Local artist creates statue for late Flyers owner Ed Snider
The Philadelphia Flyers unveiled a statue of Comcast Spectacor chairman and legendary Flyers owner Ed Snider, who passed away due to cancer in 2016. The statue was unveiled on Thursday, October 19, exactly 50 years to the day of the Flyers’ first home game where they defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 in 1967.
The newly unveiled statue is displayed under the lights. (Provided photo)
The statue was created by Chad Fisher, who is one of just three bronze sculptors in the United States and is based in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania. Fisher and his father, Fran, have done several sculptures for the Flyers organization over the years.
Some of the works include large and smaller statues of legendary Flyers coach Fred Shero in 2014, who was behind the bench for Philly’s two Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975, and awards for Flyers Hall of Fame inductees Rod Brind’Amour and Joe Watson.
“Ed Snider really was everything to the Flyers organization,” Fran Fisher said. “We met with Mr. Snider during the process of creating the statue to honor Fred “The Fog” Shero and he was extremely pleased at the portrayal of Fred by Chad’s portraiture. It was a big honor for Chad to create the statue of Mr. Snider because he had a direct relationship with him through that process.”
Chad Fisher had 12 years of education in order to understand the elements of portraiture, and it came together in this statue of someone he really admired and knew.
“We went to lunch with Mr. Snider while creating the statue for Fred Shero,” said Fran, “And he made sure we were all well taken care of, including my two granddaughters, which really meant a lot to us. It showed the humanity of Mr. Snider and how incredible he was that he went out of his way to take care of everyone, including the kids.”
Snider’s statue sits outside of Wells Fargo Center after completion. (Provided photo)
The elder Fisher related a story of the Shero statue when the two had the smaller statue of the legendary coach in a ceremony presenting it to Mr. Snider. The statues each weighed more than 50 pounds.
“I told him, ‘Ed, I can hold this for you but it’s a pretty heavy statue!’ Ed immediately said, ‘I can hold it!’ And he held it the entire time up there, and did it very well,” Fran Fisher said.
Ed Snider was the face of the Flyers franchise during his lifetime and took the risk in bringing a hockey team to the city of Philadelphia. His legacy continues to live on with the team but also the numerous charitable organizations he founded and supported. Snider passed away on April 11, 2016.
Snider was previously honored at the beginning of the 2016-17 season when the Flyers raised a banner with his name on it to their rafters, and in May had a portion of a road that passes the Wells Fargo Center named “Ed Snider Way”.
The Flyers had an affiliation with the Hershey Bears from 1984 to 1996, in which the Bears won the Calder Cup once in 1988. Many players developed at Hershey and went on to play for Philadelphia, notably former goaltender and current Flyers general manager Ron Hextall.
