Chris Snow’s legacy will live on – both in the NHL, greater community

Family and friends of former Calgary Flames assistant general manager Chris Snow shared memories of his resiliency, devotion to his family, and Boston brashness at a memorial service in Calgary on Thursday. 

Snow passed away on Sept. 30 at the age of 42 of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Snow, whose father, two uncles and a cousin previously succumbed to the progressive nervous system disease, was diagnosed in 2019. He was initially given six months to a year to live. The doctor who diagnosed Snow told him to spend his remaining time doing what gives him joy.

“Chris never wasted a minute,” his wife, Kelsie, said at the service.

“He was so sure of who he was, what he believed in, and who he loved, and every single day for the last 18 years, I have felt so very lucky that who he was most of all was my husband.”

Calgary won their 2023-24 NHL season-opener on Wednesday night over the Winnipeg Jets. Kelsie reminisced about the ritual Snow had with his young children, Cohen and Willa, where they would both embrace him ahead of each Flames game at the Saddledome. 

“Last night, he would have been standing outside his office doors waiting for those two to run into his arms and give him their signature running hug,” she said. 

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving, who worked with Snow in Calgary’s front office for nearly a decade, recalled how at the 2019 NHL Draft in Vancouver, which took place just days after Snow was diagnosed, Flames executives took the one-hour flight back to Calgary. Snow decided to instead drive 11 hours. He wanted the journey back to be a road trip with Kelsie, Cohen and Willa.

“He said, ‘Brad, I’m going to take every moment I can to enjoy every moment I can,’” Treliving said.

“Cohen and Willa,” Treliving said, looking at Snow’s two children.

“I think it’s incapable of a father to love his kids the way your dad loved you. Nobody could love their children more than your dad.”

Kelsie met Chris when she was a 21-year-old intern at the Boston Globe and he, then 23, was on the Red Sox beat. 

“We thought we’d done a good job of hiding our budding romance until one day in the Red Sox media relations department changed my byline from my maiden name, Kelsie Smith, to Kelsie Snow in the daily clips they staple to the game notes,” she said. 

“How’s that for foreshadowing?…He was the most remarkable person I have ever met.”

Snow’s trademark resiliency led him to Calgary in 2011. 

A year earlier, his hockey operations contract had not been renewed by the Minnesota Wild and he was out of work. Snow, who grew up in Melrose, Mass., reached out to every NHL general manager if they would meet him during the annual GM meetings in Florida. Two GMs responded – Brian Burke, then of the Maple Leafs, and Jay Feaster, who was the Flames’ general manager at the time.

Snow and Feaster hit it off and he was hired by the Flames to work in analytics. Feaster was let go in 2013 and Treliving was hired a few months later. Treliving retained Snow and gave him more responsibilities. As he gained experience and contributed to decisions on trades and free-agent signings, Snow taught Treliving about areas of the game he’d sometimes overlooked. 

“There wasn’t a thing we did with the Calgary Flames that didn’t have Chris’ imprint on it,” Treliving said, adding that nothing made Chris happier than when he communicated with a player about how they could improve their game.

“He brought us ideas that were new, that were innovative, that made us better…I know if he was with us today, it would just be a matter of time before he was running his own team.”

And that Boston brashness, which Treliving witnessed on numerous occasions, was on display often.

“It’s a great mix of stubborn with just a dash of sarcasm” is how Treliving put it.

Snow and Craig Conroy, who is now the Flames general manager, would debate the merits of players. Snow’s perspective came from analytics, while Conroy’s was informed by his 1,009-game NHL career.

“They would go at each other,” Treliving said.

“It would usually end with Craig going, ‘You know what, Chris? That’s great what your numbers say, but you just didn’t play the game and you just don’t know.’ Chris would look at Craig and then say, ‘The problem is, you played the game and you still don’t know.’”

Snow’s legacy will live on, both in the NHL and greater community. 

His fingerprints remain all over this Flames roster. Snow worked tirelessly to raise awareness and funds for ALS research. And from the memories shared in Calgary on Thursday, the question, “What would Chris do?” will be asked by many people when they confront life’s trials and tribulations. 

“He taught us,” Treliving said, “the difference between being alive and living."