If it is more than the memory of Dan Snyder that drives the Thrashers, it is the strength of the Snyder family that has allowed the NHL club to focus on the future rather than wallow in the horrible immediate past.
“The support the family has shown for our team and for Dany Heatley has been the shining constant throughout this tragedy,” GM Don Waddell told The Post during yesterday’s morning skate at the Garden. “I myself have spent a great deal of time with the family, seeking their guidance, and it’s simply remarkable.
“I go to them to offer my condolences, yet they spend their time trying to make me feel better. Somehow, they succeed. That’s how they are.”
Snyder, 25, was killed as a result of a Sept. 29 crash in which his teammate, Heatley, lost control of his Ferrari while going upwards of 80 mph in a residential neighborhood outside Atlanta. Heatley, the team’s best player and Snyder’s closest friend on the club, suffered knee injuries that required surgery, as well as shoulder injuries. Heatley is facing felony charges of vehicular homicide, though no indictment has yet been handed down.
“Dany, of course, went to the funeral with us last Friday, and he’s been working out at our training facility with the team since then,” Waddell said prior to the Rangers’ home opener. “Our players are completely at ease with Dany being with us, and a large part of that goes to the way the Snyder family has publicly forgiven Dany, and privately given him their support.
“It’s good for us to have Dany around, and it’s good for him. He needs that.”
The Thrashers came into last night’s game riding a wave of emotion, unbeaten in three (2-0-1). But the team’s players – all of whom wear a “No. 37” patch on their jerseys to honor Snyder – aren’t going to be able to use the preseason tragedy as a motivating force for very long. The team does not want to trivialize a death by using it as a rallying cry to win games.
“I think we’re at the point where that becomes a separate issue,” Waddell said. “What happened can’t be our motivation on a game-in, game-out basis. As much as the ice and the locker room have been our sanctuaries throughout all this, we have to put blinders on and play the games as professionals.”
Waddell said he has not yet imported mental health professionals to counsel his players, though the Thrashers will make that help available to anyone requesting it.
“We’ve received a tremendous amount of support from the Players’ Association and local professionals in that field who are ready whenever we need it,” Waddell said. “And perhaps we’d be in a different situation – well, I know we would be – if it weren’t for the Snyder family.
“They scheduled Dan’s funeral for last Friday because it was an off-day for us. They wanted us to play the games as they were scheduled. That’s what made it easy for us to decide what to do. We’ve spent a great deal of time together as a team, and always we take our lead from the family.
“It’s been a builder for us.”
In Atlanta, Waddell said, there is support for Heatley, who, if permitted by the authorities to play, might be back by late January if his rehab proceeds in a pristine fashion. He has that same support in Elmira, Ont., Snyder’s hometown.
“I was in Elmira on Monday when they retired Dan’s number in a ceremony at the rink,” Waddell said, referring to Snyder. “I can’t tell you how many get-well cards were around and presented to me for Dany Heatley.
“It’s quite touching.”