Ed Snider never played hockey as a kid, never watched the game until he was well into adulthood. But the next time someone calls Johnny Goudreau “Johnny Hockey,” the next time some Rangers fan raves about Mike Richter, the next time one Philadelphia fan chides another or a member of the media for not understanding the game – their game – they do so with an unwitting nod to the man who introduced hockey to the Delaware Valley 50 years ago and who lost his long battle against cancer on Monday.
Snider, 83, left a legacy that can not be summarized and will never be duplicated in this town, partly because the paternalistic era in which it was formed has long since been replaced by one of corporate owners, free agency and salary caps.