The Ottawa Charge and Minnesota Frost rallied together around a cause greater than their game on Tuesday night.
The two teams honoured Charge coach Carla MacLeod’s breast cancer diagnosis by both wearing pink clothing and ribbons ahead of the matchup.
MacLeod, also head coach of Czechia’s national women’s hockey team, announced the diagnosis in a statement by the PWHL on Sunday. She said in the statement: “I want everyone to know that I’m going to be OK.”
“I’m incredibly fortunate to have an exceptional medical team guiding me, and together we have built a treatment plan that gives me tremendous confidence in the road ahead,” she wrote. “There are still some variables to be determined as we move forward, but my goal — without question — is to be behind the bench as often as possible.”
The 43-year-old from Spruce Grove, Alta., won Olympic gold with Team Canada as a player at the 2006 Turin and 2010 Vancouver Games before retiring and moving into coaching.
MacLeod took over coaching Czechia in April 2022 and led the team to consecutive bronze medals — the nation’s first in senior women’s international play — at the 2022 and ’23 world championships.
Czechia has finished fourth in each of the past two worlds and is considered a medal contender at an Olympic tournament that’s been dominated by Canada and the United States.
Ottawa hired MacLeod as its first coach ahead of the inaugural PWHL season. After Ottawa missed the playoffs the first year, MacLeod guided the Charge to last season’s Walter Cup finals, where they lost to defending champion Minnesota.
The Charge have a 1-0-0-1 record to begin the 2025-26 campaign. MacLeod said her treatment schedule will force her to miss the team’s next game against Minnesota on Tuesday.
“The fear of missing out will be real, but I’m incredibly lucky to be surrounded by world-class players and staff, who will keep pushing us forward,” she wrote. “Being with the team fuels me. And I intend to stay as connected as I can during treatment.”
Charge general manager Mike Hirshfeld said assistant coach Haley Irwin will handle coaching duties during MacLeod’s absence.
“The Charge and the league are here to support Carla throughout her treatment,” Hirshfeld said. “Her strength, resilience and optimism shine through in the most challenging of circumstances. And we know she’ll approach the next chapter with the same determination she brings to everything she does.”
–With files from The Canadian Press
