Somber Scouting Mission for Kings

Dressed to ward off the winter chill on a bright, clear day in lower Manhattan, their hearts in their throats, the Kings stood rapt Tuesday at the site of the World Trade Center tragedy.

John P. Codiglia, a deputy inspector for the New York Police Department and their guide for the day, detailed the events of Sept. 11 and the aftermath. He told them of the recent discovery of the badly decomposed body of a fallen comrade.

Still dressed in police blues, Codiglia said, the officer had been decapitated.

Veteran winger Steve Heinze closed his eyes and bowed his head.

Directly affected by the terrorist acts, which claimed the lives of two of their scouts, the Kings spent part of their day at ground zero and seemed overwhelmed by the death and destruction.

They stopped at the impromptu memorials that surround the site, quietly reading the messages and viewing the cards, flowers and other keepsakes that have been left there, and they climbed a private platform that overlooks what is now a 16-acre pit.

Though the mood was mostly somber--voices tend to fall silent here--a few players schmoozed with police, who jokingly asked them to take it easy on their beloved New York Rangers in tonight’s game at Madison Square Garden.

Garnett “Ace” Bailey and Mark Bavis were not eulogized at the site of their deaths, but the late scouts seemed to be on everybody’s mind.

Assistant coach Ray Bennett, who’d brought a bottle of ice shavings from Staples Center, sprinkled them onto the site as a memorial, an act of remembrance suggested to him by Bill Gurney, the Kings’ video coordinator.

“Bill said they were trying to get to us [when they died],” Bennett said of the scouts, “so we took a little bit of Staples Center to them.”

Bailey, for seven years the Kings’ director of pro scouting, and Bavis, an amateur scout in his second season with the club, were en route to Los Angeles when their hijacked flight from Boston was crashed into the center’s south tower.

Kelly Buchberger, who started his career with the Edmonton Oilers, knew Bailey better than many of his teammates. Bailey, a former NHL player, helped the Oilers to five Stanley Cup championships as an advance scout.

“He was such a great man and very well-liked by everybody,” Buchberger said. “It’s really hard to talk about it. When I was reading some of the messages that young kids have left for their dads....

“You don’t want to experience that again.”

For most of the Kings, the visit was a time of quiet reflection.

“It’s just disturbing,” said a subdued Mathieu Schneider, a native New Yorker and usually the most loquacious of Kings. “The whole thing is really incredible. It’s nice to pay respects, but it’s hard. It’s hard.”

After a morning practice in Montclair, N.J., the Kings bused into Manhattan early in the afternoon, a police escort ushering them the last 30 blocks or so and onto the periphery of the site. None in the traveling party of about 45--players, coaches and broadcasters--had much to say as they filed off the bus, or during their hour visit.

They thought they needed to be there, though, no matter the pain. Patches and stickers commemorating Bailey and Bavis were left for the cleanup crew, and some of the officers who escorted them will be the Kings’ guests at tonight’s game.

“It’s more a responsibility coming down here, given the fact that we lost Ace and Mark,” Bryan Smolinski said. “But if anyone has a chance to come down to see what’s going on, they should do it.

“Obviously, it’s not the same as it was a couple months ago. It looks like a big excavation site. But once you see all the memorials and start putting the names and faces together and realize all the people that are missing and see all the heart and soul that’s going into cleaning up, it’s pretty tough.”

Said Coach Andy Murray, “We’ve seen enough pictures on television to know what to expect, but you become totally aware of the magnitude when you’re here. You see the pictures, hear the stories. I thought the police officer did a great job of explaining things. Coming here was important.”

Jamie Storr thought so too.

“We saw it on television, we saw what happened,” the backup goaltender said. “But to actually be in the place where it happened, it really hits home. It makes it more real. You realize all the people that gave up their lives.”

Hatless Tuesday, Storr had worn an “FDNY” baseball cap during Monday night’s 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils at East Rutherford, N.J.

“Anything I can do to show respect,” he said. “It’s not just a cap to me. It’s something that allows me to show respect.”

Tuesday’s visit was another.