When the Atlanta Thrashers were sold and relocated to Winnipeg and rebaptized as the Jets in June, most evidence of the former franchise was wiped away.
New coach, new general manager, new equipment and training staff. New name, logo and uniforms.
One vestige of the Atlanta franchise remains, however: the Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy, which is named after late Thrashers player Dan Snyder. He died Oct. 5, 2003, six days after being involved in a one-car accident as a passenger in a car driven by Dany Heatley. Heatley was a Thrashers star who now plays for the Minnesota Wild.
The Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy is given to the player "who best embodies perseverance, dedication and hard work without reward or recognition so that his teammates might succeed" — traits embodied by Snyder.
Last year's winner was current Jets player Bryan Little. Garnet Exelby, a teammate of Snyder in the minors and NHL, won the inaugural award in 2004.
Now, the trophy will be awarded for the first time since the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg, and Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said he has invited the Snyder family to the ceremony.
The Snyder trophy will be awarded during the Jets' final home game, April 7 against Tampa Bay.
Snyder's father, Graham, said he plans to attend, as will his son, Jake;
Jake's wife, Dawn; and the couple's two boys, one of whom, Reed Daniel,
got his middle name from his late uncle.
Cheveldayoff knows Dan Snyder well, having served as GM of the minor league Chicago Wolves, who were the Thrashers' affiliate. Snyder won an American Hockey League Calder Cup championship in 2001-02 with the Wolves under Cheveldayoff. And it was during Cheveldayoff's watch that the Wolves established the Dan Snyder Man of the Year Award, given to the team's player who "demonstrates the most outstanding dedication to Chicago-area community service each year," as Snyder was very involved in the community.
"Chevy was a big part of Dan's career," Graham Snyder said, referring to Cheveldayoff by his nickname. "I know I talked to him a number of times when Dan was playing there and I was always impressed with the way he ran his hockey team and also with just the man. As the man, I thought he was a real good guy."
Graham Snyder said when the news of the Thrashers' sale and relocation was announced May 31, 2011, he "was not overly concerned" with the continuation of the award because he was worried more about the people he knew who might be losing their jobs — and Atlanta's loss of the team. But he said he was "very happy" that the Jets will continue to honor his son's memory.
Now that the move is behind, Graham Snyder said, " . . . Winnipeg is a great place for them to go. Having known a little about Winnipeg, I just knew that they'd be pretty passionate and they've certainly shown that this year. I'm very happy that they're going to choose to remember that award and continue it."
After Dan Snyder's death, the Fulton County District Attorney's office pursued criminal charges of vehicular homicide against Heatley for his involvement in the accident. The Snyder family, in practice with their Mennonite faith, which preaches nonviolence and forgiveness, fought against Heatley's prosecution and were instrumental in helping him avoid a jail sentence. Heatley pleaded guilty to lesser charges, and his sentence included three years of probation, community service and numerous other conditions.
Graham Snyder, of Elmira, Ontario, later began giving talks on subjects that included forgiveness and the importance of community. He said one of his first major speaking engagements was in Winnipeg, at a "community justice conference" a few years after his son's death. A Mennonite from Snyder's hometown had cowritten a manual on programs that helped juvenile offenders avoid jail time through alternative resolutions with a professor at Menno Simons College in Winnipeg. (A pilot "restorative justice" program began in Elmira.)
