Makaric Excited For New Chapter With Maroons

It wasn’t so long ago that LaSalle’s Klye Makaric was sitting on the Chatham Maroons bench, receiving a tap on the shoulder from his coach to go out on the ice.

Now, the 28-year-old Makaric will be the one making the calls, as he was hired earlier this month to serve as the Chatham Maroons’ new head coach, replacing the departed Ron Horvat.

“I am very excited to get back there to coach the Maroons,” said Makaric of returning to Chatham. “Some of my best hockey memories are from my time there as a player. When I think of the fans and the support from the community I am very proud that I was apart of it then and I think as time went by I appreciate it more now.”

Makaric played three seasons for the Chatham Maroons from 2007 until 2010 before moving on to compete with the University of Windsor Lancers men’s team.

“It’s a good feeling being chosen to lead this team and the vote of confidence I have from everyone involved makes it special. I feel that I am prepared and ready for this new chapter as the Head Coach of the Chatham Maroons.”

Last season, Makaric was an assistant coach at the University of Windsor, and a year prior, he was the head coach for the Windsor Major Midget ‘AAA’ program.

Now that the initial excitement is out of the way, Makaric is ready to get down to business in preparation for the team’s spring camp May 5-6, and for the 2018-2019 season. Step one for Makaric, getting to re-know the organization.

“First steps are just to have conversations with the players, get to know them and give them an idea of how the coaching staff plans to do things this year. Outline our vision and what it will take to have success. Then from there it is targeting the players that will fit into the program and set everything into motion for main camp.”

For Makaric and his staff, which includes Andrew Donaldson, Brett Hope, Ryan Hope, Bino Pereira, and Derek Hills, that all begins in less than a month.