Chris Snow was the assistant general manager of the Calgary Flames who became an advocate for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) awareness after he was diagnosed with the disease.
- Died: September 30, 2023 (Who else died on September 30?)
- Details of death: Died in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, of complications from ALS at the age of 42.
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Chris Snow’s legacy
Snow first joined the sports world as a reporter, covering hockey for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis and later covering the Red Sox for the Boston Globe. In 2006, he pivoted to become a hockey executive, first working for the Minnesota Wild hockey team in the front office and moving on to the Flames in 2010. By 2019, he was their assistant general manager.
That same year, Snow was diagnosed with ALS, a disease that ran in his family. He was given a year to live, and he began spending that time raising awareness of ALS. He and his wife, Kelsie Snow, talked about the disease and his condition on her blog and on social media, and she later launched the podcast “Sorry, I’m Sad,” talking about grief, loss, and hope, as well as her husband’s condition.
Snow joined an experimental gene therapy trial that slowed the progress of his disease, giving him three years of life beyond his initial prognosis. He used that time to advocate for research into treatments and cures for ALS, including the new drug tofersen, which was recently approved by the FDA. Snow partnered with the Flames on the “Snowy Strong for ALS” fundraising campaign, which has raised more than half a million dollars for ALS research to date.
Notable quote
“I want my own children to have me here for a long time. And I want them to see that difficult things—impossible things—can be done if you’re positive and invest yourself fully in being part of the solution.” —from a 2021 interview for Syracuse University
Tributes to Chris Snow
Full obituary: The New York Times
