Mark Plantery
“I have a great respect and appreciation for the amount of effort, dedication and sacrifice it
takes to become a good hockey player….the coach player relationship is vital for this
development”.
There is no doubt that Coach Plantery has an extensive resume related to this great game. His playing
career is well documented and we won’t repeat it here, except to say that he was a first round draft pick
in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League in 1975, and has logged ice time all over the world, including
25 games with the NHL’s Winnepeg Jets.
Coach Plantery has taken his experience and used it as a springboard to his current position as President
of the Cyclones organization. “I love the game of hockey and I understand from my involvement in the
sport as a youth how the game can shape and influence your life”. Mark coached the Geneva High
School team in 1999, and has coached every season since. The last 11 seasons with the Cyclones. He
says that his last season was his most enjoyable, and not because of the performance on the ice. “One
of our players told me a very funny story midway through the season…..and I asked him to tell it to the
team. From that point on, after every Tuesday practice, someone would tell a story to the team in the
dressing room. A close knit group became closer from that experience, and we shared some incredible
stories and a lot of laughs. It is an experience I will always remember.”
Coach Plantery tells another funny story from years ago….”I was coaching my son’s squirt team in the
championship game…..after a hard battle and a double overtime loss, on a fluke goal….the boys were
devastated. I could not think of anything to say to them in the room that would make them feel better.
After the last player left, I walked towards to lobby expecting to see the sad faces, and the
disappointment. Instead, 75% of the team was in line for cosmic skate. That put a lot of things in
perspective for me.”
Mark’s teams will learn the rewards of hard work, to be unselfish on and off the ice and the importance
of good sportsmanship and respect. His favorite NHL team is the Maple Leafs, and his favorite players
are Dave Keon and Bobby Orr. Mark and his wife Debbie live in Geneva with their two kids, Alexandria
(20) and Sam (16).