Dustin Langlois is a man who appreciates second chances and tends to make the most of them.
That’s a very good sign for the new head coach of the Reeths-Puffer varsity hockey team.
Back in his high school days, Langlois was cut from the R-P hockey squad as a sophomore due to bad grades.
At such a tender age, he didn’t realize that respectable grades were required to play high school sports, and he got a rude awakening.
That turned out to be a lesson learned, because he got his grades up, made the team as a junior and became the Rockets’ captain as a senior. The team wasn’t very good back then, but the varsity experience was very good for Langlois.
New R-P head hockey coach Dustin Langlois
“I thought you could just go play hockey,” said Langlois, 34. “Being in the program the next year really turned my life around. I started getting better grades and it really kept me in check. It drove me to be a better person, and I want to bring that sort of experience to these kids, too.”
Forward to the year 2020, when Langlois had just finished his third year as an assistant coach for the Rockets.
Head coach Bill Zalba resigned, and Langlois said there was a basic understanding that he would be promoted to the top spot.
But he said he took the promotion for granted and didn’t prepare very well for his interview with R-P Athletic Director Cliff Sandee.
He was stunned when Sandee passed him up and hired Ryan Martin as the new coach, but again the lesson was learned.
The 2019-20 regional champion R-P team, which Langlois helped to coach.
When Martin stepped aside earlier this year after two seasons on the job, Langlois quickly threw his hat into the ring again, and this time showed up for the interview ready to impress.
“The understanding with Coach Zalba was that I would take it over, but that was our understanding,” Langlois said. “I still had to prove myself with Cliff and I didn’t do that. I expected it to just be handed to me, and that wasn’t the case. I wasn’t prepared to earn Cliff’s respect in the interview.
“This year Ryan (Martin) reached out to me before he resigned and said he put my name in with Cliff. I had to go through the interview process again, but I showed up in a suit this time, with notes. I prepared much better and handled it much better.”
Sandee is obviously very excited to have Langlois on board this time around, particularly since he has so many longtime ties to the R-P hockey program and the West Michigan hockey community.
“I’m real excited to welcome Coach Langlois back to Reeths-Puffer,” Sandee said. “His passion and love for Reeths-Puffer and hockey is overwhelming. He is so well connected with the hockey community that he comes with an army of support that we surely elevate R-P hockey to the standard of play, success and character development that our community is accustomed to.”
Langlois with his sons, Decker (left) and Judson.
Langlois has demonstrated his ability to develop talent at the varsity level.
He became an assistant coach under Zalba in the 2017-18 season, and for the next three years worked with the other coaches to develop a very young R-P squad into a winner.
It took a little time. The Rockets were 5-21 in their first season and 13-12 in the second, before posting a 17-6-2 record and winning a conference and regional championship in 2019-20.
“It was a ton of fun,” Langlois said. “We had so many young kids who came up through the program with us, and it was fun to watch them grow and earn the success they worked for. Those kids had so much heart. They were really easy to coach because of the drive they had.”
Langlois and his staff won’t have to start from scratch with the Rockets next season, because he’s inheriting a pretty good team.
Jaxon Stone (13), one of the standouts expected back on the R-P squad next season.
Last year Reeths-Puffer broke through with a 19-6-1 record and turned a lot of heads in the area. The Rockets started out slow, losing their first two games, but came on strong by winning 9 of their last 11.
The best part is that many of the top players on that team – guys like Tyler Tindall, Jaxon Stone and Eli Cuti – were underclassmen who are expected back next season.
“We should definitely be loaded for this season coming up,” Langlois said. “Success is definitely the goal. I have nothing but confidence in these kids after watching them play last year.”
