the healing process begin, and it started when they personally invited him to Dan's funeral.
"We felt it was the right thing to do," Graham said. "We always preach the Golden Rule in our house. We felt that's what Dan would have wanted us to do.
"Dany was a friend. Dan wouldn't have been happy with us if we made life miserable for him. To press charges is not in our nature. It's tough for Dany. He still has the legal thing over his head and is still living with that. It's not easy."
And it no doubt hasn't been easy for the Snyders. Maybe Saturday's Dan Snyder Night ceremony will make things easier, maybe it won't, but knowing his son's legacy is intact and impeccable brings some degree of comfort to Graham.
"I'd like him to be appreciated for his personality, for what he gave and what he represented," Graham said. "He showed that through hard work and determination you can achieve anything."
© 2004 Daily Herald, Paddock Publications, Inc.
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