Garth Snow

Garth Snow
Born	(1969-07-28) July 28, 1969 Wrentham, Massachusetts, U.S.
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	Quebec Nordiques Philadelphia Flyers Vancouver Canucks Pittsburgh Penguins New York Islanders SKA St. Petersburg
National team	United States
NHL draft	114th overall, 1987 Quebec Nordiques
Playing career	1994–2006

Garth E. Snow (born July 28, 1969) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender and former general manager, president and alternate governor of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in the sixth round of the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, Snow began his NHL career in the 1993–94 season, playing for the Nordiques. He also played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins, and New York Islanders, with which he retired with after the 2005–06 season. He was inducted into the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019.

Playing career

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 National Collegiate Athletic Association (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 American Hockey League (AHL) during 1994–95. After the Quebec franchise relocated to Colorado, Snow was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for two draft picks during the off-season. Snow backed up veteran Ron Hextall for over two seasons, alternating 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.

As a Canuck in 1998–99, he registered career highs in games played (65), wins (20) and shutouts (6). 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 one season as he signed with the New York Islanders in the off-season, playing for them 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 NHL rules on size. According to former teammate Michael Peca, Snow was one of the best trash-talkers around: "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." Snow was regarded as a respected leader both on and off the ice.

Executive career

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. There was much criticism directed the Islanders' way for firing a Stanley Cup-winning general manager 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.

In Snow's first season as general manager, he earned praise for making moves to open up space under the salary cap and using the space to trade for Marc-André Bergeron, Richard Zedník and Ryan Smyth. Snow was named NHL Executive of the Year for 2006–07 by Sports Illustrated. Early in his tenure Snow signed goaltender Rick DiPietro to a 15 year, $67.5M contract which is widely considered to be one of the worst NHL signings ever as DiPietro only played 175 games after this contract was signed. On November 15, 2010, Snow fired head coach Scott Gordon and promoted Jack Capuano to interim head coach after the Islanders suffered a poor record of 4–10–3 in their first 17 games of the 2010–11 season. Capuano went on to guide the Islanders to their first playoff series win since 1993 during the 2016 playoffs. On January 17, 2017, Snow fired Capuano and promoted Doug Weight to interim head coach in response to the Islanders' record of 17–17–8 through 42 games of the 2016–17 season, which was ranked last in the Eastern Conference at that time. Through the 2017–18 season, his tenure with the Islanders saw the team accrue 11 playoff wins.

On June 5, 2018, Snow's position as Islanders' general manager was terminated, although he remained with the organization through 2019.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season											Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	OTL	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1986–87	Mount St. Charles Academy	HSRI		30	—	—	—	—	1,795	53	10	1.77	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	Stratford Cullitons	MWJHL		30	20	6	0	—	1,642	93	2	3.40	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	University of Maine	HE		5	2	2	0	—	241	14	1	3.49	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	University of Maine	HE		25	18	4	0	—	1,290	64	2	2.98	.879		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	University of Maine	HE		31	25	4	0	—	1,792	73	2	2.44	.883		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	University of Maine	HE		23	21	0	1	—	1,210	42	1	2.08	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	United States	Intl		23	13	5	3	—	1,324	71	1	3.22	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Cornwall Aces	AHL		16	6	5	3	—	927	51	0	3.30	.891		13	8	5	790	42	0	3.19	—
1993–94	Quebec Nordiques	NHL		5	3	2	0	—	279	16	0	3.44	.874		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Cornwall Aces	AHL		62	32	20	7	—	3,558	162	3	2.73	.900		8	4	3	402	14	2	2.09	—
1994–95	Quebec Nordiques	NHL		2	1	1	0	—	119	11	0	5.55	.825		1	0	0	9	1	0	6.78	.667
1995–96	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		26	12	8	4	—	1,437	69	0	2.88	.894		1	0	0	1	0	0	0.00	—
1996–97	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		35	14	8	8	—	1,884	79	2	2.52	.903		12	8	4	699	33	0	2.83	.892
1997–98	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		29	14	9	4	—	1,651	67	1	2.43	.902		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		12	3	6	0	—	504	26	0	3.10	.901		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		65	20	31	8	—	3,501	171	6	2.93	.900		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		32	10	15	3	—	1,712	76	0	2.66	.902		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins	AHL		3	2	1	0	—	178	7	0	2.36	.920		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		35	14	15	4	—	2,032	101	3	2.98	.900		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	New York Islanders	NHL		25	10	7	2	—	1,217	55	2	2.71	.900		1	0	0	26	2	0	4.71	.895
2002–03	New York Islanders	NHL		43	16	17	5	—	2,390	92	1	2.31	.918		5	1	4	305	12	0	2.36	.910
2003–04	New York Islanders	NHL		39	14	15	5	—	2,015	94	1	2.80	.899		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	SKA St. Petersburg	RSL		16	—	—	—	—	893	41	1	2.75	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	New York Islanders	NHL		20	4	13	—	1	1,096	68	0	3.72	.886		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Bridgeport Sound Tigers	AHL		1	1	0	—	0	60	1	0	1.00	.967		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				368	135	147	43	1	19,837	925	16	2.80	.900		20	9	8	1039	48	1	2.77	.896

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1994	United States	OG		5	1	3	1	299	17	0	3.41	.881
1998	United States	WC		5	1	2	1	260	12	0	2.77	.865
Senior totals				10	2	5	2	559	29	0	3.11	—

Awards and honors

Award	Year
All-Hockey East Second Team	1991–92
All-Hockey East Second Team	1992–93
Hockey East All-Tournament Team	1993
All-NCAA All-Tournament Team	1993

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database