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Grieving Thrashers: The tragedy is there, and it will be there for years to come.
Atlanta Thrashers forward Dan Snyder died last Sunday from head injuries suffered when his teammate Dany Heatley wrecked a Ferrari while allegedly driving more than 80 mph. Snyder was 25, full of life and so excited to get going on a hockey season that he felt would be his best ever.
And, just like that, it all ended.
And now Heatley has to deal with that, his teammates have to deal with that, and anyone who ever cared about the Thrashers has to deal with that. It is a heavy, heavy burden.
Yet in the darkest moments of this tragedy, there is a force that could lead the Thrashers home. And, ironically, that force is the spirit of Dan Snyder.
The entire Thrashers organization attended Snyder's funeral in tiny Elmira, Ontario, on Friday. And in doing so, they learned even more about a man who was always just a good kid to friends and family. Snyder was an underdog, a small, tough forward who had to scrap for everything he got. He was a hockey player, through and through, a guy who earned the captaincy of his junior team, a guy who wouldn't give up when he was passed over in the NHL draft.
Those stories have been brought to life this week, and people are starting to learn more about Snyder. As they do, his teammates heal a little more. Snyder's father, Graham, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the family very much wanted Heatley, 22, to come to the funeral. Charged with vehicular homicide, the Thrashers' young star had to get permission from the police to leave Atlanta. Graham Snyder said Heatley needed to be there.
"It's important for him to see this and have closure and say his good-byes," Snyder said. "We're here for Dany Heatley and praying he can get through this. We want him to feel support from the community. We want to let him know he's forgiven."
The sports world can be both compassionate and cruel. On one hand, people want to grieve Snyder for very human reasons. On the other, they want to know what's in Heatley's future because he is the very real star of his team. Will he be able to heal from a broken jaw and a torn-up knee? Will he serve jail time? Will he ever mentally heal and realize his All-Star potential?
It seems too cold to ask these questions now, to worry about future job success, to worry about how Heatley's recovery will affect these silly little hockey games. Yet, Snyder's friends and family are the ones who are imploring the Thrashers to go on, who are driving Heatley to come back and make the most of his career. They are doing it, because they know that's what Dan Snyder would have wanted. He worked to become a hockey player, he worked all summer to help the Thrashers win this season.
"Dany was so special to my brother," Dan Snyder's brother, Jake, said of Heatley. "He'd want us to help him get through this difficult time."
And so they will.
And so Dan Snyder will, too . . . in his own way.