The Athletic Hockey Show - Wayne Gretzky remembers Ace Bailey

Episode Date: September 8, 2021

On this special episode, Dan Robson, senior enterprise writer for The Athletic, talks to the great Wayne Gretzky about his former teammate, friend, and mentor, Ace Bailey, who perished along with nearly three-thousand others on September 11, 2001.Subscribe to The Athletic: http://theathletic.com/hockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey, everybody. Welcome to a special edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. I'm Ian Mendez. Ahead on this podcast, we have an interview with our senior enterprise writer Dan Robson and the greatest player in hockey history, Wayne Gretzky. But this episode will not focus on the Great One's dominance on the ice instead. So we approached the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks later this week. Gretzky opens up to Dan Robson about his relationship with the late great Ace Bailey, who perished along with nearly 3,000. and others in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

So please sit back and listen to this powerful and poignant conversation with Dan Robson and Wayne Gretzky. Wayne, thanks so much for joining us. Yeah, well, it's a pleasure to be here. I wish they weren't under these circumstances, but, you know, it's 20 years now, and I know nobody's forgotten one thing about this tragedy. Ace was incredibly dear to your life, someone who became a friend who had a very young age. Can you tell me this a little bit about how you first got to know Ace and sort of what his influence was in your life at that time?

Well, I signed in the WHA as a 17-year-old and I was sold to Edmonton. And Emerton had that year a little bit of an older hockey club. Glenn Sater wanted to win the last Avco Cup. he really felt that it was important for the Oilers to somehow make a run. And so he had some older players, Paul Schmere, Dave Dryden, Bill Cowboy Flat, Stevie Carlson, Bill Goldsworthy, and of course, Ace. And, you know, right from day one, Ace and Jimmy Nielsen really took me under their wing and treated me in the arena and in the locker room as a teammate, but away from the arena,

they treated me like a 17-year-old. They really went the extra mile to take care of me and look out for me. And Ace was the guy that I seemed to spend countless hours with. He was at the end of his career, wasn't playing a whole lot. And I think he probably got tired of me asking questions about Bobby Orr because him and Bobby, of course, played together in Boston. He probably got tired of me asking questions about Bobby Orr, but we developed quite a relationship.

It was really unique because it was teammates in the locker room and he was more like a father figure to me outside the locker room. Because you were only 17 years old. You were actually still in high school at the time. You were in school in Emmington as a promise to your father, right? Yeah. When I signed, he said the only way he would agree to sign the contract if I stayed in high school until I was 18.

And I said, of course, I would do that. So it was kind of funny, go to class. The Oilers weren't as popular back then. It wasn't as big as obviously as today with the Oilers. The Eskimos were sort of the team in town at that time with, you know, Tom Wilkinson and Warren Moon and Dan Capley and they were winning great cups and drawn 60,000 people a game. So we were sort of the young kids on the block.

So I wasn't overly recognized the whole lot. I would pick up Jimmy Nilsen's daughter, and we were in the same class in high school, and I would go to high school with her and then practice with her dad. So it was kind of a funny situation, but, you know, we made it work. And your roommate was in his early 30s at the time. So you're a 17-year-old kid, and here's a grown man at the end of his career. What was that like just rooming with Ace? What was it like to have him sort of be that guy in the room next to you or beside you

and guiding you in that way? Yeah, he was really funny because, you know, he was at the end of his career and he wasn't playing a whole lot. And the funny stories that we had over the years, back in those days, we had 11 o'clock curfew, Glenn would check. He would go door to door and check the rooms. That's how different it was back then. And I can remember Ace every single night, we're going to be home by 10.30.

You're going to be in by 10.30. And we kind of giggle about it because Ace really wasn't playing. a lot. He wasn't dressing much. I remember one time we played in Cincinnati, and it was actually my first pro hat trick. And the next morning, we had a flight from Cincinnati to Chicago, to Montreal, to Quebec City. And we were playing that night in Quebec City, and we landed around quarter to three. We raced to the hotel, and we were so tired. We got a nap in, and we missed our wake-up call. And so it was 615 when I got up. And I said, Ace, come on, we got to get going.

We got to get there. And he said, don't worry about me. Get your stuff on. And he helped me get dressed. He ordered me a cab. I got in the cab. I got to the Colisee and go back. In about 20 minutes, I got there in time to dress and get out for warm up.

And when I came in, Ace was sitting there and he got his uniform on and he was sweating. And I said, Ace, I didn't see him in the warm up. He said, I wasn't. I just wet my hair. They won't miss me tonight. So the stories were endless. But he was such a character. Players loved him and he was such an unselfish player that he was a big part of that team.

