Larry Mavety, longtime junior hockey executive and former Chicago Cougars player, dies at 78

KINGSTON, Ontario — Larry Mavety, a longtime junior hockey executive who once coached former NHL star Doug Gilmour, has died. He was 78.

Maverty also spent three seasons as a player with the Chicago Cougars of the World Hockey Association.

The Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League on Friday confirmed his death on Twitter.

“What stands out in my mind is how he took care of his players,” OHL Commissioner David Branch said in a statement.

Mavety entered coaching with the Belleville Bulls in 1979. He guided the Bulls to the national Tier II junior A final in 1981 before the team jumped to the OHL in 1982.

Gilmour, a center who spent 20 seasons in the NHL with seven teams, played for Mavety at Belleville.

“The hockey world has lost a great man,” Gilmour wrote on Twitter. “Mav was my coach, my GM and a friend. ... Thanks for giving me a chance.”

Mavety remained with the Bulls through 1988 before joining the then-Kingston Raiders. He returned to Belleville in 1990 and then went back to Kingston as general manager and coach in 1997. He would later hire Gilmour as coach; Gilmour replaced him as GM in 2011.

Mavety had a small role in the classic sports movie “Slap Shot”, a 1977 comedy about a feisty minor league hockey team.