Oct. 6, 2009
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame hockey team got the 2009-10 season off to a strong start on Tuesday night as the Irish hosted their annual “Drop The Puck” reception at the Joyce Center. Over 500 hockey fans attended the event that was sponsored by Bonefish Grill and Outback Steakhouse. Guest speaker Garth Snow, the general manager of the New York Islanders, highlighted the evening.
The actual hockey season will begin this Fri.-Sat., Oct. 9-10 when Notre Dame faces the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers. Friday’s game has a 7:35 p.m. start while Saturday’s game drops the puck at 7:05 p.m. A limited amount of tickets are available for both games and can be purchased at the Joyce Center Ticket Window at gate one, by calling 574-631-7356 or online at und.com.
On Tuesday night, Irish fans had the opportunity to meet this year’s team as they signed autographs before being introduced to the Joyce Center crowd. Senior captain Ryan Thang (Edina, Minn.) spoke to the crowd before head coach Jeff Jackson took over the microphone.
Jackson and Snow have known each other for a long time beginning when Jackson coached at Lake Superior State and Snow was playing junior hockey in Stratford, Ont. in the late 1980’s.
Snow moved on to the University of Maine where he was one of the top goaltenders in the country from 1989-93. In 1993, he and Jackson would face each other in the NCAA championship game with Snow taking over in the third period as Maine rallied for a 5-4 win.
Snow was selected to the NCAA All-Tournament team and would go on to play in the Lillehammer, Norway Olympics in 1993-94 before beginning a pro career with the Quebec Nordiques. During his career, he spent 12 seasons in the NHL with the Nordiques, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Pittsburgh and the New York Islanders.
Jackson and Snow would again have their paths cross again in 1998 when Snow played for Team USA in the 1998 World Championships in Switzerland. The two would again work together again in 2003-04 when Jackson served as an assistant coach with the Islanders.
Snow played four seasons on Long Island (2001-06) before retiring on July 18, 2006 to take over as the Islanders general manager position.
Now in his fourth year directing the Islanders’ front office, Snow has been instrumental in clearing salary cap space on the Islanders’ roster while making strategic picks in the NHL Entry Draft. Those picks have landed New York young, talented players like 2007 first round choice Kyle Okposo, 2008 first round pick Josh Bailey and last June’s first round picks – John Tavares and Calvin deHaan.
A native of Wrentham, Mass., Snow played in 368 career games between New York, Quebec, Philadelphia, Vancouver and Pittsburgh. He owns a 135-147-43 career record with a 2.80 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.
A 1993 graduate of the University of Maine, Snow earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration.