Flames give emotional tribute to assistant GM Chris Snow and Wild re-sign Marcus Foligno

The Calgary Flames paid a heartfelt tribute to their friend and former assistant general manager, Chris Snow, following his valiant battle with ALS, ahead of their preseason game against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.

Courage is term often used, but it is a word that perfectly encapsulates who Snow was, a man with immense amounts of courage.

The 2-1 overtime loss Calgary suffered on Friday night to the Oilers was nothing compared to the loss the hockey world and Snow’s family is grappling. Snow’s wife Kelsie bravely shared on Twitter Thursday morning that, “Chris will not wake up” and “remains on life support while his organ donation is being arranged”. She ended her message with six words that resonate with the entire hockey community, “We are so proud of him.”

Ahead of puck drop, the Flames presented an emotional three-minute video on Scotiabank Saddledome’s jumbotron highlighting his immeasurable impact on the organization and his journey after being diagnosed with ALS which he, “confronted with grace, positivity, and hope.”

It was noted that in a situation such as this the proper thing would to be still in a moment of silence, but the Flames decided the proper way to honour Snow would to all join together, both Flames and Oilers fans, with the removal of hats, rise together, and applaud the tremendous impact Snow had on the Flames.

The video mentioned alongside his contributions to the organization the Snow family contributed in a handful of charitable efforts to help raise awareness surround the disease, starting with the #SnowyStrong campaign that launched in 2020 raising over $575,000 to directly fund new treatments and research at the University of Miami, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, and Capture ALS. Snow also participated in the #WeakSideStrong campaign to help with furthering the search for a cure.

On Wednesday, Snow’s wife shared that Snow had become unresponsive and went into cardiac arrest. Doctors were able to regain a heartbeat, but the 42-year-old had suffered a catastrophic brain injury caused by lack of oxygen.

Snow began his career as a sportswriter before transitioning into the NHL landscape. He was hired with the role of director of hockey operations with the Minnesota Wild from 2006 to 2010, then joined the Flames assuming the role as director of hockey analysis in 2011.

In 2019, his contributions were recognized as he was promoted to assistant general manger. Just months later, in June of 2019, Snow received his official ALS diagnosis from the University of Miami.

Wild re-sign forward Marcus Foligno

The Minnesota Wild have re-signed forward Marcus Foligno to a four-year contract extension earning $4 million per year, the club announced Saturday.

The new contract secures the 32-year-old until the conclusion of the 2027-28 campaign, a promotion from his previous contract that is set to expire at the end of the current 2023-24 season, carrying a cap hit of $3.1 million.

As mentioned by Daily Faceoff‘s Scott Maxwell, his new contract puts him in line with players like Los Angeles Kings’ Alex Iafallo, Colorado Avalanche’s Ross Colton, and the Detroit Red Wings’ Robby Fabbri.

While last years campaign was anticipated to be another successful season for the forward, who captured career highs in goals and points in 2021-22 with 23 goals and 42 points, things didn’t unfold as expected. Foligno–better known as ‘Moose’ in the Minnesota market–concluded the 2022-23 campaign with one of the least productive offensive efforts of his career tallying seven goals and 21 points. The drastic drop in his production also reflected through his defensive statistics as he finished ninth amongst the group of Wild forwards in five-on-five expected goals against per 20 minutes.

Foligno was the original 104th overall selection by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2009 draft. He made his NHL debut in 2011-12 with the Sabres, and dressed for 14 games total throughout the campaign scoring six goals and 13 points. He remained with the club five more years after his inaugural  season, scoring 49 goals and 116 points across 347 games. On June 30th, 2017 the Sabres traded the forward alongside Tyler Ennis and a third-round draft pick in 2018 to the Wild. In exchange the club received a fourth-round pick in 2018, Jason Pominville, and Marco Scandella.

Although his newly acquired deal may raise some eyebrows due to his disappointing production last season, his previous six seasons with the Wild organization has proved him to be a consistent 20 point scorer. Over 396 games Foligno has scored 67 goals and 156 points.

The Wild will be embarking on their journey to their capture their first playoff series win since 2015 with the commencement of the 2023-24 season on October 10th. The team will get their first taste of regular season action on October 12th against the Florida Panthers.