Even though he wasn't on the ice during games that much, he played with you a lot. After practices, you guys had epic mini hockey battles, right? We did. We would play for hours. I remember one time in Winnipeg practice was over around 1130 and it was a game day. and we were on the ice playing mini hockey, as we called it. And it was 20 after one and Sather came out of the locker room screaming at Ace that he was going to tire me out. But you know what?

That's what we love to do and I love to do it. And we go for hours and we had so much fun doing it. And I learned so much about really enjoying the game and coming to the rink every day with a smile on your face. And that's what he projected. And like I said, he wasn't playing a lot. He had a bad knee by the end. But he was still smiling and happy. single day. And he was the first guy to greet you in the locker room after a big win. He was the

first guy to be there telling you to keep your chin up if you had a bad game or a tough loss. He was the ultimate teammate. And, you know, when he retired, Glenn recognized that and Glenn hired him. He was a pro scout for the others for a lot of years. He used to be so proud to tell people in Boston that him and I were friends. And, you know, when we land in Boston, he picked me up and I go to Ace and Kathy's for dinner, and you take me around town a little bit to see some of his old hockey friends and people that were brewing fans.

And over the years, if you check my record, he would brag about my potential. He'd brag about my game. And I never played very well ever in the Boston Garden. And I was always so disappointed after the game in Boston because I'd say, Ace, my gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't play so well. And I had one really good game in the Boston Garden,

I think, in the first 10 years. And that was game three, Stanley Cup finals, which we won seven three. And that one kind of made me feel real good that I finally had a good game in the Boston Garden just for Ace. And part of the appeal, I mean, Ace had played with Bob Yorre, as you mentioned, and had sort of seen what he went through as a young star and knew how to sort of shepherd him through that. What was it like for you to have someone? How did how did you benefit from Ace's experiences with Bobby? You know, because at the end of your career, especially a stellar career like Bobby Orr had.

And people argue this all the time. Who's the greatest player ever, Gordial or Bobby Orr? And you can pick either one and definitely deserving. And I was asking him, did he ever go through tough times during the season or in playoffs where he didn't have a good game or he had a bad game? Maybe took some critical media attention. Did he ever have to go through that? And Ace explained to me that, yeah, you know, Bobby War went through it. Phil Esposito went through it.

every player goes through that sort of tough stretch where you're not playing as well as you want to play, and the media gets a little bit tough on you. But even guys like Bobby Orr went through it. So once I heard that and once I learned that, it really helped me be much more at ease when I did have bad nights that, you know, what happens to everyone. And so from that point of view, it was extremely positive and taught me quite a bit about it. There were times in your career when you weren't having a great night or you were kind of in a slump or not feeling on the ice. and Glenn would actually bring Ace in.

Glenn would fly Ace to come and give you a pep talk and be there for you. Why do you do that? And what did that mean for you just to have Ace all of a sudden show up and sort of put you in line? Well, two things. One, first of all, I was thrilled because they loved his company. We would go to dinner. He normally bring him in in the playoffs and big games. And a lot of times in the visiting team city and we would go for dinner.

He would be at the hotel waiting for us as we got there. getting off the team bus. And I'd throw my stuff up in the room and Ace and I. And sometimes Ed Chadwick, who's one of the other scouts, was there. But usually it was just Ace and I. We go for dinner and just his calmness and his positive attitude towards, you know, what would happen the next day. So from that point of view, who was always exciting to see him,

the negative side was I remember turning to Paul Coffey. And each time I'd see Ace and I'd say, I thought I was playing a little better than this. I guess I'm not. So part of it was I think he knew that Ace could really calm me down, make me relaxed and give that sense of being much more positive towards the next night and the outcome of the next game. So I always loved when he came into the cities that we played in.

He really put not only me at ease. All the players loved him being around. Dave Simakel loved Ace being there. Ace actually coached our farm team in Wichita for one full season. And Dave Semeko went down for a two-week conditioning stint in Wichita, which is a great story. And, you know, Ace picked him up at the airport and he went for dinner. The next day they had the morning skate that night. He was on the power play.

He was killing penalties. And he said, Gretz, the best thing was after the game, Ace came in and told me, Cement, take tomorrow off. He said, I never got that. in emminton but the best part of the whole story was when ace said doing what number do you want to wear dave and they've thought about it for a second and and i'm not sure if a lot of people know this but he said you know it is 99 available and he said for sure it is so dave sameko wore number 99 with the wichita wind which is a great story ace had a pretty big sense of humor hey oh he was he was the consummate teen

comedian, always smiling, always giggling. Those days, you know, we didn't have a big group. It was like two trainers, one coach, maybe four or five people that worked in the office, an assistant general manager and Bruce

McGregor. But when Ace would come into town, he would take the secretaries, he'd always take them a bottle of wine and a dozen roses up to the office for the girls in there. They loved Ace. He was their favorite person by far.

