Bailey, Bavis remembered ten years later

ORLANDO, FLA – This Sunday marks the tenth anniversary of one of the darkest days the United States and for that matter the world has ever experienced. September 11, 2001. Just the mention of the date stirs a wide array of emotions – emotions that were revisited earlier this year when Navy SEAL Team Six served its form of ultimate justice on Osama Bin Laden.
More than 3,000 people lost their lives in the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the crash of United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. The images broadcast across the planet, especially those of the collapse of both WTC towers, were both mesmerizing and horrific as people watched the world change before their eyes.
The hockey world suffered its own loss on that fateful day as two members of the Los Angeles Kings scouting staff perished when United Flight 175 slammed into the South tower at 9:02 a.m. Although the loss was felt greatly in LA, it was even worse in Boston because Garnet “Ace” Bailey and Mark Bavis were big parts of the New England and Massachusetts hockey community.
Bailey may have been born in Canada but once he stepped foot on the ice at the old Boston Garden during the 1968-1969 season, he became one with the

hard-working fans of New England. His first NHL goal came against Toronto and his teammates immediately nicknamed him “Ace” after former Maple Leaf star Irvin “Ace” Bailey who had a near fatal run-in with Bruins Hall of Fame defenseman Eddie Shore in 1933.
He became a full-time Bruin the following year, at which time the team’s official guide said of Bailey:
“He made an instantaneous hit with Bruins fans last November when called up from Hershey for a couple of games and immediately began knocking down Chicago and Philadelphia players.”
That 1969-1970 season should have been a happy one for Bailey but on March 7th in Philadelphia, he broke an ankle which ended his season and the opportunity to be in uniform when Boston won its first Stanley Cup in 29 years. He would see the ice during Boston’s Stanley Cup run in 1971-1972, playing in 13 playoff games that year before beginning a three-team, six-year odyssey before playing his final NHL game in 1978.
After finally putting the skates in the closet following the 1980-1981 season, Bailey found his second career as a scout with the Edmonton Oilers. He was a part of five more Cup winners and had his name engraved on the trophy three more times. He was director of pro scouting for the Kings and living in Lynnfield, MA when he boarded Flight 175.
Bavis, who was 31 at the time of his passing, never found the amount of pro success that his boss Ace Bailey had but then he didn’t have to. Born and raised in the suburbs of Boston, Mark made his mark on Boston hockey under the watchful eye of legendary Boston University coach Jack Parker.
Mark and his brother Mike helped the Terriers maintain a spot among the elite college hockey programs in NCAA Division 1. “The Bavi”,as Coach Parker referred to the brothers, were a top notch penalty killing duo thanks to their defensive skills, determination and hockey smarts.
Following three pro seasons which included two short stints with the Bruins’ AHL affiliate in Providence, Bavis turned his attention to coaching the pros of the future. He had two seasons as an assistant coach with BU’s cross-town rival Harvard and spent some time with the Chicago Freeze of the NAHL. His keen knack of evaluating collegiate talent earned him the opportunity to work for Los Angeles as a scout.
The void left by the deaths of Bailey and Bavis shook the Boston hockey community. People who knew the pair personally were devastated. Even those who only knew the names felt the loss.
One of those in the latter category was a young hockey player from the western part of Massachusetts, Charlton to be exact. Mike Fournier never saw Bailey play live and was just eleven when Bavis finished his college career. Still, he felt as if he knew them as if the three had all played together.
“The Massachusetts hockey community is very tight knit. Everybody knows everybody in and around the Massachusetts area. Massachusetts people take a lot of pride in our professional and college sports,” Fournier said. “It is not rare that a sports fan will call an athlete by their first name or their nickname. It is almost like we know each athlete on a personal basis.”
On September 11, 2001, Fournier was preparing for the upcoming season, a year that would see him play in both the MJAHL (43 games with the Summerside Western Capitals) and the ECHL (one game with the Jackson Bandits). He said that the events of that day really set in for him when he heard that Bailey and Bavis had perished. It also left him a little confused about what to do, something that as a hockey player was contrary to everything he knew.
“When I heard the news of Ace Bailey and Mark Bavis dying, it hurt a little bit more. Not only did they live in the Boston area and represent Boston very well,they were also hockey players,” he said. “Hockey players stand up for one another regardless of the situation and not knowing what to do in this scenario cut a little deeper. I have not made peace with the attacks that happened on 9/11.”
As his minor league career came to a close, Fournier began to think about what he would do next. When he did retire, he chose to join the Air Force as his brother Tim had done before him. The reasons for enlisting were many but in the end it came down to an athlete’s mentality.
“What prompted me to enlist was a bunch of factors but I think the main reason was to be a part of something great, being a part of the world’s most powerful and greatest Air Force, “ he said. “Who doesn’t want to be on the best team?”
Tim Fournier served with the 101st Airborne Screaming Eagles in Tikrit, Iraq at the start of the Iraq campaign. Mike had the good fortune to be assigned to Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, MA. Presently he proudly serves as an Air Force Airman on a specialized joint task force counter-IED (improvised explosive devices) unit in Iraq as the campaign is drawing to a close.
Fournier said that his overseas duties, although dangerous in nature, have given him the sense of purpose he has been seeking since that horrendous day in 2001.
“I now wake up every morning, lace up my boots, put on my uniform, strap on my weapon, find my game face and go to work each morning with the intention of making a difference and representing my home,” he said.
The legacies of Ace Bailey and Mark Bavis are rooted in foundations in their names. The Ace Bailey Children’s Foundation raises money to benefit hospitalized children, infants and their families. The Mark Bavis Leadership Foundation grants funds to deserving students who embody Mark’s drive and desire to make a difference in the world. Bailey’s name also lives on as it was the name given to the LA Kings regal lion mascot.
Airman Mike Fournier is also leaving a legacy. His is a legacy of a world where people can live free of oppression and fear, where death is not hiding around every corner. It is about a better future, the tie that all three of these hockey brothers share.
It is why we should never forget.
For more information on the Ace Bailey Children’s Foundation, please visit www.acebailey.org .
For more information on the Mark Bavis Leadership Foundation, please visit www.markbavisleadershipfoundation.org .
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com