The tragic events that transpired on Sept. 11, 2001, had a profound global impact that still resonates today.
For the city of New York, where two hijacked planes took down the Twin Towers, the devastation was immeasurable. Countless communities across the country were impacted by the attacks, including the hockey world.
Garnet “Ace” Bailey, the Kings’ director of pro scouting, and Mark Bavis, an amateur scout for Los Angeles, were on board United Airlines Flight 175, which was hijacked en route from Boston to L.A. and crashed into the South Tower at the World Trade Center.
Then-Rangers executive Don Maloney lost his brother-in-law, Tommy Palazzo, that morning. Palazzo worked on the 103rd floor of the North Tower at Cantor Fitzgerald. John Murray, a close friend of Rangers defenseman Brian Leetch, was also among the 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees that died that morning.
The impact of 9/11 on the New York Rangers organization could have been unfathomably greater.
The team, which was set to open training camp at Madison Square Garden for the first time in its history, was originally scheduled to stay at the Marriott Hotel at the World Trade Center complex. The 22-story hotel was among 10 buildings destroyed by the attacks in that area.
“I remember we were supposed to stay at the Marriott, and I think the circus or something came to Madison Square Garden, but had cancelled, and that made the Garden available,” said Walt Kyle, then an assistant coach for the Blueshirts. “I don’t remember where it was we were staying at instead, but it was more midtown where the Garden was.”
Kyle was set to join the team on the 11th.
“For whatever reason, I didn’t go in on the tenth. I stayed overnight in Connecticut,” said Kyle, who’s served as head coach at Northern Michigan University since 2002. “When I got up, my wife was downstairs having coffee, and said to me that apparently someone had driven a plane into the World Trade Center. And we were kind of watching it, then I went down to the train station, and all of a sudden my wife pulled up and started screaming ‘Get in the car! Get in the car!’”
“I think that was the last train they ended up running that day.”
An aerial view shows twisted steel and smoke from the site of the World Trade Center terrorist attack. (C TOP to BOTTOM) is the South Tower and the Marriott Hotel. (Photo by Gregg Brown/Getty Images)
Theo Fleury, a forward for the Rangers that season, said in an interview with the Globe and Mail years back that he witnessed one of the towers fall, and that he and his teammates were approximately a mile and a half away.
“There were already players and staff down there,” Kyle said. “Thank God they weren’t at the Marriott. I didn’t get in for a couple of days, but when I did, everything just kind of changed.”
In the days and weeks that followed, as the smoke cleared and the city tried to recapture some sense of normalcy, the reminders of what happened were inescapable.
“We used to go to a church down from the Garden,” said Kyle, “and now we would go by there every day, where they had all of the signs and flowers and stuff like that.”
Leetch, captain Mark Messier and goaltender Mike Richter were among the pillars of strength that dedicates numerous hours toward helping the city heal.
“I remember a lot of the guys — Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, Mike Richter — all going down to Ground Zero to support the people down there,” said Kyle. “Messier went down there a ton (during the season), so we always knew what was going on.”
Mark Messier (right) stands beside teammate Eric Lindros wearing a New York fireman’s helmet before a game against the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 7, 2001. (Lou Capozzola/Getty Images)
On Sept. 20, the Rangers were visiting the Flyers for a preseason matchup. Here’s how the final frame played out, per Jason Diamos of the New York Times:
After seeing the Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers play two periods of their exhibition game tonight, what the fans at First Union Center wanted to watch was President Bush. And they got their wish.
The president’s national address on the terrorist attacks to a joint session of Congress was shown on the video screen during the second intermission. But it was turned off when the teams began to come back on the ice, tied at 2-2, after two brawl-filled periods.
When that happened, the fans began to boo, prompting Ron Ryan, the chief operating officer of the Flyers, to order that the address be put back on the screen. For the next 33 minutes, the players and fans watched.
When the president concluded his speech, the two teams went through an impromptu handshake line, more befitting the playoffs than the preseason. By mutual agreement, the third period was canceled and the game was declared a tie.
“That night was incredible,” said Kyle. “The building was incredible, the crowd was incredible. They had also honored the police and fire departments before the game, and it was just an incredible showing of support.
“And I remember a few days later, we played in Hartford and they honored police and firemen there as well. It was probably one of the most emotional nights I’ve ever been involved in in sports.”
Fifteen years have passed since 9/11. For Kyle and many others, it wasn’t immediately clear just how influential Sept. 11 would be on so many facets of our daily lives. What was clear, however, was that the world would forever be changed when terrorists hijacked four planes on that fateful Tuesday morning.
“Short-term, it was almost surreal,” Kyle said. “For all of the city and all of the country, it was kind of one of those ‘aha’ moments. I don’t think anybody knew it would be like that. I don’t think anyone knew the impact it was going to have on our day-to-day lives, but there was the realization that it’s a different world now. It was always in the back of our mind.”
Al Daniel contributed to this article.
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