Fronts: Get well soon, Mav; venom can wait

Protocol dictates one wish Larry Mavety a full recovery, regardless of everything else which has gone down, lo, these past 11 seasons.

"Kingston Frontenacs general manager Larry Mavety is recovering in hospital after having heart surgery on the weekend. The 67-year-old has been around either the Belleville Bulls or Kingston Frontenacs franchises for most of the past 30 years. There is no doubt he has to be listed among the top 'characters' in the Ontario Hockey League." — Loose Pucks

It would be in poor taste to speculate about what this means in the long term. There is always an awareness that Larry Mavety, the old hockey lifer and nice man by all accounts, comes before all the appellations cogitated in this corner (The Royal Mavesty, general mangler, and so forth).

At the same time, this is a Frontenacs organization which puts a higher priority on silencing criticism than addressing why anyone would possibly criticize them.

(In the past few weeks, there have been a few cryptic references on Fronts Talk to TVCogeco commentator Mark Potter "only doing post-games this year." For several years, Potter has been a mainstay on an OHL roundtable intermission feature which airs on most local cable broadcasts across the province, so one has to wonder what's up, although it's doubtful traditional media would explore it since it's not of general interest.)

Doug Gilmour, with all 45 games' OHL coaching experience to his name, is assuming the GM's duties. The kneejerk response might be that there is not a lot going on in mid-July, but looking around the Internets, the Kitchener Rangers apparently pried up-and-coming defenceman John Moore away from Colorado College in the NCAA. The Ottawa 67's just signed their first-round draft choice, D-man Cody Ceci. There is a lot to do and it's in the hands of a novice hockey man.

Get well, Mav. The venom will be there when you get back. It's aimed at your boss who refuses to get with the times.

It has been 632 days since Doug Springer promised to do "whatever it takes" to bring a winner to Kingston.

Related:
Mavety will rejoin Frontenacs after recovery (Mike Koreen, Kingston Whig-Standard)