Larry “Mav” Mavety
Larry Douglas Mavety was born on May 29, 1942, in Woodstock, ON. Like many Canadian kids, he grew up spending many hours at the rink, but for “Mav,” hockey was more than a childhood extracurricular. Included in over 31 seasons in hockey management, Mav coached 1,514 games over 24 seasons with Belleville and Kingston. Touching the lives of countless players, Mav helped guide the development of many of the game’s best players during their OHL careers and, just as importantly, after. Throughout this program, you’ll find examples of everlasting impressions on others from those who played and worked with him, a legacy that spans generations.
In 1963, Mav began a professional playing career lasting for 16 seasons. He was a puck-moving defenseman who could put up points, leading all defensemen in scoring in the WHL in 1970-71 with 63 points for the Denver Spurs and was named to the WHL Second All-Star team for the second straight season.
Following a 53-point campaign with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles the following season, Mav made the jump to the World Hockey Association for the 1972–73 season. He played in games for the Los Angeles Sharks and Philadelphia Blazers before finding a home in Chicago with the Cougars. He would play in 248 WHA games scoring 37 goals and 113 assists over five seasons while playing against hockey heroes such as Bobby Hull, Gerry Cheevers, Jim Dorey, Bernie Parent, and many more.
Mav retired from the game as a player following the 1977-78 season, but what he did for the game after his playing days turned him into a legend in the junior hockey community. Hired to coach the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League for the 1979-80 season, he led the team to a 35–7–2 record and an appearance in the National Championship game in his second season as coach. The following year, the Bulls jumped to the OHL with Mav the first and only person to coach them for their first seven seasons. He briefly left the Bulls to coach the Kingston Raiders in their only season and the Frontenacs in their inaugural 1989-90 season but returned to the Bulls for another seven years from 1990-97.
After the 1996-97 season, Mav permanently converted to the Black and Gold, coaching the team from 1997-2003 and again from 2007-09. Throughout his coaching career, Mav was also the General Manager for his respective hockey club. His coaching career ended after he hired one of his former players, Doug Gilmour, to coach the Frontenacs. Still, he continued his role as General Manager until the end of the 2010-11 season, when he became a consultant for the team.
Over the 24 seasons as a head coach, he set franchise records for wins in Belleville (435) and Kingston (246). Both records still stand today, and he is sixth on the OHL all-time win list (681) and fourth all-time in games coached with 1,514.
In 1990 he was named OHL Coach of the Year, joining Jack Bownass as one of only two coaches to win the award in franchise history and was inducted into the Belleville Sports Hall of Fame. In 2018 he was awarded the Bill Long Award for distinguished service in recognition and appreciation of outstanding contributions to the OHL.
Mav’s wife Brenda works as the Administration, Retail and Ticketing Manager with the Frontenacs. Her daughters Sarah and Jessica, her grandchildren Brielle and Landon, and Mav’s grandchildren Natalie and Davis were at centre ice for Mav’s pre-game memorial ceremony. OHL Commissioner David Branch, long-time OHL Executive Sherry Bassin, OHL coaching legend Brian Kilrea, and Frontenacs President and Governor Doug Springer also helped raise the Mav banner over the Leon’s Centre ice.
“There are probably a few guys on the Mount Rushmore of junior hockey. You have Brian Kilrea, Bert Templeton, and Larry Mavety,” Frontenacs all-time leading point scorer Keli Corpse said. “He has done so much for the hockey community and for young hockey players that I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. I never played for him, which was unfortunate, but I got to know him quite a bit from playing against him. He used to treat me like a player who played for him. If I had a question or thought he could help me by giving me some information, he would do that. He’s a top-quality person.”
Mark Major continued his relationship after pro hockey with Mav: “Over the two years we were together, he taught me so much about the game and life. The fact that every time I came back to Kingston, he always had time for me. I’d go to Frontenacs games and watch; he always said hi to my son. That’s what made him special.”