Ace Bailey

Ace Bailey
Hockey Hall of Fame , 1975
Date of birth	July 3, 1903
place of birth	Bracebridge , Ontario , Canada
date of death	April 7, 1992
size	178 cm
Weight	73 kg
position	Right wing
Shot hand	Right
Career stations
1918-1922	Bracebridge Bird Mill
1922-1924	Toronto St. Mary's
1924-1926	Peterborough Seniors
1926-1934	Toronto Maple Leafs

Irvine Wallace "Ace" Bailey (born July 3, 1903 in Bracebridge , Ontario , † April 7, 1992 ) was a Canadian ice hockey player who played from 1926 to 1934 for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League .

Career

His active NHL career began in the 1926/27 season with the Toronto St. Patricks and ended there in the 1933/34 season after he sustained severe head injuries in a game. On December 12, 1933 , shortly before the end of the second period of the Toronto Maple Leafs game against the Boston Bruins in the Boston Garden, Ace Bailey was hit from behind by the Boston Bruins defender Eddie Shore with a bat. This was in revenge for a check King Clancy had previously given Eddie Shore. Ace Bailey wasn't actually the target of the attack, as Shore actually wanted to hit Clancy. Ace Bailey was seriously injured in the act and remained unconscious and bleeding on the ice. Bailey's teammate Red Horner then knocked Eddie Shore unconscious. After the game, Bailey Shore forgave the attack as body checks are part of the game. Shortly thereafter, however, Bailey collapsed with convulsions and passed out again. The following night it was not certain that Bailey would survive this, as he suffered from severe cerebral haemorrhage. If Bailey had died, Shore would have expected manslaughter charges. Ace Bailey survived this serious injury, but his ice hockey career was over. For the attack on Bailey, Shore received a 16-game ban (1/3 of the entire season) and Horner was banned for the remainder of the year.

In honor of Bailey, the first NHL All-Star Game was played in 1934. On this occasion, the Toronto Maple Leafs also blocked his shirt number, the 6, for future players. This was the first time that a shirt number was blocked in professional sport.

Ace Bailey was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1975 .

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	8th	313	111	82	193	472
Playoffs	4th	21st	3	4th	7th	12

Sporting successes

• Stanley Cup : 1932

Personal awards

• Top scorer: In 1929, the Art Ross Trophy was awarded for this
• Top scorer: In 1929, the Maurice Richard Trophy was awarded for this

Web links

• Ace Bailey in the database of the Hockey Hall of Fame (English)
• Ace Bailey at hockeydb.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Toronto Maple Leafs 2014-15 Media Guide. Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club, 2014, p. 228.