A HOCKEY FAMILY: REMEMBERING MARK BAVIS 24 YEARS LATER

By Brendan Reilly

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – Twenty-four years ago today, the Stingrays and hockey community lost an important member of their family, Mark Bavis. Working as an Amateur Scout for the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, Bavis was on United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles. At 9:03 a.m., the plane hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center, killing all 56 passengers and nine crew members aboard. 

Mark and his twin brother, Mike Bavis, grew up in Roslindale, Mass, a neighborhood in Boston. In the 1970s, the Boston Bruins won two Stanley Cups and featured one of hockey’s greatest players of all time, Bobby Orr. The Bavis brothers, like so many kids at that time, fell in love with hockey. 

“Hockey in Boston was such an integral part of everybody's lives,” Mike Bavis said. “The Bruins were everything to young kids, we all loved it. We played on our town teams, and we’re out in the street playing street hockey. Boston has such a strong hockey culture because it was just such a part of the city fabric that so many kids, and us, were born into.”

That love for hockey at a young age never went away for Mark and Mike. The brothers had dreams of continuing their hockey careers. When they started as freshman at Catholic Memorial High School in Boston, they saw dreams turn into realities for upperclassmen being drafted or heading to NCAA Division I schools. Their teammates' success spurred them on. 

“You play hard and you compete, and you hope it leads to something,” Bavis said. “Living in that moment, watching these other guys, your teammates, get those opportunities, you hope if you play hard enough, you compete hard enough, and if you win enough it would lead to something and we were lucky it did.”

Both brothers went to Boston University (BU) to continue their careers playing for legendary head coach, Jack Parker. In their four seasons at BU, the Terriers made the NCAA Tournament every year and reached the NCAA National Championship game in 1991. The Terriers also won three Beanpot championships, the annual tournament between Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern and Harvard. 

Mark and Mike turned pro in 1993 and joined the Stingrays in 1994. In the 1994-95 season, the two combined for 58 points helping the Stingrays capture their first South Division title. Mark would play for the Stingrays the following year and helped South Carolina reach the playoffs for a third straight season. 

“Mike and Mark were both an integral part of the Stingrays organization during its early years,” Stingrays President Rob Concannon said. “Their character and dedication were always evident both on the ice and throughout the Charleston community. Like many former players, Charleston held a special place in their hearts.”

Concannon grew up playing hockey with the Bavis twins in Boston on a youth hockey team of kids whose fathers were police officers in the Boston area. Years later, it was the brothers who convinced Concannon to come to the Stingrays. 

“It was Mark and Mike who encouraged me to continue playing hockey in Charleston,” Concannon said. “I had the privilege of playing alongside Mark during my first season with the Stingrays in 1995-96. Even after Mark’s playing days were over, he remained closely connected to the team. He would often visit Charleston and regularly check in on the Stingrays’ progress and, of course, the weather.”

Following his playing career, Mark went on to become an Assistant Coach at Harvard University before working for the L.A. Kings from 1999 to 2001. The Stingrays inducted him into their inaugural Hall of Fame class in 2003 and retired his No. 12 jersey, forever immortalized in Stingrays history.

After retiring, Mike kept many connections to the Stingrays through former teammates and friends. He went on to become an assistant coach at BU in 1998 until 2009, where he was elevated to Associate Head Coach. Bavis now has a new connection to the Stingrays organization, one of his former players at BU, Stingrays Head Coach, Dave Warsofsky.

Warsofsky and Bavis were at BU together from 2008 to 2011. The two won a Beanpot, a Hockey East Championship and the 2009 NCAA National Championship, the fifth national title in Boston University Men’s Hockey history. Warsofsky still remembers the type of coach and person Bavis was. 

“He was a players coach, always willing to give you a good laugh,” Warsofsky said. “With Jack Parker there, Jack was a little bit older but was a serious and old-school style of coach where Mike was a little bit younger, youthful and kind of bringing that new youthful dynamic to the locker room.”

They shared memories together while at BU and both saw similar paths in their hockey career, starting from the Boston area, to playing college hockey at BU, to the professional ranks, and to the Stingrays. Despite being an international game, the game of hockey has a way of keeping people close.

“There's connections with everyone,” Warsofsky added. “If you look around all of hockey, there's obviously a lot of players, a lot of coaches, but it's a very small hockey world.”

“I know it's played all over the world, but it's just these little connections here and there just shows how close this community is,” Bavis said. “Some of the best memories I have is reconnecting with those guys. There is that connection that the game just provides.”

The hockey community comes even closer when mourning one of their own as the Stingrays family and hockey world remembers Mark Bavis. 

“Mark was a tireless worker on the ice and genuinely loved engaging with the fans,” Concannon said. “We will always remember his infectious smile, and he will forever be a cherished part of Stingrays hockey today, and every day.”

The Bavis Family now continues to make a difference helping people follow their dreams. The family established the Mark Bavis Leadership Foundation in Mark’s memory allowing deserving young men and women to enjoy opportunities and experiences similar to those which contributed to the person Mark was, determined to create something good and lasting out of tragedy. 

Stingrays fans can support the Mark Bavis Leadership Foundation at this link.