Remembering Mr. Snider: Flyers chairman dies at 83

The man responsible for bringing the Flyers to Philadelphia and turning Philadelphia into an Orange and Black mecca for hockey is gone.

Flyers chairman Ed Snider passed away on Monday, April 11, 2016, at the age of 83.

Mr. Snider founded the Flyers in 1966 after Philadelphia was awarded with one of six expansion teams entering the NHL for their inaugural season in 1967. He was primarily responsible for the building of the Spectrum, the home of the Flyers from 1967 to 1995. Snider took control of the building in 1971 and created the management company Spectacor to oversee the team and arena in 1974.

During this time, the Flyers started to experience great success, winning the only two Stanley Cups in franchise history in 1974 and 1975 and making Final appearances in 1976, 1980, 1985 and 1987.

Between the success of the team itself and the popularity of the Spectrum as “America’s Showplace,” Snider became one of the leaders in sports and entertainment management as Spectacor grew into a nationally-acclaimed company.

In 1996, the Flyers made the move to a new home as a state-of-the-art arena headlined the merger of Spectator with the Comcast Corporation, forming Comcast-Spectacor. The new arena, then known as the CoreStates Center, played host to various entertainment events as well as the Flyers and Philadelphia 76ers home games.

During this time, Snider assumed the role as chairman of Comcast-Spectacor and therefore chairman of both the Flyers and Sixers.

Through Comcast-Spectacor, Comcast SportsNet, now a leading broadcast partner with the Philadelphia sports teams, was formed with its studios located inside the Wells Fargo Center.

Snider and the Flyers were also instrumental to hockey instruction in the community. Flyers Skate Zone has four locations, proving both instructional and recreational skating and hockey for people of all ages in the community.

In 2005, Snider founded the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation, dedicated to providing inner-city children with the opportunity to learn to play hockey while learning life skills and receiving educational assistance. The foundation has been a huge success, currently catering to over 3,000 children at nine sites.

For 49 years, he has been synonymous with Flyers hockey and recognized for his place in hockey history. He was a 1988 inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. He was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011.

In 2010, demolition began on the Spectrum as plans for a new entertainment complex called Xfinity Live! – also owned by Comcast-Spectacor – began to take shape. The Spectrum’s former site is now a parking lot adjacent to Xfinity Live! and there are plans of a hotel to be built as an extension to the entertainment complex.

Snider was married four times and is survived by six children and 15 grandchildren. He married his fourth wife, 48-year-old Lin Spivak, in 2013.

Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.