Flames 'fueled' by Snow's memory in opening-night win against Jets

CALGARY -- Chris Snow was on the hearts and minds of the Calgary Flames when they opened their season against the Winnipeg Jets at Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday.

Their vice president of hockey operations and assistant general manager died Sept. 30 at the age of 42 after a long and inspirational battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. It impact's a person's ability to walk, talk and eventually breathe. There is no cure.

His determination to continue working and living his life after being diagnosed in 2019 not only inspired the Flames and their fans, but the entire hockey world.

"It's a hard one, that's a big piece of our organization and as with everybody in the building, you see the family, it hits home a little bit," Calgary coach Ryan Huska said.

Snow's son, Cohen, 11, watched warmups from the Flames bench and then greeted the players on their way from the dressing room to the ice.

Snow's wife, Kelsie, who chronicled Chris' fight with the disease on social media, walked onto the ice along with Cohen and daughter Willa, 8, wearing personalized Flames jerseys and dropped the puck for the ceremonial face-off between Flames captain Mikael Backlund and Jets captain Adam Lowry.

"There's a lot of people in here that have kids and it's tough when you lose their dad at a young age," Huska said. "The crowd did an amazing job of saluting him with a nice ovation for a lengthy period of time, as they did Kelsie and the kids. It's a tough one, but we're there with them, that's for sure."

Andrew Mangiapane, who scored two goals in the Flames' 5-3 win and set up Elias Lindholm's game-winning goal with 1:32 left in the third period, said thinking of Snow gave them an extra boost.

"It was tough, it's sad what they're going through and Chris meant so much to them and so much to this organization," Mangiapane said. "I think it maybe fueled us a little bit and we tried to get the win for him.

"It was definitely a sad start and I think all the guys were feeling it on the blue line (during pregame ceremonies), but we were saying it was good to see them and good to see they were doing well."

Snow, a former sportswriter, had been with the Flames since 2011, when he was hired as their director of hockey analysis. He was promoted to assistant general manager Sept. 26, 2019.

Thursday will also be an emotional day for the Flames; they will practice in the morning and then attend Snow's memorial at Saint Michael Catholic Community in Calgary. The memorial will be streamed on the church's website.

"I want to thank the Snow family for coming out and dropping the puck," goalie Jacob Markstrom said. "It's a lot of emotions and it's tough to lose a husband, a father and they were so strong out there. I think it hit home for a lot of people out there."

Kelsie, speaking on Sportsnet during the game, said the night was "overwhelming."

"This community has supported us so much over the last four and half years … I really can't express how much that has meant to us to feel like in the city that you live everybody is behind you whether you know them or not," she said. "So, I knew that that was going to be overwhelming and I just told the kids to just look around and soak it up and think about how many people their dad touched and how many people care about them."