Garth Snow

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Nickname(s) Snowman, Snowy,
Snowplow, Sea Bass,
Norm, The Blizzard, Costanza
Height
Weight		 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
200 lb (91 kg/14 st 4 lb)
Pro clubs Quebec Nordiques
Philadelphia Flyers
Vancouver Canucks
Pittsburgh Penguins
New York Islanders
Nationality Flag of the United States United States
Born July 28, 1969 (1969-07-28) (age 38),
Wrentham, MA
NHL Draft 114th overall, 1987
Quebec Nordiques
Pro career 1994 – 2006

Garth E. Snow (born on July 28, 1969 in Wrentham, Massachusetts) is a retired professional ice hockey goaltender and is currently the general manager for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Garth Snow was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques out of Mount Saint Charles Academy in the sixth round of the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. He went straight to the University of Maine for four years and for three straight years led the NCAA in wins. After helping lead the school to a 42–1–2 record and the NCAA Championship in 1993, he was named to the All-Tournament team. After spending the majority of 1993–94 playing for the United States National Team which included playing in the 1994 Winter Olympics, he turned to his professional career, seeing his first NHL action in five games for the Nordiques.

Snow recorded 32 wins in 62 games for the Cornwall Aces of the AHL during 1994–95. After the Quebec franchise relocated to Colorado, Snow was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for two draft picks during the off-season. Garth would back up veteran Ron Hextall for over two seasons and would alternate with Hextall during the Flyers' run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1997, most notably playing in Game 2 of the Finals. Near the trade deadline in 1997–98, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks for Sean Burke.

It was as a Canuck that Garth Snow enjoyed his best season in 1998–99, registering career highs in game played (65), wins (20), and shutouts (6). However, his workload was cut in half the following season and he signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins prior to 2000–01. His stay in Pittsburgh lasted only one season as he signed with the New York Islanders in the off-season. He would remain an Islander for the rest of his career, primarily as a backup to veteran Chris Osgood and then youngster Rick DiPietro.

Throughout his career, Snow was the target of the league office on several occasions over his goaltending equipment, in particular his shoulder pads, which opposing teams accused of violating league rules on size. Also, according to former teammate Mike Peca, Garth Snow was the best trash-talker. "He's got such a wit and sense of humor like no other. Snow says things that will cut you without being rude or obnoxious." (The Hockey News, August 30, 2002). Snow was regarded as a leader both on and off the ice.

[edit] Islanders General Manager

On July 18, 2006, Snow officially confirmed his retirement and was named General Manager of the New York Islanders following Neil Smith's dismissal after 41 days on the job.[1] There was much criticism directed the Islanders way for firing a Stanley Cup winning GM after such a short tenure in favor of Snow, who at the time of his hiring held no experience in management. Defenders of the organization pointed to Snow's Master’s Degree in Administration and Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Maine.[2] In his first season, Snow earned praise for making smart moves to open up space under the salary cap and using the space to trade for Marc-Andre Bergeron, Richard Zednik, and Ryan Smyth. Snow was named NHL Executive of the year for 2006–2007 by Sports Illustrated.[3]

[edit] Awards

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Regular season

   
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA
1993–94 Cornwall Aces AHL 16 6 5 3 1139 71 51 3.30
1993–94 Quebec Nordiques NHL 5 3 2 0 279 16 0 3.44
1994–95 Cornwall Aces AHL 62 32 20 7 3558 162 3 2.73
1994–95 Quebec Nordiques NHL 2 1 1 0 119 11 0 5.55
1995–96 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 26 12 8 4 1437 69 0 2.88
1996–97 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 35 14 8 8 1884 79 2 2.52
1997–98 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 29 14 9 4 1651 67 1 2.43
1997–98 Vancouver Canucks NHL 12 3 6 0 504 26 0 3.10
1998–99 Vancouver Canucks NHL 65 20 31 8 3501 171 6 2.93
1999–2000 Vancouver Canucks NHL 32 10 15 3 1712 76 0 2.66
2000–01 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 35 14 15 4 2032 101 3 2.98
2000–01 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 3 2 1 0 178 7 0 2.36
2001–02 New York Islanders NHL 25 10 7 2 1217 55 2 2.71
2002–03 New York Islanders NHL 43 16 17 5 2390 92 1 2.31
2003–04 New York Islanders NHL 39 14 15 5 2015 94 1 2.80
2004–05 St. Petersburg SKA Rus 16 - - - - - 1 2.75
2005–06 New York Islanders NHL 20 4 13 1 1096 68 0 3.72
2005–06 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 1 1 0 0 60 1 0 1.00
NHL CAREER TOTALS 368 135 147 44 19837 925 16 -

[edit] Post season

   
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA
1993–94 Cornwall Aces AHL 13 8 5 - - - 0 3.19
1994–95 Cornwall Aces AHL 8 4 3 - - - 2 2.09
1994–95 Quebec Nordiques NHL 1 0 0 - - - 0 6.67
1995–96 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 1 0 0 - - - 0 0.00
1996–97 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 12 8 4 - - - 0 2.83
2001–02 New York Islanders NHL 1 0 0 - - - 0 4.62
2002–03 New York Islanders NHL 5 1 4 - - - 1 2.36
NHL CAREER TOTALS 20 9 8 - - - 1 2.76

[edit] International career

Played for United States in:

[edit] References

  1. ^ TSN : NHL - Canada's Sports Leader
  2. ^ http://www.newyorkislanders.com/team/coach.asp?id=20
  3. ^ http://www.newyorkislanders.com/pressbox/archive.asp?id=1476

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Neil Smith		 General Managers of the New York Islanders
2006-Present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Languages