Carla MacLeod can process a question and provide an intelligent response as quickly as anyone and quicker than most. But on a very emotional Canadian Tire Centre podium late Wednesday night, after the Ottawa Charge came up short in its bid to extend the PWHL final to a deciding game, she needed a long moment to collect herself when asked about the love she has received from her team during a season in which she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Her eyes started to water when Brianne Jenner, the Charge captain, spoke about MacLeod’s battle and how, aside from a couple of brief breaks for treatment, she managed to continue performing her job through it.
“It’s pretty unbelievable when the leader of your program comes in every day the same way, the same energy, the same positivity, the same passion to be there at the rink,” said Jenner. “And that was infectious throughout the whole organization. You’d have no idea the struggle that she was going through this year, and it was pretty inspiring just to witness it. I mean, it’s unbelievable.”
By the time MacLeod composed herself to speak about the support of her team, Jenner and the third person on the podium, assistant captain Jocelyn Larocque, were also in tears.
“We have such an incredible job, all of us,” began MacLeod. “Our gigs are really great. But there’s …. we all have stuff. We all have things on the side; we all have variables that can challenge us. And I said it in the room, I had more variables than I’m used to. I had bigger challenges this year than I ever anticipated. And as a leader of a group, you never want to step away, you never know, you don’t want to miss anything, you don’t want to not be helping your crew. And when I had to step away, it was unbelievable to me how this team, players and staff, just engulfed me with support, love, and said ‘go take care of you, we’ve got us.’ And they delivered on it.”
“So, when I talk about being proud, certainly there’s a component on the ice. This group got better every day. But who they are as women, who they are as leaders, and how they impacted everyone, including me …. it won’t be lost on me how much I needed it, and I’m just grateful. I’m grateful for this group. I’m grateful for these ladies. I’m grateful for our team. It’s been a year.”
It was a remarkable season that might have caught the attention of Hollywood scriptwriters. Because of the players it lost through the expansion draft and to free agency, some oddsmakers picked the Charge to finish last in the eight-team Professional Women’s Hockey League. But through the battles of inconsistent play, the Charge once again qualified for the playoffs with a victory over the Toronto Sceptres on the last day of the regular season schedule, and then pulled off a first-round upset over the Boston Fleet, a team that spent a good portion of the year in first place and finished 18 points ahead of Ottawa.
