For 25-year Vaughan native Mukul Jalhan, it’s always been about giving back to the people around you.
“I’m a big believer in playing within your community,” Jalhan said. “We play for Vaughan.”
Jalhan, nicknamed “Mook” by those close to him, grew up in Ottawa, Ontario. Sport was present at an early age in his life. Born to immigrant parents working long hours, he used sports as guidance, taking away life lessons that come by playing on teams as a kid.
“The hockey lessons pretty much made me who I am today… I found a lot of support and direction and lesson for life,” Jalhan said.
Hockey became the main passion for Jalhan as he aged in his youth. It was around the age of 16 when he realized it’d be challenging to reach professional ranks after seeing the next generation of stars emerging.
“Once I realized… I was like, okay, what can I do?” Jalhan said. “That’s where I decided to enter the world of health sciences and then found myself in education.”
Mukul recalls having great physical education teachers and decided that was the career path he wanted to pursue. It wasn’t particularly teaching that guided him onto this path. It was the coaching the drew him in.
“I got into teaching really to coach first,” Jalhan said.
He completed an undergraduate in Kinesiology at the University of Ottawa and went to Western University for teacher’s college. He coached various sports throughout his career as a teacher including football, basketball, soccer, baseball, and hockey. Nostalgia set in for Jalhan when returning to the rink over five years after he stopped playing.
“As soon as you step on the ice… you feel good… it brought back all the memories,” Jalhan reflected.
After settling in Mississauga after graduation, he moved his way to Vaughan and began a new chapter. He was teaching full-time and had a young family. As he started to think about registering his son for hockey, the memories he once had when he started playing the game resurfaced.
“[My family’s] background is from India. [My dad] said, you live in Canada you have to do hockey… I fell in love with it,” Jalhan said.
It was no surprise when Jalhan put his son into hockey after the fond experience he had as a child with the game. As his son entered a house league program, he also coached the team. The next year, Jalhan got behind the bench of a select team. This team had success right away, winning back-to-back titles.
The winning was great, but Jalhan took a step back and looked at the bigger picture.
“They weren’t being challenged enough,” Jalhan said. “We had the opportunity to move up and get a spot at the ‘A’ level.”
It was a demanding shift after the team moved up to ‘A’ level hockey. This team hasn’t been able to replicate the success they initially had at the select level, but for the development of the team, it was still the right choice to move up to ‘A’.
“It can’t happen overnight. It doesn’t mean you stop [and] quit; you just work harder,” Jalhan said.
After narrowly falling short on making the playoffs this past season, the team decided to compete in the 2025-26 GTHL King Clancy Cup. The tournament is designed for teams who are no longer active in the GTHL Playoffs, which allows teams to extend their season through structured league play.
“It’s an opportunity to play some more games and see where we’re at… we played some very good teams, and we ended up winning it,” Jalhan said.
Missing out on playoffs isn’t fun, but Jalhan, the coaching staff, and the rest of the team overcame the hurdle of falling short this season to create a memorable experience for the players.
Jalhan credits the bench staff for this team’s attitude, with the King Clancy Cup tournament win as an example of the character of this team. He also noted that the coaching staff came together organically to work together, establishing early on that this team is about providing life lessons for the players, just like it provided Jalhan in his youth hockey experience.
“We do this for the kids in the community… to be a part of something bigger than yourself,” Jalhan said.
The team’s cultural background is reflective of the community they play in as well. With various ethnic backgrounds spanning across players, parents, and coaches, Jalhan believes his team is a great representation of the nation.
“If somebody were to take a picture of all the last names of our team, that’s a true Canadian team right there. You’ve got some Indian names, Asian names, Italian names… I think it makes us Canadian,” Jalhan said.
It’s been a roller coaster ride for Jalhan and his players over the last few years. From back-to-back championships to a challenging jump to the competitive stream. However, it’s not always about the wins. It’s about the process and learning. If you do things the right way over and over, the results take care of themselves.
“We hope they remember how we made them feel. I believe a lot of our success stems from the principle of team-first priority that we set up. We have standards [and it] leads to positive culture and accountability for each individual as a part of the team.”
Mukul Jalhan wanted to mention every member of the team’s coaching staff that has contributed to the team culture over their time together.
Coaching Staff:
- Mukul (Mook) Jalhan – Head Coach
- Frank Pantaleo – Assistant Coach
- Kevin Fong – Assistant Coach
- Dan Paladino – Trainer
- Daniel Giammarino – Manager
