"This is maybe the most fun I've had in all my years at Breck," senior goaltender John Russell said. "We didn't even know if we'd have a coach before the season started. We're really glad he's here. He's got us prepared."
While recovering from surgery, Larson turned over the on-ice instruction to his assistant coach and son, Pete. But the man in charge was never too far away.
"He'll say, 'I'm the brains of this outfit, you're the drill sergeant,'" Les Larson said with a laugh.
Father and son did just fine as a tandem getting this year's Mustangs focused and prepared for a season under the microscope.
Breck is blessed with a top line of Tyson Fulton, Mike Morin and Riley Borer (203 combined points), but the Mustangs do not live and die by those three alone.
In the Section 2 championship game against Blake, a 5-1 victory, Fulton's empty-net goal with 70 seconds remaining was the only goal scored among those top players.
"It doesn't matter if you're Tyson Fulton or [fourth-line player] Brenden Yates," Les Larson said. "Everybody has an appreciation for the other guys on this team. It's a very mature team."
The most mature person on the ice at practice, once again, is Larson.