When Hockey Returned: Remembering 9/11 and the 2001–02 Season
The 2001–02 hockey season was supposed to begin like every other season. Training camps were opening, roster battles were underway, and teams were preparing for another long pursuit of the Stanley Cup. Then, on the morning of September 11, 2001, everything changed.
The terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania took nearly 3,000 lives and left an entire continent grieving. Hockey suddenly felt small and unimportant. Practices and preseason games were postponed, travel plans were disrupted, and players from around the world struggled to understand the images appearing on television. Yet when the sport eventually returned, hockey also became one of the places where people gathered to mourn, remember and begin healing together.
The Hockey World Lost Two of Its Own
The tragedy touched the Los Angeles Kings directly.
Garnet “Ace” Bailey, the Kings’ director of professional scouting, and amateur scout Mark Bavis were passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 175, which was hijacked after leaving Boston and flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. They had been traveling from Boston to Los Angeles after visiting the Manchester Monarchs, the Kings’ American Hockey League affiliate in New Hampshire.
Bailey was 53 years old and had spent much of his life in hockey. He played 568 NHL games and won the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 1972. He later became a scout and was part of five Edmonton Oilers championship organizations during their dynasty years. Bailey was known throughout the hockey community for his humor, warmth and ability to make people feel welcome.
Bavis was only 31. A Roslindale, Massachusetts, native, he played at Boston University before beginning a professional career that included time in the American Hockey League and ECHL. After his playing career, he moved into coaching and scouting. He was still building his life in hockey when it was taken from him.
Throughout the 2001–02 season, the Kings wore an “AM” jersey patch in honor of Ace and Mark. The two men were not remembered simply as employees of an NHL organization. They were remembered as sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, teammates, mentors and friends.
Their influence continued long after that season. The Ace Bailey Children’s Foundation has supported hospitalized children and their families, while the Mark Bavis Leadership Foundation has provided scholarships and opportunities to young people. Their names remain together at the National September 11 Memorial in New York.
When the Kings won the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history in 2012, the organization brought the Cup to the memorial. Bailey and Bavis were finally given their day with hockey’s greatest trophy.
A Season Marked by Remembrance
The NHL regular season began on October 3, just 22 days after the attacks. Every team carried the memory of September 11 onto the ice.
Players wore commemorative patches on their jerseys and ribbon decals on their helmets. American arenas displayed red, white and blue ribbons behind the nets, while Canadian arenas used red and white ribbons. Moments of silence, patriotic ceremonies and tributes to victims and first responders became part of the opening weeks of the season.
One of the most memorable moments occurred before the regular season even began. On September 20, the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers were tied 2–2 after two periods of a preseason game in Philadelphia. During the second intermission, President George W. Bush’s address to Congress was shown on the arena video board.
The players never returned for the third period.
Instead, nearly 20,000 people remained in their seats and watched the speech together. When it ended, the Flyers and Rangers formed a handshake line at center ice—a tradition normally reserved for the conclusion of a playoff series. For one night, rivalry and competition no longer mattered.
The game was recorded as a tie, but the score was irrelevant.
Hockey Returns to New York
On October 7, Madison Square Garden hosted its first major professional sporting event in Manhattan after the attacks. The Rangers faced the Buffalo Sabres, but the evening was about far more than the standings.
Both teams wore special jerseys bearing the word “New York” across the front. The Sabres set aside their normal identity to stand with another team, another city and another group of people who were hurting. The jerseys were later auctioned to benefit victims and their families.
The Rangers won 5–4 in overtime, but the lasting image was not the winning goal. It was two opponents representing the same state and standing together for the same cause.
Throughout the league, teams honored police officers, firefighters, emergency personnel and members of the armed forces. The Philadelphia Flyers wore FDNY, American flag and NYPD patches on special jerseys that were auctioned to support the NHL’s Twin Towers Fund. Players visited Ground Zero, met grieving families and used their platforms to raise money for those affected.
Hockey could not erase the pain. It could, however, provide a place for people to stand beside one another.
A Different Kind of Hockey Season
The 2001–02 season eventually produced familiar hockey stories. Jarome Iginla led the NHL in scoring. José Théodore won the Hart Trophy. The Detroit Red Wings, filled with future Hall of Fame players, defeated the Carolina Hurricanes to win the Stanley Cup.
But that season carried a weight that statistics cannot fully explain.
Every flight, road trip and large public gathering felt different. Security increased. Patriotism became more visible. Canadian, American and European players stood together during ceremonies honoring victims from many countries. Fans who ordinarily argued over teams found themselves united by grief.
The season reminded everyone that the people beneath the uniforms were part of families and communities. Players were not removed from the fear and sadness felt by the rest of the world. Coaches, scouts, trainers, arena employees and supporters were all affected.
That may have been hockey’s most important contribution during those months. It offered familiarity at a time when life no longer felt familiar.
A scheduled game gave families somewhere to go. A moment of silence allowed thousands of people to grieve together. A national anthem provided a release for emotions that were difficult to express. A handshake between rivals showed that competition could be paused when humanity demanded something greater.
What the Hockey World Should Remember
More than two decades later, many young players know September 11 only as a chapter in a history book. They did not see the smoke over Manhattan, watch families searching for loved ones or experience the uncertainty that followed. They also did not witness how communities responded.
That makes remembrance even more important.
The lesson for hockey is not simply that a season continued after tragedy. It is that the sport revealed what it can be at its best. Teams became communities. Rivals became neighbors. Players used their visibility to serve others. Fans filled arenas not only to cheer, but also to mourn and find strength in one another.
We remember Garnet “Ace” Bailey and Mark Bavis.
We remember the first responders who ran toward danger, the families who waited for news, and every innocent life taken that morning.
We remember a hockey season in which wins, losses and standings briefly gave way to something more important.
On September 11, we pause. We reflect. We honor those who were lost—and we remember that even in our darkest moments, no one should have to stand alone.
