"Having brought hockey to Philadelphia, I have seen our city grow from a very few people knowing what a puck was to 2 million people at each of our Stanley Cup parades," Snider said in a conference call with reporters. "I am very happy to receive this wonderful honor."
Snider, a Washington, D.C., native, will be inducted into the Hall sometime in November in Chicago along with Chris Chelios, Gary Suter, Keith Tkachuk and former Flyers broadcaster Mike "Doc" Emrick.
Snider, 78, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto in 1988. Comcast-Spectacor's chairman was also inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.
He will join some of his former players - John LeClair, Jeremy Roenick, Derian Hatcher, Mark Howe, Tony Amonte and John Vanbiesbrouck - in the small, 38-year-old U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, which is physically based as a museum in Eveleth, Minn.
"I want to thank the selection committee and all of the other members, obviously Ed Snider, who has done wonderful things in Philadelphia and you hear great things about him as an owner," Tkachuk said. "I just wish I had the opportunity to play for him."
Under Snider's tenure as team owner and chairman, the Flyers stand behind only Montreal (.590) for the best points percentage in the NHL, at .578. They have captured two Stanley Cups, eight conference championships, 16 division championships and have qualified for the playoffs a staggering 35 times in 43 attempts.
He has continued to grow the game in Philadelphia by donating more than $6 million to fund the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation.
"We have several thousand kids playing in the inner city," Snider said. "We have five inner-city rinks plus we use rinks throughout the community. We provide the uniforms, the ice time, we give them education and off-ice education. These kids are showing tremendous progress."
Snider, who recently heard the news of his induction while sitting on the dock of his lake house in Maine, said he has taken particular joy in watching his franchise grow. He has the rings, the hardware and now another plaque to prove it.
"I remember when the six [expansion] teams were coming into the league, the Hockey News voted Philadelphia the least likely to succeed," Snider said. "Philadelphia, in my opinion, is now a top-notch hockey town. I have had a lot of satisfaction over the fact that we have been successful, and I've been here the whole time."
For more news and analysis, read Frank Seravalli's blog,
Frequent Flyers, at
www.philly.com/FrequentFlyers. Follow him on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.
