Though his personal worth was estimated at nearly $3 billion, Ed Snider’s passion was and remained hockey. It would eventually lead to what he considered his greatest accomplishment — the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation, which he started in 2005.
“This is how I want people to remember me,” Snider said during an appearance some years ago at Skate Zone in Northeast Philadelphia.
“Not the Flyers, or the two Cups. Those are important sure, but this is what I want to be my legacy. What we’re doing for kids. I’m more proud of this than anything else I’ve done in my life.”
Snider died at the age of 83 early Monday morning in his Montecito, Calif. home after a battle with bladder cancer (see story).
Snider Hockey reaches more than 3,000 youth in nine inner-city ice venues.
“All the inner cities unfortunately, in this country, are messed up,” Snider said four years ago. “And the kids are in trouble in what they have to go through.
“I was thinking for years about helping the inner city kids in some way, and finally, I realize the best way I could do it was through what I know best. We used hockey as the hook. We’re saving lives. We already feel we’ve saved a few.
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“It’s the only thing I’ve ever put my name on in my life. All the various things I started, all the companies I’ve owned. This is the first time I’ve used my name. I did that purposely because I wanted that to be my legacy and wanted it to last forever.”
Last October, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman presented the ESYHF with a check for $950,000 from the league and NHLPA. Recuperating from cancer treatments at his home in Southern California, Snider was unable to attend.
“When it comes to programs for youth that use education, after-school programs, and rink development and combine it with education to provide a framework for teamwork, hard work, studying, diligence and really getting yourself into a position where all the important value in life are instilled upon you, there’s no program which does it better than Snider Hockey,” Bettman said.
Snider invested many millions of his own money in the program to enrich the lives of children.
“The idea wasn’t to spread hockey; the idea was to use hockey as a vehicle so the disadvantaged kid could get a break and do better and potentially be very successful,” said Peter Luukko, former COO of Comcast Spectacor said. “The educational components of this were very important to Ed. Give the kids a sense of accomplishment.”
Daughter Lindy Snider, a successful business woman herself, said her father was consumed with making this final legacy to the public.
“Dad has always been very philanthropic and encouraged us to be that way,” she said at his U.S. Hall of Fame induction.
“The youth hockey foundation is very special to him. This is the most important work Dad has ever done. He loves it and he’s proud of it and the kids. The legacy he wants to leave deals with human beings and their families. The ability for him to do something to help other people is very meaningful to him.”
Added Comcast General Counsel Phil Weinberg: “Ed’s a man with incredibly deep values and sense of caring about what is right and wrong in the world. He has a very deep love for his family and his kids and for causes in which he feels strongly about.
“He’s been extraordinary generous in many ways because he’s had the means to be but all of that is driven by a real sense of care and concern for the world in which he lives.”
During his near 50 years as part of the NHL, Snider served on various league committees and on the Board of Governors.
In 1980, he received the Lester Patrick trophy for contributions to hockey in the United States. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1985, enshrined in the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988 and the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011.