Larry Mavety had a big bark but little bite

Larry Mavety was demanding, brutally honest and yelled at referees. He was also one of the greatest coaches in the history of the Ontario Hockey League, ranking ninth in all-time career wins.

He loved working with teenagers and turned down opportunities to coach in professional hockey, says Kory Cooper, general manager of the Kingston Frontenacs.

“He enjoyed the task of helping younger players become men,” says Cooper. He speaks about Mav from a unique position, both as a former player on Mav’s team and as a coach working under his tutelage.

“Because he always sought to get the most out of players, he could be challenging,” Cooper recalls. “But everyone rose to the occasion since they wanted to play at the highest level possible for him.”

Born in Woodstock in 1942, he was a minor league pro until the age of 30. Then the World Hockey Association exploded onto the scene, creating a need for players to fill its 12 teams. In 1972, he was one of many journeymen players who jumped at the opportunity, playing three seasons as a rugged defenceman with the Chicago Cougars and several other WHA squads. He hung up his skates in 1978.

Then he turned to coaching. He started with the Belleville Bulls Junior A team. He recruited 16-year-old Doug Gilmour, who had been ignored by other coaches due to his small stature. Mavety converted Gilmour from a defenceman to a centre. The Kingston player went on to win the Memorial Cup with the Cornwall Royals and a stellar Hall of Fame career in the NHL.

The Bulls joined the OHL in 1981, with Mav behind the bench. After seven years with Belleville, he had two stints in Kingston. In 1988, for two seasons he led the ill-fated Raiders, which were renamed the Frontenacs. He returned to Belleville for seven years, coming back to Kingston in 1997.  

Upon his retirement, he was feted as one of the outstanding coaches in the history of the league. He holds the record for career victories with the Bulls (435) and the Frontenacs (246).

In 2008, Gilmour came full circle with Mavety, taking over as coach with the Frontenacs. Three years Mav stepped aside to become an advisor, leaving Gilmour to fill the general manager role. Larry Mavety died in 2020.

While his stats are impressive, Mav is best known for caring about people.

Take Anthony Stewart. He grew up in dire poverty in Toronto, with barely enough food to eat, not easy for a young hockey player expending thousands of calories every day on the ice.

When Stewart arrived in Kingston to join the Frontenacs in 2001, Mav took him under his wing. “He was like a second father to me,” Stewart recalls. “He was instrumental in my career in making it to the next level.”

Stewart went on to play 262 games in the NHL. His brother Chris went undrafted due to his troubled background and Anthony feared that he would end up in prison – or dead. Mav agreed to give Chris a tryout and not only did he make the Frontenacs, he later played 668 games in the NHL.

“He genuinely cared about every single player on the team,” says Anthony Stewart.

Each season as the trade deadline approached, Mav would consider whether he could make a deal to add some toughness to the squad. But it wasn’t just about what he could get. He wanted to ensure that the player he was trading away would have good opportunities.

Kevin Abrams served under Mav in both Kingston and Belleville, as an assistant coach and scout.

“He was always supportive and very clear on what the job was,” Abrams recalls. “He was fair but honest with you – sometimes brutally honest.”

While he would sometimes yell at people, it was only because he wanted them to improve. “He pushed players hard to be the best they can be,” Abrams says. “Former players remember him unbelievably fondly.”

“He had the biggest heart. He really cared about people,” Abrams says. “He made a mark on so many lives.”

In 1976, while playing with the Erie Blades of the North American Hockey League, he landed a part as an extra in the hockey film Slap Shot with Paul Newman. The movie went on to become a cult classic with hockey fans. He never revealed which scene he was in.

Mavety won the Matt Leyden Trophy as OHL coach of the year in 1990. He was inducted into the Belleville Sports Hall of Fame in 1992. In Kingston, family and friends created the Larry Mavety  Scholarship to be awarded to a graduating minor hockey player each year.

“He had this tough exterior,” recalls Kory Cooper. “But he was a softie with his players and his grandchildren. He was kind to everyone.”