The road to success for the UOIT Ridgebacks’ head hockey coach has been long, bumpy and stressful. It has taken 19 years of experience for Marlin Muylaert to get where he is today, and he has enjoyed the ride.
He has won several championships, including eight divisional championships, two Ontario championships, one Canadian championship, all with the Guelph Grypons, and a bronze medal in the 1999 World University Games for Canada.
“Our goal was to win a Canadian Championship,” said Muylaert. “The first three years we got to the final four we failed. The fourth time we qualified for the final four was when we finally won it all.”
After three heartbreaking defeats in the final four, Guelph beat the University of New Brunswick 4-3 in the 1996-97 season. Muylaert says he was proud of his players for winning the championship and relieved that he had finally won.
The next two years Guelph won the divisional titles. However, Muylaert decided it was time to move on.
After leaving Guelph he went to coach at the University of Wisconsin at Eauclaire where he stayed for three years.
Then Muylaert disappeared from hockey for a few years and worked in sales in the Durham Region.
When he heard of the UOIT hockey program, Muylaert jumped at the chance to coach the Ridgebacks.
Three years later he still feels strongly about the organization’s future.
“I am committed to this school and this program for the long haul,” says Muylaert.
The benefits of a long coaching career are coming into affect for Muylaert.
“I have been around long enough to not let the losses eat at me quite as bad as I used to,” he says. “Ultimately I think this leads to a little more patience in my players and a little less panic.”
The Ridgebacks are a young team, going into their fourth season. Muylaert’s patience is an important aspect of coaching such a young team.
He said that the Ridgebacks will be a .500 hockey team shortly, and a winning team shortly after that.
“One day my wins here will be as impressive as when I was at Guelph,” says Muylaert.
His coaching abilities don’t only affect his players, but the staff as well.
“I learned a lot by just watching him as he prepared his game plan,” says Rob Saunders, Guelph Gryphons assistant equipment manager.
Saunders worked with Muylaert from 1995 to 1999. He says that he learned the importance of being prepared by Muylaert.
