Jim Slater never met Dan Snyder. That doesn’t make being the recipient of the trophy named in honor of the former Thrasher any less special.
Slater was awarded the Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy on Saturday night before the Thrashers’ final game of the season. The award is named for Snyder, who was killed in an automobile accident in 2003, and is given annually to the player "who best embodies perseverance, dedication and hard work without reward or recognition" so that his teammates might succeed.
“It is one of those awards that I wanted to win ever since I put on a Thrashers jersey,” Slater said. “To get it in my fifth year means a lot to me. I’m going to accept it with a lot of respect to the Snyder family and with a lot of pride because of the type of player he was.”
The award was presented by Snyder’s father, Graham, his brother, Jake, his sister-in-law, Dawn, and his nephew, Reed.
Slater, the sixth recipient of the award, was honored in the season that the Dan Snyder Memorial Arena opened in his hometown of Elmira, Ontario. The team visited the rink in October, a month after it opened. Through the Dan Snyder Foundation, the family raised more than $750,000 that went toward the completion of the $22 million project.
“Any time you can win an award that acknowledges someone of Dan’s stature, I’m really respectful of the honor and take a lot of pride in it,” Slater said. “It’s quite amazing how a small town like that gathered around. They love their hockey, and for the Snyders to do something like donate a hockey rink in Dan’s name, there are going to be a lot of kids that go in and out of that arena and will see Dan’s name. They are going to know the story behind it.
"Hopefully they learn something from it and know what it takes to be an NHL hockey player and where he comes from.”
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