A Tribute to Garnet “Ace” Bailey

Twelve years ago, millions of Americans’ lives were drastically altered as terrorists launched an attack, killing nearly three thousand people.

On UAL Flight 175 were two hockey scouts, Mark Bavis and Garnet “Ace” Bailey. At the time, they were pro scouts for the Los Angeles Kings but they were known far and wide within the hockey community.

There are about a zillion tributes out there to both men (links to follow) and there have been programs and foundations created in their honor.

In the photo above, Dean Lombardi brought the Stanley Cup to the WTC Memorial as a tribute to Mark and Ace. Helene Elliott of the LA Times wrote a great article about the gesture made by the Kings’ GM in 2012 shortly after the Kings had won their first Cup in franchise history. You can find the article here: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/15/sports/la-sp-sn-kings-nhl-acebailey-mark-bavis20121015

As I mentioned earlier, there are many great stories that people who were close to the Baileys and Bavises have shared throughout the past 12 years. In my own personal opinion, I think the best tribute the Kings have made to their head of pro scouting is to name their mascot after him. Before you think I’m being funny or trying to make light of this, I’m totally serious.

Named for Ace Bailey, the Kings’ mascot waves the 2012 Stanley Cup Champion flag

The choice of a lion for mascot is pretty obvious (King of the Jungle). For many long time Kings fans the name Bailey is also pretty obvious. But for those of you who don’t know, it’s a tribute to someone who was highly respected in the organization. I recall a story I was reading about Ace Bailey (I’ll post the link at the end), about what a passion for life the man had. The author makes Ace sound so jovial and talks about his passion for hockey. Below is an excerpt from the story that was written in June 2012 during the Stanley Cup Final:

“He’d laugh and shake his head at Jonathan Quick. That guy is special, Garnet Bailey would surely say, and he’d probably nudge the person sitting next to him with an excitable poke, the kind of poke a kid might give when he’s witnessing something remarkable for the first time, and then Quick would make another save and there’d come another poke from Bailey, and another, and another, because in the eyes of the man everyone called “Ace,” hockey always brought forth the new and amazing.

He’d nod proudly at Jeff Carter, and note with another poke the veteran’s calmness, how he rarely crumbles under the pressure. Oh yes, Bailey’s smile would have brightened Staples Center like a strobe light, because these Los Angeles Kings were his kind of a team, his sort of guys.

They even named the mascot with the scraggly mane in his honor. Bailey the lion prowled the stands Wednesday night, mischievously taunting the New Jersey Devils during Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals. Two nights earlier the mascot had taped cutouts of the cast from the Jersey Shore to the glass behind the visitors’ bench, harmless fun that Ace probably wouldn’t have minded, because he believed hockey always should be played and viewed with wondrous joy.”

Bailey the Mascot is a very beloved part of the Kings’ organization. Adults and children alike look upon him with wondrous joy and unbridled delight. While roaming the hallways of Staples Center, people shout his name; fans stop him and ask for pictures whenever they see him near their seats; autograph sessions are always longer than Bailey has time for. Even celebrities are in love with like him! In short: he’s the most popular guy on the team and he doesn’t even play (that’s not to say, though that he wasn’t The Missing Piece during the Kings’ Cup run)

I won’t pretend that I ever knew Ace or ever had any connection to his family. But I hope that he’s somewhere peaceful, looking down on a team he helped build and was apart of for seven years before tragedy struck. And I hope he is watching the silly mascot with a smile which is named after him. Because while some may be offended or confused by the mascot’s antics, it’s all in good fun.

And that is something I hope Ace Bailey himself would approve of.

Remembering Mark Bavis and Garnet Bailey

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p>Thinking of Ace Bailey, Mark Bavis and everyone we lost 12 years ago. Honor them here: <a href=”http://t.co/AgOwSbHpPp”>http://t.co/AgOwSbHpPp</a> &amp; here: <a href=”http://t.co/m7gzP165tj”>http://t.co/m7gzP165tj</a></p>&mdash; Adam Proteau (@Proteautype) <a href=”https://twitter.com/Proteautype/statuses/377760472147451904″>September 11, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

http://tedstake.monumentalnetwork.com/remembering-ace-bailey-on-this-solemn-day/index.jsp

http://lakingsinsider.com/2013/09/11/mark-and-ace/ The LA Kings Insider posted a great video featuring Bob Miller on a tribute video to Mark and Ace.

http://kings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=682040

http://kings.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=41364

http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/story/2012-06-07/ace-bailey-stanley-cup-finals-la-kings-wayne-gretzky-911-twin-towers-united-flig This is the story I referenced above.

http://www.legacy.com/sept11/Story.aspx?PersonID=91665

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/fallen-kings-scouts-ace-bailey-mark-bavis-still-220130986–nhl.html

http://www.markbavisleadershipfoundation.org/

http://acebailey.org/index.html

Too many articles about Mark and Ace so I selected a few of the most popular and best stories.