By Jeff Morris
There’s no crying in hockey.
Unless, that is, your head coach has to step away from her duties for cancer treatments, then comes back to have her players, the organization, and an entire city rally behind her while leading her team into the playoffs on the final day of the regular season and all the way to the Walter Cup Final.
As Carla MacLeod and captain Brianne Jenner addressed the media Wednesday night after the Ottawa Charge lost 4-0 to the Montreal Victoire in Game 4 of the Walter Cup Final, MacLeod’s battle with breast cancer was always going to become part of the conversation.
It did.
And for the first time publicly this season, the always upbeat and composed MacLeod struggled to hold back tears.
Beside her, Jenner also became emotional.
As the room fell silent, it was difficult to find a dry eye among the reporters gathered inside the Canadian Tire Centre media room.
The loss ended Ottawa’s remarkable playoff run, with Montreal winning the best-of-five series 3-1 to capture the Walter Cup. But the final score almost felt secondary to the emotion surrounding a season that became about far more than hockey.
“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,” MacLeod said through tears. “I’m just grateful. I’m grateful for this group. I’m grateful for these ladies. I’m grateful for our team.”
MacLeod revealed her breast cancer diagnosis early in the season and missed several games while undergoing treatment, including the final five games of the regular season. Despite the adversity, Ottawa rallied to secure a playoff spot on the final day of the season before upsetting the defending champion Boston Fleet in the semifinals.
“As a leader of a group, you never want to step away,” MacLeod said. “You don’t want to miss anything. You don’t want to not be helping your crew. 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. You got us.’ They delivered on it.”
Jenner said MacLeod’s strength became a source of inspiration throughout the season.
“It’s pretty unbelievable when the leader of your program comes in every day the same way,” Jenner said. “The same energy, the same positivity, the same passion to be there at the rink. That just was infectious throughout the whole organization. You’d have no idea the struggle that she was going through this year. It was pretty inspiring just to witness it.”
The Charge also became one of the biggest stories in Ottawa sports this spring because of the overwhelming support from fans.
Games 3 and 4 of the Walter Cup Final at the Canadian Tire Centre drew crowds of roughly 17,000 fans — the two largest attendances in professional women’s hockey history.
MacLeod said the atmosphere created by Ottawa fans transformed the building.
“I stood there before the game started, I was like, ‘How is this my job?’ What a gig I’ve got. And just to have our fans show up and the community show up — Ottawa’s such a hockey-crazy community. They love it.”
The support was especially evident Monday night when Ottawa stayed alive with a dramatic late goal in a thrilling Game 3 victory that temporarily shifted momentum in the series and created one of the loudest hockey atmospheres the city has seen in years.
Even in defeat Wednesday, fans remained standing and cheering long after the final buzzer.
“At the end of the day, here’s what I know,” MacLeod said. “Playing in Ottawa is a privilege. Coaching in Ottawa is a privilege, and I’m just so grateful that my career has brought me here and I’m so grateful that our team is here because we just saw tonight — look at that fanbase. It’s incredible.”