Whether In NHL Or AHL, Snively Not Taking Anything For Granted

Editor's Note: Joe Snively was recalled by the Washington Capitals Tuesday shortly after this story was ready to be published.

HERSHEY, Pa. - Joe Snively is at that point in his career where he's still modeling his game off of other players but also starting to leave his own footprints for others to follow.

"Connor Sheary is the guy I looked up to, a smaller player, undrafted. He's had so much success and is agile," Snively said. "I don't know if I'm that role model yet."

Paving the way for others or not, Snively, who played at Yale for four years before signing an AHL contract with the Bears after going undrafted, is making the opposition pay for not drafting him. Now in his fourth full season as a professional, Snively has amassed 102 points in the AHL (42G, 58A) in 139 games with the Bears.

"Yeah, it's a cool milestone and to get all those points with this Bears team has been great," said Snively, noting that he was not aware of that prior to his assist on Mike Vecchione’s second period goal last Friday against Toronto.

His play on the ice has landed him on the top line with the "Mikes" - Sgarbossa and Vecchione.

"Yeah, I love playing with Veccs and Sgarbs. In fact, I have a lot of chemistry with them," Snively said, adding, "I played with Sgarbs for I think this is my fourth year now. I mean, I played on his line I think about every year. So I'm back now; he's playing on the wing. So I've been able to play with them both. They're both really great players. And we have a lot of fun playing together."

Another place the Herndon, VA native has had fun playing over two seasons is in Washington, where he recorded four goals and three assists in 12 games last year and has one goal and two assists in eight games so far this year.

"Yeah, kinda. I think it's been really fun to play those games and, like, you never take a shift for granted when you're playing there and just looking to earn more games," Snively reflected.

While each recall is special, his first NHL call up last season was incredibly memorable as his family, especially his dad who shared season tickets to the Capitals, was able to share in that special moment

"It was cool to have family and friends there [at the first one], and even most of the home games my parents come, my friends come, so it's pretty special playing in your hometown," Snively began. "Yeah, my parents are my biggest supporters. Really sounds cliche, but I wouldn't be where I am today. They sacrificed a lot and gave me a lot of opportunities to play hockey, among other things. So I'm very, very appreciative."

And while he was returned to Hershey both last season and this season, the back and forth nature of the game does not seem to bother Snively.

"Yeah, kinda just get to that point you go down, and you keep working," he said. "You got to keep your your mind on short term goals and just keep building and growing as a player and then while I'm here (in Hershey), trying to contribute to the team; we have a great team here and we're on our way, we're trying to win a championship."

That championship hunt took a bit of a detour of late as the team has had four contests against the top two teams in the East and have only come out on the winning side of one - last Friday against Toronto.

"Toronto is a great team, so it was a good victory," Snively said on March 4 after Hershey's first of three straight losses to Providence. "[Saturday against Providence], it was a grindy game. I thought we played well, just missing that last extra play to score a goal. And I think the power play is gonna be pretty big against that team. You're gonna get some goals on the power play."

Ahead of the pair of games in Providence, Snively was looking forward to spending some time with his teammates, although, perhaps minus the travel woes that have befallen Hershey last year trying to come home from Charlotte and earlier this season after their bus broke down on the way to Utica.

"Yeah, I don't know exactly what the schedule is, but I assume we're gonna get there a day early. It's always fun to go to dinner with the guys, and play cards on the bus. We have a really close group here. A lot of guys have played together for a few years and the guys that have come in this year fit right in," Snively said.

One of those "new" guys is Ethen Frank.

Ironically, Frank’s career is taking a similar trajectory as Snively’s. Undrafted after spending four years in college, Frank just inked his first NHL contract with the Capitals.

But in Snively’s mind, the two are very different.

"I'm not anywhere close as fast as Ethen,” Snively laughed. "I mean, like, every year, there's gonna be new players coming in, and I think that's just kind of the process of the AHL - guys, come in, they develop, move on to the next level or not. You meet a lot of great players and people playing here."

Of course, whether playing with those great players in Hershey with eyes on a deep Calder Cup run or returning to Washington on recall, one thing is sure with Joe Snively - you're going to get 100% effort on every shift no matter the situation because he doesn't take a moment for granted.