Ed Snider was as much a Flyers fan as the thousands that pack Wells Fargo Center every game, passionate right up until the end.
Snider, who battled cancer for nearly two years, passed away on Monday morning at age 83. Ron Hextall grew particularly close to Snider in his two seasons as GM, and in remembering the owner, noted his passion.
“His passion never waned,” Hextall said. “I think it’s absolutely phenomenal.”
Hextall paid a visit to Snider’s California home in December, and as the Flyers faced the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 21, watched alongside the owner, who as always, was glued to the game.
The Flyers fell behind to the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 21, 3-0, and were on their way to a 14-13-7 record after 34 games. Hextall recalled the conversation with Snider as the game unfolded.
“I was fortunate enough to go watch a game with him, the St. Louis game,” Hextall said. “So I’m sitting in his basement with him and we’re losing, 3-0. He looked at me and said, ‘this isn’t the way we planned it.’ It’s kind of like ‘no, it’s not.’”
The Flyers answered with four straight goals and won the game, 4-3. Snider’s health was already poor then, but his passion overtook any pain he was feeling.
“We came back, we won that game with three or four minutes left, we scored,” Hextall said. “At the time, he wasn’t doing great. He was in a lot of pain. He got up, he was high-fiving. The fourth goal, he got up out of his seat. That’s something I’ll never forget.”
Not long after, the Flyers were in California for their annual West coast road trip, ringing in the New Year. They visited Snider at his home, the last time many of them physically saw him.
"We had the chance to visit him in Santa Monica, I think it was fun," Flyers captain Claude Giroux said. "We got to talk about hockey, talk about life. Obviously, we wish we could have seen him more during the season. We missed him coming into the room after a game. After a win, he gets pretty fired up and gets excited. You miss that.
"Every time we'd get to see him, you can just feel the passion. He really likes the sport, loves his Flyers. He is the Philadelphia Flyers. He started the whole thing. He's a really good man."
Toward the end of the regular season, as the playoffs became more of a possibility, the Flyers players began a push that was for the owner that is part of Philadelphia sports history forever. The Flyers wanted to give the man responsible for their very being one more playoff run.
The Flyers clinched their spot in the playoffs on Saturday, two days before Snider’s passing.
“I’m pretty glad we were able to make the playoffs for him,” Giroux said. “The whole year we were playing for him. That’s not going to change for the playoffs. The best thing we can do is play as hard as we can. We know it’s not going to be easy against a good team, but we know he’ll be watching and he’ll be cheering us on.”
“Mr. Snider was all about hockey. He loved the Flyers and this is what he wanted,” Wayne Simmonds said. “He stuck with us through everything this year and I’m extremely happy that we got into the playoffs for him.”
“You never wanted to disappoint him. We were thinking about him all season long,” Jake Voracek said. “It’s a sad day today. That playoff run could be very special and will obviously be dedicated to Mr. Snider.”
The Flyers open the playoff run on Thursday with Game 1 in Washington. With Snider on their minds, the focus is to continuing winning for him.
“Although we will be playing with heavy hearts, we’re going to do everything we possibly can to be successful in the playoffs because that’s what Mr. Snider would want,” Simmonds said. “There is nothing else that he wanted to see more than the Flyers to win another Stanley Cup and that’s definitely our goal. We’re going to go out there and strive to bring the Cup back.”
Getting to the playoffs was a challenge this season and Hextall knew that better than anyone. It was supposed to be a transition year. There weren’t high expectations for the Orange and Black. And yet, when Game 82 came and went, there were the Flyers, still standing, still playing.
All Ed Snider ever wanted out of his players were the same traits that he embodied every season, traits that Ron Hextall came to know well as both a player and even more so as an executive.
“I think that when you think of the Philadelphia Flyers and everything we’re about — passionate, we work hard, we’re gritty, we’re tough — when you think of all those traits, that’s Ed Snider,” Hextall said. “The one thing you know as a player, he cares deeply about the uniform, about the logo, but he cared about you as an individual and he cared about your family. Those are special traits.”
Hextall announced that the Flyers will wear special patches on their uniforms honoring Snider throughout the playoffs. There will also be a special tribute prior to Game 3, the Flyers first playoff home game, next Monday night.
In addition, the Snider family will hold a private service and a public memorial at Wells Fargo Center in the near future.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
