Dave Isaac

@davegisaac

VOORHEES — Every Flyer seems to come back to the same thing when asked what the fondest memory of Ed Snider is: the postgame handshakes.

The team’s chairman passed away early Monday morning after battling bladder cancer for two years. When he was healthy enough to be around — he was at his California home all season and not around for many home games — he would be the first one in the locker room doors to greet the players.

MORE: Ed Snider passes away at age 83 from cancer

“It’s hard to describe the excitement,” captain Claude Giroux said. “You’d see him come in and every time you see him come in you get nervous a little bit. Especially after a loss, he’d come to you and we’d lose and he’d be telling us we played a great game and played hard and we’re gonna get them back. He’d get really fired up and he made you forget about that loss and be ready for the next game.”

Snider had a knack for that. His passion was infectious and all the players, now three days shy of an opening-round playoff series with the Washington Capitals, have that same passion, especially knowing that Snider hasn’t been doing well all season.

For their playoff run, they will wear patches on their uniforms remembering him.

MORE: Hockey community reacts to the passing of Ed Snider

“There’s been a lot of talk within our room without coaches and myself between our guys about Mr. Snider,” general manager Ron Hextall said. “I think somehow his passion has come out in our guys and going through everything that we went through, I think our guys understand how passionate he is.”

When the team clinched a playoff berth Saturday against Pittsburgh they were FaceTiming him from the locker room, although it’s unclear if he was so close to death that he wasn’t fully aware of what was happening.

“He always has a way, I think in my short time with him, of empowering, motivating people that are around him,” said Dave Hakstol, who spoke with Snider a couple weeks ago by phone after a win over the Capitals. “Really, that’s the way I felt after that phone call.”

Hakstol, in his first NHL season, may never have witnessed what the postgame handshakes were like, but the players say it was something special and unique to Philadelphia.

“It was probably my first interaction with him face-to-face,” said Wayne Simmonds, who was traded to Philadelphia from Los Angeles in 2011. “He walked up and shook my hand and said he was happy to have me here and that meant a lot to me. I never really spoke to the owner where I came from. Just to have the owner of the organization come in the dressing room and shake every player’s hand means a lot. I think it really lets you know that the way he felt about his team.”

“Ed Snider was a remarkable owner,” ex-Flyer Chris Pronger said. “Simply the best to play for and more importantly wanted the best for his players. I always looked forward to seeing Mr. Snider after games as he shook each player’s hand win or lose and the passion that he had for his Flyers and the city of Philadelphia was unmatched. We lost a true giant in the hockey world. He will be deeply missed."

One time recently, when things looked particularly grim for Snider, he traded in his handshake for a high five.

Hextall made a stop in California at Snider’s home before heading to Sweden for the world junior championships. Just the two of them went to Snider’s basement and watched the Flyers-Blues game on television. It was the last time they were together in person.

Back in Philadelphia the Flyers fell behind by three goals before the halfway point of the game.

Snider turned to Hextall and said, “This isn’t the way we planned it.”

“No,” Hextall said. “It’s not.”

Chris VandeVelde got the Flyers on the board with a shorthanded goal and Snider high-fived his general manager.

Simmonds scored a pair and Evgeny Medvedev notched the game-winner with 3:13 to go in the game.

“He was in a lot of pain – and we scored that fourth goal, he got right out of his seat and I couldn’t believe it,” Hextall said. “It was hard for him at that time to get around. He was strugglin’ and he got right out of his seat.”

Hextall was amazed that Snider had the strength to get up and did the same to celebrate. The players made a trip to see him on their West Coast roadtrip the next week.

“It’s been emotional,” Jake Voracek said. “It was great to see him, obviously. It’s too bad he couldn’t make it to the games in Philly this year. Like I said, that was the last time we saw him. At least we got a chance to go to his house and have a little chat with him.

“He was an amazing person. I met him when I got traded and I’m very happy that I could be a big part of whatever he built 50 years back.”

Apropos to the teams he built, Snider battled until the end. He was in bad shape for months, but hung on until his team clinched a spot in the postseason.

“He fought the battle a lot harder than a lot of people on the face of the Earth would have,” Hextall said. “He fought hard. He told me multiple times, ‘I’m gonna keep fighting.’ And he did.”

“I’m pretty glad we were able to make the playoffs for him,” Giroux added. “The whole year we were playing for him and that’s not going to change for the playoffs. The best thing we can do right now is play as hard as you can. We know it’s not going to be easy against a good team, but we know he’ll be watching and he’ll be cheering us on.”

Dave Isaac; (856) 486-2479;disaac@gannettnj.com.