Garth E. Snow (born July 28, 1969) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

and former general manager, president and alternate governor of the New York Islanders of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). Drafted by the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...

in the sixth round of the

1987 NHL Entry Draft The 1987 NHL Entry Draft was the 25th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, and was the first draft held in the United States. The National Hockey League (NHL) teams selected 252 players eligible for entry into p ...

, Snow began his NHL career in the 1993–94 season, playing for the Nordiques,

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

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

out of

Mount Saint Charles Academy Mount Saint Charles Academy is a private Roman Catholic coeducational junior/senior high school located in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence. History In the late 1800s, a significant number of French C ...

in the sixth round of the

. He went straight to the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifie ...

for four years and for three straight years led the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(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 The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

, 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 The Cornwall Aces were the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Quebec Nordiques from 1993 to 1995 and the relocated Colorado Avalanche in 1995–96. They were based in the eastern Ontario city of Cornwall and pla ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL) during 1994–95. After the Quebec franchise relocated to

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, Snow was traded to the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...

in exchange for two draft picks during the off-season. Snow backed up veteran

Ron Hextall Ronald Jeffrey Hextall (born May 3, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and executive. He is the current general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Hextall played 13 seasons for ...

for over two seasons, alternating with Hextall during the Flyers' run to the Stanley Cup Finals in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, most notably playing in Game 2 of the Finals. Near the trade deadline in 1997–98, he was traded to the

for

Sean Burke Sean Burke (born January 29, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and the current director of goaltending for the Vegas Golden Knights. He played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devils, H ...

. 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

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 Christopher John Osgood (born November 26, 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently a Detroit Red Wings studio analyst and part-time color commentator for Bally Sports Detroit. He won three Stanley Cup champi ...

and then youngster

Rick DiPietro Richard W. DiPietro Jr. (born September 19, 1981) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender and current co-host of ESPN 98.7 FM's "DiPietro and Rothenberg" with Dave Rothenberg. He is also an analyst on National Hockey League (NH ...

. 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 Michael Anthony Peca (born March 26, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Vancouver Canucks, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, ...

, 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 A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

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 Joseph Marc-André Bergeron (born October 13, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in 10 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) before spending the later years of his career with the ZSC Lions of the Nati ...

Richard Zedník Richard Zedník (born 6 January 1976) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey winger. He had a 15-year career in the National Hockey League (NHL), playing for the Washington Capitals, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders and Florida Panthe ...

and

Ryan Smyth Ryan Alexander Borden Smyth (born February 21, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played most of his career for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was especially known for playing in the sty ...

. Snow was named NHL Executive of the Year for 2006–07 by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

''. On November 15, 2010, Snow fired head coach Scott Gordon and promoted

Jack Capuano Jack C. Capuano Jr. (born July 7, 1966) is an American ice hockey coach and former player. He is a former head coach of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently an associate coach for the Ottawa Senators of the ...

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 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

during the 2016 playoffs. On January 17, 2017, Snow fired Capuano and promoted

Doug Weight Douglas Daniel Weight (born January 21, 1971) is an American professional ice hockey coach, executive and former player. He is also the former head coach and assistant general manager for the New York Islanders. During his 19-year National Hockey ...

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.Compare https://web.archive.org/web/20190417034546/https://www.nhl.com/islanders/team/business-directory with https://web.archive.org/web/20191215065249/https://www.nhl.com/islanders/team/business-directory.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Snow, Garth 1969 births Living people American men's ice hockey goaltenders Bridgeport Sound Tigers players Cornwall Aces players Expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Ice hockey people from Massachusetts Ice hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics Las Vegas Flash players Maine Black Bears men's ice hockey players National Hockey League executives National Hockey League general managers New York Islanders executives New York Islanders players Olympic ice hockey players of the United States People from Wrentham, Massachusetts Philadelphia Flyers players Pittsburgh Penguins players Quebec Nordiques draft picks Quebec Nordiques players SKA Saint Petersburg players Vancouver Canucks players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players NCAA men's ice hockey national champions Mount Saint Charles Academy alumni Ice hockey players from Massachusetts