They Draw on Ace for Inspiration

Normally, any time Wayne Gretzky and Dave Taylor are anywhere near a center-ice spotlight, all eyes are on them.

But not Thursday night, when the Kings gave a tribute to both Ace Bailey, their director of pro scouting, and Mark Bavis, an amateur scout, who were killed aboard a hijacked airliner that crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.

In a classy pregame ceremonial faceoff before the Kings took on the Phoenix Coyotes, Staples Center fans gave their loudest cheers not for Gretzky nor Taylor, but for Todd Bailey, the 23-year-old son of Ace Bailey.

“At first Todd was a little reluctant to come out,” Taylor, the Kings’ senior vice president and general manager, said of the younger Bailey. “We’re certainly glad that he had a change of heart and decided to come.”

After Bailey dropped the puck, he was given a No. 14 King jersey by Taylor and Gretzky, which is the same number worn by his father when he played in the league.

“We named Todd an honorary captain for the season,” Taylor said. “It was also great to have Gretz join us at center ice. Gretz and Ace were very, very close.”

With Gretzky, who owns the Coyotes, sitting next to former King owner Bruce McNall and current team owner Phil Anschutz sitting in a suite on the other side of the arena, the Kings played the type of game one should expect this season under Coach Andy Murray.

They played well at times in a 2-2 tie with Phoenix, and they also made mistakes. But one thing they did at all times was play hard on both ends of the ice. This is Murray’s team, any way you look at it.

“Andy puts his whole life into it,” defenseman Aaron Miller said. “He is here at the rink all of the time. He wants to win like the rest of us. Players notice that in a coach.”

Murray is so intense on game days, his players really feel he’s with them when they are on the ice.

“You know he would love to play with us but we know he’s not good enough,” Miller added with a smile. “He lets guys play and that’s important for a coach. He knows how to work us and when to back off.”

When Murray told reporters that he wasn’t pleased with power forward Glen Murray’s play during the exhibition season, the message was clear. Whether Glen Murray agreed or not, Coach Murray was telling him that he needed to step up early in the regular season or someone else would be in the lineup.

It didn’t take long for Glen Murray to show his coach that he understood.

With the Kings on their second power play of the first period, Murray used his 6-foot-3, 225-pound body and fought for great position to set up the game’s opening goal.

Murray, who has gained a reputation over the years of not getting the most out of his skills, parked outside the right post and then scored off a nifty pass from winger Steve Heinze, who had set up the play from the edge of the left circle.

It was the type of execution demanded by Andy Murray.

But in the next period, Murray couldn’t have been too pleased when the Kings made two errors that led to goals by the Coyotes.

The first mistake came during a line change, when instead of making sure the puck was cleared, the Kings allowed Phoenix forward Claude Lemieux pick it up and beat goaltender Felix Potvin to tie the score, 1-1.

Not the style of play that made the Kings so successful in their playoff drive last season.

“We played well last season when we took the ice as a desperate team,” forward Ian Laperriere said. “For us to make teams respect us we can’t come out with a soft season. We have to want to keep going. It’s good to have respect but you have to win.... We have to play with a lot of grit and a lot of determination.”

But over the course of an 82-game season, playing mistake-free hockey is impossible. The Kings’ second major error of the game cost them a possible victory. Following an impressive goal by Bryan Smolinski that gave them a 2-1 lead 8:47 into the second period, the Kings got caught with too many men on the ice. A penalty that definitely could have been avoided.

It didn’t take long for the Coyotes to take advantage of the miscue. Daniel Briere tied the score at 2-2 when he was given credit for a power-play goal, which deflected off Norstrom’s stick.