‘The goal is to be back behind the bench’: Carla MacLeod opens up about breast cancer diagnosis

Carla MacLeod says she will be stepping away briefly for cancer treatment but will soon be back behind the bench. CTV’s Leah Larocque reports.

Ottawa Charge head coach Carla MacLeod is opening up about her breast cancer diagnosis.

“There was enough time in my brain and my heart to sort of work through it, but it’s still emotional. At the end of the day, any time you have to speak the words, ‘I have breast cancer; I have cancer,’ it’s challenging.”

MacLeod says she shared the news first with the team on Sunday during a team meeting.

“We knew there would be a time (to share the news publicly) and I thought there would be a little social media post and maybe like one or two comments, maybe from my mom and sister. But the overwhelming outpouring of kindness to me has really humbled me. It was it was it was something I couldn’t have imagined.”

MacLeod is in her third season as head coach of the Ottawa Charge. She will be stepping back from her role temporarily while undergoing treatment but says it is her intention to be back behind the bench.

“I know I’ll be in great hands,” she says. “The goal is to be back behind the bench as quick as possible and miss few games as possible, but recognizing I’ve got to make sure I’m healthy.”

MacLeod says she expects to stay with the Charge while undergoing treatment, and she also plans to coach for Czechia at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in February.

Assistant Coach Hailey Irwin will take over during MacLeod’s absence. Irwin says the team will continue to play to their best of their ability to support MacLeod.

“It’s what Carla deserves… On social media yesterday, there was a huge outpouring of support, and she deserves that. She’s sharing her story. She’s being vulnerable with it. So, I think the hockey community has been amazing and our fans have been amazing and so many players, you know, I’ve received messages to pass along to her, and good and well wishes and just that, you know, they’re behind her.”

Charge general manager Mike Hirshfeld says he has confidence in the leadership group on the team.

“The outpouring of affection and support that (the players) showered on Carla is just indicative of who they are as, as hockey players, but who they are as individuals,” he says.

The news hitting is players emotionally.

“It is news that no one wants to get but we are doing what we often do and following Carla’s lead,” says Ottawa Charge captain Brianne Jenner. She says the team is trying to have a “positive attitude and continue to do what they love to do.”

“Obviously our whole team is behind her, and we are going to miss her,” says Jenner. “Our number one thing is for us her to know that she is family and we want her to be okay and take care of herself and do what she has to do and take care of herself.”

Emily Clark says the team has united behind their coach.

“You don’t think it is going to hit that close to home, but it is an important conversation to have,” she says. “(Breast cancer) has hit the women’s hockey team a few times now and everyone knows someone who loves someone who has been affected by it.”

MacLeod says she has received messages of support from all over the hockey community and the world. She says she hopes she can continue an important conversation.

“There’s a lot of young women in this league. And for so long, the narrative around breast cancer is twofold. One, it has to be within the family. I have no family history. And two, you have to be over 50. I’m 43. So, I think, starting to get the message out that it doesn’t know your age or your family history. It could hit any of us.”

She says she will continue to share more about her diagnosis when she learns what is the next steps for her. “This has been a bit of a journey for myself. At the end of the day, I suspect that that story will be shared with when my timing is right on that. But as the world learned yesterday, I’ve been able to process some of this stuff, for a little bit longer,”

The Charge face the Minnesota Frost on Tuesday at the Arena at TD Place.

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