Jan. 31, 2007

When senior Spartan defenseman Chris Snavely reminisces about his beginnings in hockey, he can't help but chuckle. Growing up in Lancaster, Pa., hockey took a backseat to the far more popular pastimes of football, basketball and baseball, but Snavely was drawn to the local rink, even if it was an old, converted warehouse.

"There was no plumbing at all - no running water, just port-o-johns in the corner of the rink," Snavely said of the only "rink" in his county. "We obviously only had ice in the winter, and it wasn't painted. It was just sand-colored ice with no lines. The warehouse had high ceilings with a lot of broken windows so there were breezes that went right through while you were playing."

Despite the less-than-stellar facilities, the young Snavely just wanted to skate - regardless of the time of day.

"I always had so much fun with the sport," Snavely said. "I used to look forward to the weekends because I loved it so much. I don't think anyone else from my school played besides me. Everyone asked me why I played hockey. Well, my mom wouldn't let me play football because it was too dangerous, and I never played basketball because I still can't dribble a ball to this day."

Since ice was at a premium, his dad would take him to clinics before school at 5 a.m. on Friday mornings.

"My dad was always there," Snavely said. "It wasn't long before he figured that if I was going to learn, he might as well learn too since I didn't really have anyone else to go with."

Soon after, life around the rink became a family affair for the Snavelys. The entire family - Chris, his mom, dad and two brothers - would gather at the rink on Saturdays and Sundays to go to public skating together. The father-son combination of Chris and his dad began devoting their entire weekends to skating, frequently making the hour-and-a-half trip north to a rink in Delaware to take power-skating classes.

"When we went to those power-skating classes, we would always just make a night out of it and stop for a crab dinner on the way home. I would look forward to the weekend just for that," Snavely said.

By the time he was 10, Snavely needed a bit more competition than what the league at the old warehouse offered, so he began making the hour-long journey to Hershey, Pa., to play. Since his parents worked, one of his grandfathers would pick him up from school early twice a week to make it to practice on time.

While playing peewees in Chocolate Town U.S.A., Snavely was first introduced to playing defense by Doug Yingst, the 25-year president and general manager of the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears.

"Coach Yingst said I should give defense a try, and I didn't care where I played, I just wanted to be on the ice," Snavely said. "Besides playing forward a few times while at MSU, I have played defense ever since.

It was neat playing for that team because we used play before the Bears, then we would get to go down to the locker room after the game. We were all kind of star struck."

Snavely's time in Hershey helped him transition to a more elite level of hockey. But, his development was temporarily set back 15 games into his Junior B season as a 15-year-old, when he broke his humerous (upper arm). Upon healing, Snavely and one of his teammates decided to try out for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League.

"My family and I had no idea about junior hockey," Snavely said. "I actually got cut in the first round of cuts on my first try, and I had never been cut before so I knew it was the real deal. The next year, I got a letter where I didn't actually have to tryout for the team."

As a 16-year-old, all the elite junior teams were vying for Snavely's services on the blue line. After doing their research, Snavely and his parents decided on Cedar Rapids as opposed to a team like Little Caesars because of the expense factor.

Upon arriving in Cedar Rapids, the 5-8, 175-pound Snavely learned his first defensive partner would be Kurt Sauer, a 6-4, 225-pound d-man who now plies his trade on the blue line of the National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche.

"The guy was huge," Snavely said. "Kurt said `just go play your game, and if you need anything just yell'. I didn't think anything of it until a couple years later when he was playing in the NHL."

Snavely admits he really didn't know much about the sport until arriving in the USHL. He had always relied on talent and speed, not knowing the work that went into being an elite hockey player.

"I don't think I ever lifted a weight until I got there, I just didn't know that was part of the deal," Snavely said. "I thought you just practiced once a week and played on Saturday and Sunday. I didn't know much about hockey until I got out there."

Most of his junior hockey career was devoted to getting stronger and faster. Snavely became a regular in the RoughRider weight room, and spent considerable time working on his foot speed.

"I figured if I could get there before anyone else did, size wouldn't be an issue," Snavely said. "I always tried to model my game after (New Jersey Devil's defenseman) Brian Rafalski because he proves that someone who is small, and plays juniors and college hockey can make it. At every single level I have played, people have said I was too small."

Four years after traveling 14 hours from home to play junior hockey on a whim, Snavely left Cedar Rapids as the all-time franchise leader in games played. He lived with four different families while in the Midwest, and is still close with one of the families, going back to visit them each summer.

Snavely, his RoughRider, and later Spartan, and teammate Tyler Howells first heard from Michigan State following a game in Chicago. Shortly following the meeting, the two friends took an official visit to East Lansing.

"When Howie and I came to campus, it was the wow factor with everything - from the pictures outside the locker room to the Clara Bell Smith Center," Snavely said. "We decided that if we were going to do it, it was going to be together. We both signed to come to MSU that day."

Snavely has continued to prove people wrong about his size while at Michigan State, playing an average of 35 games over his first three years for the Green and White, and stepping into a regular role when injuries plagued the Spartan defensive corps during the first half of the 2006-07 campaign.

As a senior, Snavely is beginning to look at what life will be like after leaving MSU. He would love to play as long as possible, and has also thought about trying his hand at coaching as well.

"Growing up playing with so many coaches, you see different styles and you see what works and what doesn't in teaching and motivating players," Snavely said.

Eventually, Snavely hopes to become the eighth generation to run J.C. Snavely and Sons, a family building materials business that has been around since 1878.

"I want to run the business someday, but since I have gotten this far, I figure I owe it to myself to play as long as I can before I hit the lumber yard."