Chris Snow, the Calgary Flames’ assistant general manager who has been battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), has died days after he suffered a “catastrophic brain injury” as he went into cardiac arrest, the team announced Saturday night. He was 42.
The Flames offered their thoughts and prayers to Snow’s wife Kelse, his son Cohen and his daughter Willa.
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Calgary assistant general manager Chris Snow poses in the visiting team’s suite at TD Garden in Boston as he Bruins host the Flames on Feb. 25, 2020. (Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“Chris was my friend. He taught us all so much by how he confronted ALS with grace, positivity and hope,” Calgary general manager Craig Conroy said in a statement. “Chris never complained or ever showed us that he had a bad day, and while there may have been many, he continued to perform his job to a very high standard.
“Through his journey Chris became a true inspiration for all who knew him and an incredible advocate for everyone affected by ALS. He fought with courage and determination for every day he had with Kelsie, Cohen and Willa, making countless memories with them over these past five years.
“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.”
Kelsie Snow also put out a gut-wrenching post about her husband.
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Chris Snow of the Flames looks on from the draft table during the first round of the NHL Entry Draft at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Oct. 6, 2020, in Calgary, Canada. (Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images)
“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. We are deeply broken and deeply proud,” she wrote on X. “In life and in death, Chris never stopped giving. We walk forward with his light guiding us.”
Snow revealed in June 2019 that he had been diagnosed with ALS. According to the team website, he was initially given six to 18 months to live.
Snow had enrolled in a clinical trial shortly after his diagnosis. According to his wife, the treatment was meant to silence the “effects of the mutated gene.”
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Chris Snow, with his wife Kelsie, and their children Cohen, 10, and Willa, 7, announce the Norris Trophy winner at the NHL Awards at Armature Works on June 21, 2022, in Tampa, Florida. (Mark LoMoglio/NHLI via Getty Images)
Snow joined the Flames organization in 2011. He was named assistant general manager just months before his diagnosis in 2019.
According to Sportsnet, his father and two uncles and a cousin have all died from ALS.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
