Loss of Bavis Hits Draft Picks Hard

They are college kids in the Midwest and professional hockey prospects, seemingly far removed from Tuesday’s terrorist attacks.

But for Ohio State sophomore David Steckel and Michigan junior Mike Cammalleri, as with everybody else involved in the King organization, the tragedy hit close to home. Ace Bailey, the Kings’ director of pro scouting, and Mark Bavis, who has been described as Bailey’s protege, were killed aboard a hijacked airliner that was deliberately crashed into the south tower of New York’s World Trade Center.

It was on Bavis’ recommendation that the Kings selected Steckel and Cammalleri in this summer’s NHL entry draft. King Coach Andy Murray told reporters this week that Bavis drew high-fives and handshakes all around from his fellow King scouts on June 23 in Sunrise, Fla., when the team selected two of his guys.

Steckel, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound center from West Bend, Wis., was a first-round choice, taken with the 30th pick overall, a selection acquired by the Kings in the February trade that sent Rob Blake to the Colorado Avalanche.

Cammalleri, a 5-9, 180-pound center from Richmond Hill, Canada, was a second-round choice, selected with the 49th pick overall.

Neither is at training camp with the Kings as they continue their college careers, but they don’t have to be in El Segundo to feel the pain.

“Mark was a great guy to me,” Cammalleri said from Ann Arbor, Mich. “I have only good things to say about him. He was extremely generous, an extremely warm guy to be around. He seemed like the kind of guy that everybody wanted to be around, just a very attractive personality and real genuine.

“So I started thinking about him. It was really upsetting to find out that he was on that plane. Wild thoughts run through your mind about what could have been happening on that plane.”

Bavis, 31, of West Newton, Mass., about to begin his second season as an amateur scout for the Kings, and Bailey, 53, of Lynnfield, Mass., were en route to training camp when United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston was hijacked.

Steckel got the news from a family advisor who called Tuesday. “I just talked to Mark a month or so ago,” Steckel said from Columbus, Ohio, “so it came as a shock, like everything else this week. Ever since the first time he came down here to talk to me, he kept his eye on me ....

“He’s pretty much the only guy I talked to in the Kings’ organization, and I thank him so much for believing in me. He’s the guy who got me there, so everything I do [in the NHL], I’ll remember he’s the guy who got me started.”

Cammalleri said that he too will always feel linked to Bavis.

“I definitely thought about that,” he said. “It’s something that will never be forgotten in that organization. I’m sure he’ll hold a special place in everyone’s heart that’s ever going to be involved in the organization.”

Bavis’ family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Mark Bavis Scholarship Fund, c/o Catholic Memorial High School, 235 Baker St., West Roxbury, MA 02132.

A funeral mass for Bavis will be held Wednesday in Roslindale, Mass., and a public memorial for Bailey is scheduled for Friday in Boston. His family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Neely Foundation, 30 Winter St., 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02108.