I immediately took a liking to him, even though I was a Boston College graduate and he had attended rival Boston University. He was a real hockey player, mind you, while I was and still remain a recreational one.
I once told him I remembered the name "Bavis" from the 1991 Beanpot Tournament championship game at the old Boston Garden, which BU won by an 8-4 score. BC had taken an early lead and then fell behind, but was just two goals down late in the second period.
The next goal would be huge, and BU got it with just one second left before intermission to effectively put the game away. I asked Mark who exactly was the Terrier player who got that goal, and he replied with a sheepish grin "me."
Mark was a genuinely good, down-to-earth guy, right down to his Boston accent as a native of Roslindale, Mass. I saw him again at the 2000 NAHL All-Star Game outside Chicago that season, and once more at the league office later that year before I returned to New Jersey in August 2000. I didn't know when I'd see Mark again, but I'd figured I'd cross paths with him again at a rink somewhere along the way.
After graduating from BU in 1993, Mark played professional hockey for three seasons in two different leagues in Fredericton, Providence and South Carolina. After he retired as an active player in 1996, he tried his hand at coaching, and worked at Brown University and then Harvard University before joining the Freeze.
It was as a scout soon after, however, that he found his true calling, scouring the globe for up-and-coming hockey talent. By 2001, he had quickly become one of the rising stars in the scouting department of the National Hockey Leag...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Kings
