Ottawa Charge coach Carla MacLeod is taking an indefinite leave as she continues to receive treatment in her battle with breast cancer, the team announced on Monday.
“She remains in good spirits and is focused on her health and recovery,” the team said. “The entire organization fully supports Carla. And her family asks that her privacy be respected.”
MacLeod first revealed being diagnosed with cancer a week into the PWHL season in late November. Despite traveling to her native Alberta to receive treatments, she previously missed only one Charge game and continued her duties as coach of Czechia’s national women’s hockey team.
At 13-11-1 (including a PWHL-leading seven OT wins), the Charge have five games left and sit fifth in a tightly contested race for the league’s fourth and final playoff berth.
MacLeod was so intent on coaching, she scheduled radiation treatments to ensure they wouldn’t interfere with her being behind Czechia’s bench at the Milan Cortina Olympics in February. Czechia finished third in Pool A play before being knocked out by Pool B champion Sweden in the quarterfinals.
Upon arriving at the Milan Cortina Games, the ever-upbeat MacLeod said cancer wasn’t going to alter her approach in coaching the Czechs at a second consecutive Olympics.
“At the end of the day, I’m in an industry that’s about playing hockey. That’s a pretty good gig. And I’ve had it my whole life,” MacLeod said. “I’m pretty lucky.”
The 43-year-old MacLeod is from Spruce Grove, Alberta, and won two Olympic gold medals as a defender on Canada's national team.
Assistant coach Haley Irwin takes over as interim head coach during MacLeod’s absence.
AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
“Side-splittingly funny and brilliantly chaotic” Read moreThe Play That Goes Wrong
CA Is Burning said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.