September 11, 2001 is a day that no American will ever forget. And for the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings, they did not forget two of their own.
Scouts Ace Bailey and Mark Beavis were two of the thousands of lives lost on that day, when their United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the World Trade Center. The scouts were en route from Boston to Los Angeles for Kings training camp. In an ironic twist, current Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau at the time was the head coach of the top farm club Manchester Monarchs and was supposed to be on that flight but he and Bobby Jay moved their travel plans to the day before due to a scheduled dinner by Kings coach Andy Murray. Boudreau and Bailey were dear friends and among the tributes the Kings have done since 2001 was renaming their mascot “Ace”.
From a post today at Pro Hockey Talk, the Cup visited the World Trade Center memorial in New York and was accompanied by members of both families. The Kings and the Hockey Hall of Fame arranged the visit. Kings GM Dean Lombardi was also in attendance. The photos are courtesy of Philip “Keeper of the Cup” Pritchard’s Twitter account.
