Melrose native, Calgary Flames assistant GM Chris Snow passes away after inspiring battle with ALS

Melrose native and Calgary Flames vice president of hockey operations and assistant general manager Chris Snow passed away after a lengthy and inspiring battle with ALS Saturday.

“Today we hugged Chris for the last time and said goodbye as he went to give four people the gift of life by donating his kidneys, liver and lungs,” Snow’s wife Kelsie wrote on social media Saturday. “We are deeply broken and deeply proud. In life and in death, Chris never stopped giving. We walk forward with his light guiding us.”

Snow, a former Red Sox beat reporter for the Boston Globe, was placed on life support earlier this week after suffering a “catastrophic” brain injury due to complications from ALS.

Snow joined the Calgary Flames in 2011 as director of video and statistical analytics, rising through the ranks of the organization and expanding the club’s Hockey Research and Development Department.

Diagnosed with ALS in June of 2019, the Melrose native was initially only given one year to live. Despite the grim prognosis, Snow approached every day with hope and dedication, making a conscious decision to fight his battle in the public eye, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for ALS research and new treatments in the process. Banners displaying the hashtag #SnowyStrong and #WeaksideStrong were displayed in arenas across the U.S. and Canada as Chris campaigned for a cure.

Flames GM Craig Conroy said Snow never complained or showed he had a bad day, continuing to perform his job at a high standard.

“Through his journey, Chris became a true inspiration for all who knew him and an incredible advocate for everyone affected by ALS,” Conroy said. “We will never replace a person like Chris. We simply pay tribute to him by moving forward with the same passion that he brought to his life each day.”

“An innovative student of our game with an expertise in data analysis, Chris supervised the creation and build out of the Flames’ analytics department and was influential in all facets of the Club’s Hockey Operations decision-making. First and foremost, however, he was a beloved husband to Kelsie, a devoted dad to Cohen and Willa, and a friend to everyone in hockey fortunate enough to have met him,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. ”The Snows’ willingness to share the trials and triumphs of Chris’s lengthy ALS journey has inspired so many and profoundly increased awareness of the need to find a cure for this debilitating disease. The NHL sends its most sincere condolences to the Snow family, the Calgary Flames organization and all who were touched by this special person.”

“Even while battling ALS, Chris dedicated his life to helping others and he changed the lives of so many,” the Flames wrote on social media Saturday.

In 2021, two years past his initial diagnosis and on a 40th birthday he wasn’t expected to reach, Chris and his family threw out the first pitch at Fenway Park. It was the same place he had his first job - hawking lemonade in the stands- and where he and his wife Kelsie met and fell in love as members of the Sox press corp.

In a guest column for the Globe, Kelsie recounted the experience:

“After, we walked down the third base line, and as we did, the people stood. They touched their hearts and pointed to us. They raised their fists in solidarity. They clapped and cheered. Again, I watched my husband. I saw the tears in his eyes, the appreciation in his heart.

“Chris has not had an easy life. He has lost both of his parents — his mother to suicide, his dad to ALS. He has lost parts of his physical self and parts of his identity, but on that day, in that great ballpark, he reclaimed one very important thing. On that day, he remembered where he is from.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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