To you, he was also, you know, more than just a teammate and a roommate. He became like a father figure, a brother to you, someone that, you know, you said that you knew that you played best. And Glenn Sater knew when you played best that it was either your dad, Walter, or Ace was in the stands, that was important to you. Why was that so important to you to have someone like Ace be proud of you and to be watching you from the stands? I think, well, first of all, you know, our friendship was so unique.

You know, he was 35 years old and I was 17 when our friendship was basically consummated. But as good as a friend as he was, and I guess you can do this with good friends, he could be critical of me too at times. And I accepted that and I understood because it was coming from his heart, you know, when your dad tells you something and sometimes you don't like hearing it, but it's coming from the bottom of their heart. And that was what Ace had, you know, he was my biggest fan by far. and yet if he didn't think I was doing something in the correct way or handling myself the right way, he was the first person to pull me aside and say, hey, you know, you're smarter. He called me kid. You're smarter than that kid.

And so, you know, we had this unique bond where he was my biggest fan, no question. But there was times that he could pull me aside. And I understood that. And that's what made our friendship click in the sense that we understood each other. So over the years, we won championships together. We traveled the world together, and we had some wonderful times. He and your father got along very well, right? Oh, him and my dad were best friends.

I remember we were in Paris, France, and it was hot middle of July, and we were at this hotel and the air conditioning broke, and we were going to dinner, and the last thing my dad said to Ace was, when it's really hot and humid, don't eat shellfish. And Ace started giggling, and he always. always giggle and laugh at my dad. And sure enough, Ace ate shellfish. Well, he got so sick from food poisoning that night.

And his temperature went up. I don't even know how high. We had cold towels over him on the bed, and he was sweating and he was wet. And I remember my dad standing over top of him and he said, Bailey, I told you, don't eat shellfish. You don't want to listen to me, do you? And Ace was sick and he was trying not to laugh, but he couldn't help himself but to giggle the whole time.

But fortunately, by the next day, he was feeling better and everything was okay. And they sat together sometimes at games too, right? Like your father and Ace, would they sit together during games? Sometimes. A lot of times, Ace liked to sit in the press box. I would say, well, there you go again, Ace fake working up there, huh? He goes, yeah, it's pretty tough work up there. You keep working at it.

So if my dad wasn't around, he liked to sit in the press box. If my dad was around, a lot of times he'd sit with my dad. Over the years, you know, as you carried on your career, how often would you stay in touch? I mean, did you talk to him all the time? Yeah, we chatted all the time. And near the end of my career in L.A., he came to L.A. to work for the King. So, yeah, he used to come to L.A. and stay with me at training camp and stayed at our house. You know, we stayed in touch quite a bit.

We were very close friends. We're coming up to the anniversary of 9-11 and that day when you heard that news, what do you remember about that? that morning and what happened? I remember it like it was yesterday. I think my phone rang around 10 to 6 a.m. Pacific time, approximately around that time. In those days, you had house phones. So my phone rang. My parents, coincidentally enough, and good friends, Charlie and Nan Henry,

the four of them were coming to L.A. to spend a week with us. I think Janet and I were going to a charity event, And so they were going to come out and spend the time with our kids, their grandchildren, of course. And they were on an Air Canada plane. And when they stopped them and they got off the plane, it was Mr. Henry that actually called me and said that he had heard from good friends that he thinks Ace was on the plane out of Boston. And that was the first I heard of it. And of course, then we turned the TV on. And of course, it was catastrophe after that.

In the wake of what happened in losing someone who was like a second father, to you. How did you grapple with that, just in the days and weeks after? I don't think you ever come to an understanding. You know, you think about it, you talk about it. I remember talking to his son vividly and saying, the one thing I know about your dad, he was not alive in my mind when that plane hit the trade center because he would have been the guy fighting. And he was maybe the toughest hockey player I ever met. If you ask anyone, he was as nice a man as you can be, but he was mean and he could play tough when he played.

And there's no question of my mind that they would have to take him out before they did anything on that plane because he would not have sat there. He would have been fighting. As years have gone on, how have you remembered Ace? How often does he come back to your mind and how often do you think of him? all the time you know every little thing that you can imagine that happens i think about i remember one year he had to get a christmas tree he was renting the house in emminton and we got went out and got this saw and he chopped down the tree put it in his house and then after christmas we went back

out there and he was nailing it in with these big spites so that the tree was back in the yard from doing that to watching highlights of hockey games. He was so proud of the fact that he was a Stanley Cup game winning goal to clinch a Stanley Cup final. And I said, I remember one time I said, how did you get on the ice? And he said, somebody was hurting. Somebody else had to get a skate fix. And I just jumped over the boards and went. Somehow the puck ended up on my stick and I scored.

