Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - Heatley, Snyder in traffic accident

Quote:

TSN.ca Staff

9/30/2003

Dany Heatley and Dan Snyder are in hospital in Atlanta after being involved in a serious traffic accident Monday night.

According to reports out of Atlanta, Heatley was driving his black Ferrari in the Buckhead section of the city when he struck a wall near a condominium complex at around 10:30 pm while travelling 130 kilometres an hour. The pair were returning from a season ticket holder function just prior to the accident.

Snyder, 25, was thrown from the vehicle, which was cut in half by the impact of the crash. He is in critical condition after undergoing surgery for a depressed skull fracture and a crushed portion of the skull.

Heatley, 22, is in stable condition with a broken jaw.

Heatley has received five seperate charges resulting from the accident, the most serious of which is 'serious injury by a vehicle' - a felony. If convicted of this, Heatley faces between one and 15 years in prison. He also received four misdemeanor charges: wreckless driving, driving too fast for conditions, driving on the wrong side of the road and striking a fixed object.

Heatley was required to give blood samples to be tested for drugs and alcohol, which is standard practice for accidents of this nature.

The Thrashers cancelled practice Tuesday and were considering cancelling Wednesday night's exhibition against Florida.

"Nobody's really thinking about hockey,'' team captain Shawn McEachern said. ``We're thinking about the guys.''

General manager Don Waddell and Snyder's parents were flying in from Toronto on Tuesday, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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"We don't know anything," Murray Heatley told the Journal-Constitution en route to the airport in Calgary. "We just know they were in a bad accident. We're praying for (Dany). We're hoping and praying for Dan Snyder."

Snyder was already on the injured list following ankle surgery three weeks ago. He joined the Thrashers as a free agent in 1999 after playing four seasons of junior hockey for Owen Sound in the Ontario Hockey League.

Snyder spent most of his first two professional seasons in the minor leagues, helping Orlando win the International Hockey League title in 2000-01 and playing on the Chicago Wolves' American Hockey League championship team in 2001-02. He played 35 games for Chicago last season, scoring 11 goals and adding 12 assists.

Heatley, the NHL Rookie of the Year in 2002, led Atlanta in scoring last season with a team-record 41 goals and 48 assists. He is the Thrashers' career scoring leader with 155 points. He scored four goals in the 2003 All-Star game and was selected the MVP. The former University of Wisconsin player was the second overall pick in the 2000 draft.

Article can be found HERE.