As a junior, Maxner led the OHA in scoring in 1962-63 while with the Niagara Falls Flyers, a feeder team for the Boston Bruins. He was called to join the parent Bruins club for the 1964-65 season. The next season, he played just eight games before finishing the season in the Western Hockey League.
Wayne Maxner played the next seven seasons with various hockey leagues but retired after the 1972-73 season to become a coach in the OHA with the Windsor Spitfires and the London Knights. Maxner got his shot as an NHL head coach with the Detroit Red Wings in 1980-81 and 1981-82.
