By Warren Rappleyea
When he accepted the job as head coach of the Ottawa Junior Senators—one of the most successful teams in the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL)—and Fred Page Cup champs in 2018 and 2019, Kyle Makaric knew the bar would be set high. To add to the challenge, the team was coming off of two incomplete campaigns as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nevertheless, the 32-year-old mentor hit the ground running. He relocated to Ottawa from LaSalle, Ontario, and arrived right after Labour Day and just prior to training camp. As he guided his new squad through the pre-season, Makaric began building relationships with his players and stressing his philosophy.
“Most of the guys really hadn’t played in any real, structured games in a long time,” Makaric said. “So getting them reacclimated as quickly as possible was our priority. The guys came in ready to play and they showed their commitment from day one.”
With Makaric at the helm, the Junior Sens have jumped out of the gate, winning 12 of their first 15 matches; a pretty good start by any measure. Especially when one considers that at the beginning of August, Makaric had no idea he’d be heading to the Canadian capital.
When GM/Head Coach Martin Dagenais accepted a position as an assistant coach with the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s, it actually created two openings for the Junior Sens to fill. The easy part was naming Dagenais’s top assistant, Jamie Mayo, who also coached in Navan, Carleton Place and Brockville, as the new GM. Mayo’s first order of business was to find a new coach. Fortunately, Makaric became aware of the opening via social media and immediately sent in his resume and followed up with a phone call.
From there things progressed quickly. Mayo conducted a pair of Zoom interviews and Makaric impressed.
“We really liked the way Kyle approached the game and he pretty much embodied the style of play that made our team successful,” the Junior Sens GM said. “He’s a player’s coach and is always very positive. He’s done a great job of connecting with the guys and the kids have responded well.”
While growing up, Makaric played AAA in the LaSalle area and went on to play junior for the Chatham Maroons before moving on to the University of Windsor. While there, he began getting into coaching and joined the university team as an assistant. He spent four years as the bench boss for Windsor’s Midget AAA squad, finishing in first place three times.
Although Makaric had never been to Ottawa, when he heard about the opening behind the Junior Senators bench he felt he had to apply.
“I knew how successful they’ve been and then I did a little more research I saw that Marty (Dagenais) had pretty much made it as a coach all on his own,” Makaric said. “Knowing that, I thought they might be open to a guy like myself who had some experience but hadn’t played at a pro level.”
According to Mayo, hiring turned out to be a relatively easy decision.
“The more we talked, the more we knew he was the right guy,” said the Mayo, who noted that Dagenais sat in on one of the interview sessions. “We had some long conversations that covered just about everything, particularly situational coaching—and Kyle provided the answers we wanted to hear.”
Ottawa leads the CCHL in scoring with 66 goals and its special teams have been solid. The power play, which Makaric directs along with assistant coach Stu Battrick has produced on 15 out of 67 opportunities—a 22.4 percent success rate—second in the CCHL. Ottawa has also produced offense while on the penalty kill, netting eight short-handed goals.
“I want to play an aggressive, confident style,” he said. “I want our guys to make offensive plays and I trust them to make the right decisions. For me it’s really all about having the puck. When we lose the puck, I want to get it back as fast as we can.”
While the new coach certainly has an offensive bent, the defense, long a Junior Senators strength, has remained steady and is currently tied for the second-lowest goals against in the league, with 38. Additionally, Makaric’s charges have showed good discipline up and down the ice and are among the least penalized teams in the circuit.
“I expect our guys to be smart, but I also want them to know that mistakes happen and I have their back,” Makaric said. “I want them all to develop into the best players they can be and if that happens we’ll continue to have success.
So far, so good.
