"We walk forward with his light guiding us"
There are so many incredible parts to Chris Snow’s story, all of them inspiring.
Just the fact he quickly went from a young sportswriter to one of the NHL’s most respected analytics gurus is mind-boggling, but that is only the tip of the iceberg of achievements for the Calgary Flames vice-president of data/analytics and assistant general manager who passed away on Saturday at age 42.
There’s tough. There’s hockey tough, and there’s #SnowyStrong tough. Not only did Chris show super-human strength these past few years, but his whole family displayed it, too.
That strength helped Chris beat incredible odds. When diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, he was told he had one year to live. That was in June 2019.
It was proven time and time again by the class and grace with which he and his wife, Kelsie — along with their children Cohen and Willa — invited us into their lives and shared all of the ups and downs.
Their willingness to fight head-on not only created more awareness about ALS, but also helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for research.
In time, let us hope that inspirational legacy and the treasure trove of wonderful memories ease the sadness.
In memoriam, contributions for ALS research can be made at SnowyStrong.ca or the GoFundMe campaign to help the Snow family.
