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23 Years Later – Remembering Ace & Mark, Forever LA Kings

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A day that many of us will never forget. A day with some of the most tragic history within the Los Angeles Kings organization. A day for us to focus on remembrance.

On this day, 23 years ago, two members of the LA Kings scouting staff – Garnet “Ace” Bailey and Mark Bavis – were among those who tragically lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Both men were on United Airlines Flight 175 out of Boston, which was heading to Los Angeles but was tragically hijacked on route, ending the lives and careers of two men who will forever be remembered within the Kings organization. A day that we will remember as a country and a day that we’ll remember with the LA Kings organization.

Bailey, who was 53, was entering his eighth season as the Director of Professional Scouting for the Kings. Bailey won seven Stanley Cups – two as a player and five as a scout – as a part of 33 seasons at the NHL level, between his playing and scouting careers. Bailey had been a part of six different NHL organizations at the time of his death.

Bavis, who was 31, was entering his second season with the Kings as a professional scout. The Kings were Bavis’ first NHL organization, after he had spent time as a coach with Harvard University and Brown University, as well as the Chicago Freeze of the NAHL. Bavis played three seasons professionally in the AHL and ECHL following a four-season career at Boston University and was selected in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers.

In honor of Ace and Mark’s respective legacies, providing links to the Mark Bavis Leadership Foundation (LINK HERE) or Ace’s Place (LINK HERE), located at the Tufts Medical Center in Boston.

The Mark Bavis Leadership Foundation was established by family and friends of Mark Bavis to preserve his memory and to perpetuate the principles by which he lived every day, through which he touched many lives. The foundation provides selected recipients with annual grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 to be used as specifically requested for school tuition, summer programs and other appropriate extracurricular activities. The Mark Bavis Leadership Foundation raised more than $400,000 since its inception and awarded nine scholarships in 2023.

Known as Ace’s Place, the playroom in the Pediatric Emergency Department at Tufts Medical Center has been renovated thanks to the generosity of the Ace Bailey Children’s Foundation. KPTI accepts gifts of toys, hospital dolls, blankets, CDs and DVDs for the children to use in the playroom. For those who are not well enough to go to Ace’s Place, child life specialists bring toys and diversions to the patient’s bedside. More information is available HERE.

Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images

Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images

Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images

Courtesy Rich Hammond, LA Kings

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