He goes, that was my last shift, but it was a good one. So somehow he comes back into my mind because he was special. You know, we did the Aces charity event one year and it really hit home. You know, you can't help but not think about it, but it really hit home. They were displaying his seven Stanley Cup rings. Unfortunately, he was wearing one of the rings when the plane went down. So they have the six rings displayed and they have one. one case that's open without the ring.

So that one really hit you at home. That one was tough. At this time every year, when we get to this difficult anniversary every year and come up to 20 years, how do you remember Ace on around September 11th? And what do you do just to... You know, I think over the years, the one thing that I really look forward to, and I try to make sure that I get a chance to watch it. If I can't watch it, we try to tape it, is when they do the reading of all the names.

And to see his name on display there is a tough reminder of what transpired not only for him, but for so many victims so foolishly. And, you know, it kind of brings a smile to my eyes when I see his name. Because I know he's giggling and smiling because that's just the way he was. What do you think people should know about Ace? I know the hockey world knows a lot about Ace and it's one of those small communities, but you knew him so well. What do you think the most important thing to know about who Ace was and what has carried on

since his death in terms of his life he is? I think the biggest thing for me, and maybe that's what the sort of connection was when I was 17, is that Ace loves kids. he could make kids smile and giggle forever. He loved doing that. And one of the things they do with the Bailey Foundation is put things in hospitals so kids can smile that, you know, that can keep them entertained and keep them happy. And that's what Ace was. He wanted, he loved being with kids.

He was a big kid himself. And, you know, whether you were a 40-year-old man or a 7-year-old kid in the locker. room. He was the guy that you went over and said, hey, Ace, we meet these two people, they're friends of mine, and made them feel like a million dollars each and every time. He just loved people and love to show that with him. Love people. That was his big thing. He loved his friends, but my gosh, he was so close to his wife and to his son. He only had the one son, and he was so close to Todd. He was very, very much a family guy through and through.

In your own life, did you carry some of the lessons you saw from Ace the man into the way you are as a husband and parents and, you know, you know, I don't think you can never emulate exactly certain people, but I think I try to carry that happiness and that smile that he has

and his gracefulness as far as being gracious to each and every person that he met. I don't think Ace had any enemies. Now, on the ice he did, because he played hard, but off the ice, he had to have been one of the most well-like guys that ever played in the NHL, just tremendously nice to everyone. I know you lost your own father in March. You're so beloved, obviously, to your family, and to this hockey world in general.

You know, in reflecting on that, you know, losing your father recently, and I'm losing Ace 20 years ago who was such a mentor to you. Yeah. How do you reflect on, I guess, what, you know, these people that are so important in our lives. mean to us and how we carry them forward after their time? Well, I think that reminiscing is a good thing, you know, to think about all the good times and all the great memories. You know, I think it's imperative in our world today, especially that, you know,

when we look at people and we look up to people and say, wow, you know, that person was so nice. And I think that that's what my dad and ace were. They were just good people. And we never have enough of good people in the world. But they were special, both of them. And they just happened to be two of my best friends. And I'm lucky that the two guys that I picked is probably my closest two friends turned out to be two really nice people.

Wayne, thank you so much. I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts on Ace and difficult time heading into the 9-11 anniversary. Yeah, well, my pleasure for, For Ace, I would do anything because I know he goes through a wall for me. So this is my small way to give back. It's my pleasure. Well, I hope you enjoyed that in-depth and personal conversation with Dan Robson and

Wayne Gretzky. And we want to let our readers know that Dan's written piece reflecting on the lives and legacies of Ace Bailey and Mark Davis publishes this Friday, September the 10th, a day before the 20th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks. And a reminder, I'll be back with another brand new. episode of the Athletic Hockey Show on Thursday, as always, with my regular co-host, Down Goes Brown, Sean McIndoo, Max Boltman, Corey Prondman. They'll be with you on Friday for the Prospect Series.

And in case you missed it, Tuesday's episode of the Athletic Hockey Show, and Craig Custins and Sean Gentile in conversation with a man who's certainly been in the new cycle in the last week, that's Carolina GM, Don Waddell. And a reminder, if you're not a member with us right now, not a subscriber at the Athletic, you can join us at theathletic.com slash hockey show for 50% off an annual subscription.