Garnet “Ace” Bailey and Mark Bavis had decidedly different careers on the ice.
Despite their career paths up to the fateful moment that they boarded United Airlines Flight 175, from Boston to Los Angeles, on the morning of September 11, 2001, that morning they were focused on the same goal: improving the on-ice product of their employer, the Los Angeles Kings.
Different on-ice careers indeed.
Bavis, from the Boston suburb of Roslindale, was talented, but never made it big on the ice. He was the ninth round pick, 181st overall, by the New York Rangers in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft.
His professional career as a left wing saw him play 77 games in the American Hockey League for the Fredericton Canadiens and Providence Bruins. His other pro club was the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL, where Mark played a total of 87 regular season games.
Prior to his three pro seasons, Mark played his collegiate hockey at Boston University. After his pro career, he was a member of the coaching staff of Harvard in the ECAC.
Garnet “Ace” Bailey played a solid, 13 season pro career.
He won two Stanley Cups with the Boston Bruins of the early 1970s. He would later win five more as a pro scout for the Edmonton Oilers.
His link to the AHL came in the 1968-69 campaign. It was his only season in the AHL, and in 60 regular season games, Bailey scored 24 goals and added 32 assists for 56 points. His big success came in the playoffs when in nine games, Ace went 4-10-14, leading the Bears in playoff scoring en route to the Bears winning the Calder Cup.
All told, he played in 568 NHL games and added 38 WHA games to his major league total. Capped by those eight championships, three as a player, Bailey made the most of a lengthy career.
After their passing, foundations were established by their survivors.
From the AHL:
The work of the Ace Bailey Children’s Foundation focuses on the well-being of children undergoing medical treatment by establishing and improving programs, environments and professional services at the Floating Hospital for Children, an arm of the Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston.
For more information, visit the Ace Bailey Children’s Foundation Web site at www.acebailey.org.
The Mark Bavis Leadership Foundation was created to perpetuate the principles by which Bavis lived every day, and through which he touched the lives of many. The foundation will provide selected young men and women with annual grants to be used for school tuition, summer programs and other appropriate extracurricular activities.
For more information, visit www.markbavisleadershipfoundation.org.