Season of Loss, A Lifetime of Forgiveness (eBook)

The Dan Snyder and Dany Heatley Story

John Manasso (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2005 | 1. Auflage
260 Seiten
ECW Press (Verlag)
978-1-55490-702-1 (ISBN)

Infos

This narrative about two boys from different backgrounds touches on family, forgiveness, sport, and making peace with tragedy. Dan Snyder was not a sure thing in professional hockey, but defied expectations-playing for both the minor league's Chicago Wolves and the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers. Dany Heatley, on the other hand, had been tapped for success from the start as a college star and high draft pick. The two made an unlikely pair, but became friends. In September of 2003, the then 22-year-old Heatley lost control of his speeding Ferrari, Snyder was thrown from the vehicle and died six days later. The loss of their teammate, friend, and son sent those who knew Snyder looking for healing or revenge. As the legal story unfolds, so too does a story of forgiveness, rooted in the Canadian Mennonite tradition from which Snyder hailed. Snyder's family, taking an approach to their loss dictated by their faith, chose to make peace with both Heatley and his parents. This story of forgiveness reveals a lesson in loss, hope, and peace in the face of tragedy.

---

Dan Snyder narrowly escaped being cut from his junior hockey team for two years in a row. That s hardly the stuff that NHL careers are made of. But Snyder earned his spot on the NHL s Atlanta Thrashers roster through sheer force of will and strength of character, even though scouts thought the odds were against him. Those who knew Snyder describe him as the kind of person others naturally gravitated towards. One of those people was Dany Heatley, college star, All-Star, and marked one of the nhl s next great players. On September 29, 2003, while driving down a

Textauszug

______________________________ THE CRASH ______________________________ Atlanta Thrashers general manager Don Waddell had made up his mind and decided it was time to deliver the good news. The start of the NHL season was three weeks away and even though Dan Snyder had not been able to take part in training camp, because he had undergone surgery on an ankle ligament, Waddell wanted the 25-year-old to know he had made the team. He approached Snyder and Dany Heatley, Waddell's budding star and the most valuable player at the previous season's All-Star Game. At Heatley's invitation, Snyder, a gregarious floppy-haired, gap-toothed player to whom teammates took a liking for his ever-present crooked smile, had been staying with Heatley for about a month, as Snyder had bounced up and down from the minor leagues to Atlanta and back during his previous three seasons. 'Are you getting tired of the hotel yet?' Waddell asked Snyder. 'No,' Snyder responded, unsure of the line of questioning. 'I'm staying with him,' he added, motioning to Heatley. 'You've got to be tired of him by now,' Waddell said to Snyder. 'I think it's time to get your own place.' On that late September day, in oblique fashion, Waddell signalled to Snyder that he had would be with the team for the entire season. It was the crowning achievement of Snyder's brief professional career. Snyder excitedly called his parents and his brother Jake to inform them of the news and started his housing search. But the celebratory mood would last only a few days. ___________(*)____________ The week before Thrashers' training camp was set to begin, Waddell had persuaded Snyder to have the surgery, explaining bluntly that, with Snyder's skating ability, he needed to be at top form to compete in the NHL. That Snyder needed the surgery, in Waddell's mind, served as a microcosm of the player's career - barely fast enough, barely big enough. Nonetheless, Snyder embodied the ethic Thrashers coach Bob Hartley prized: He was tough, fearless, and with a mouth that never stopped yapping, no one wanted to play against him. Snyder had been through enough trials before, so the 2003 training camp need not be one of them. Based on his performance at the tail end of the previous season, Snyder had earned a spot as the team's third-line centre for the 2003-04 campaign - a season which held high expectations for the expansion franchise entering its fifth year. In previous stints with the Thrashers, Snyder had lived out of a hotel room beside the highway near the team's practice facility in Duluth, Georgia, about 30 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. However, since arriving in Atlanta in August from his hometown of Elmira, Ontario, to prepare for the season, Snyder had stayed at Heatley's home in the city's upscale neighborhood of Buckhead. Heatley, a right winger who had earned about $8 million in his first two pro years, was coming off a season many observers believed would act as a springboard to launch a spectacular career. He could become one of the best players in the world at his position - perhaps Canada's next great player. September 29, 2003, was a practice day for the Thrashers. Over the weekend, the team had played exhibitions in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Richmond,Virginia. After a day of rest on Sunday, it was back to work on Monday. Hartley and Waddell had trimmed the roster down to 22 players, the number they planned to start the season with. Only two pre-season games remained. The boot that Snyder wore as a protective cast on his surgically repaired ankle had been removed the week before, and he was eager to get back on the ice.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 4.11.2005
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft
• ISBN-10: 1-55490-702-0 / 1554907020
• ISBN-13: 978-1-55490-702-1 / 9781554907021