Class act move by Oilers’ coach Jay Woodcroft following Flames’ elimination

It was a heartbreaking end to the Calgary Flames’ postseason dreams on Thursday night when captain Connor McDavid scored 5:03 in overtime as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Flames 5-4 to win their second-round playoff series 4-1 and move on to the Western Conference final.

Especially since the game could have been won by the Flames in the third period when forward Blake Coleman scored the go-ahead goal, which was called back. Coleman was driving the net and falling to the ice while also being pushed by defenseman Cody Ceci as his skate hit the puck on a rebound of Mikael Backlund’s shot. However, the goal would be called back by the on-ice officials, who ruled that Coleman was guilty of a distinct kicking motion.

After the game, Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft met reporters and right off the bat, wanted to talk about something way more important than the victory. He opened his presser by sending well wishes to Flames assistant GM Chris Snow. Woodcroft explained how his friend “is going through something right now.”

Chris Snow was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) back in 2019 when he was told he might just have a year left to live.

While we don’t have the latest updates on Snow’s health, but the assistant GM has kept working hard with the Flames and we can only hope that he is well and keeps fighting with courage.

That was a class act move by Woodcroft to send his thoughts to Snow as he could have just focused on his Oilers moving on to the next round.

This may have been the Battle of Alberta, but Woodcroft knows life is more important than hockey.