SPRING 2022
CHRIS SNOW
SNOWY STRONG FOR ALS CANADIAN WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAM Wins Gold at Olympics
DINOS HEAD COACH
CARLA MACLEOD Calgary Canucks
Celebrate 50 Years
CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
TABLE OF
CONTENTS 6 SNOWY STRONG FOR ALS
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8 CELEBRATING A PROUD 50 YEARS
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CHRIS SNOW
CALGARY CANUCKS
CARLA MACLEOD
START OF A NEW CHALLENGE CANADIAN WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAM
WINNING GOLD IN STYLE
MESSAGE FROM THE
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Welcome to our Spring Edition of the Calgary Hockey Magazine, our final edition of the 2021-2022 season. In this edition, we have a feature interview with Kelsie Snow, wife of Chris Snow, assistant GM for the Calgary Flames. It was nearly three years ago Chris was diagnosed with ALS. The Snows decided to go public with this news, and use their platform in the community to raise awareness for ALS and advocate for other patients and families. With this, the Snowy Strong Fundraising Campaign was launched and as of this date over $520,000 has been raised, $240,000 which came directly from the Calgary Flames Foundation. This season marks the 50th anniversary of the Calgary Canucks, the oldest franchise in the AJHL, which is in its original city. Most people would not know this, but the Calgary Canucks have won the most AJHL championships (nine) over the past 50 years. We caught up with Canucks alumni, Dana Murzyn, from the team. A Calgary native, Murzyn played for the Calgary Canucks and Calgary Spurs in the AJHL in the 1982-83 season. Murzyn went on to play three seasons with the Calgary Wranglers of the Western Hockey League, before his 14-season NHL career, which began with the Hartford Whalers, and finished up with the Vancouver Canucks. (And in between, four seasons with the Calgary Flames.) We are pleased to include an article on Carla MacLeod, the head coach of the Calgary Dinos women’s hockey team. MacLeod has an impressive hockey resume, including two gold medals as a player, and coaching stints with the Mount Royal Cougars, Edge Hockey School, head coach of Team Japan in 2014, and head coach of Team Alberta in 2019. Our final article is a tribute to maybe the finest Canadian Olympic women’s hockey team ever assembled. In looking at past Olympic gold medal winning teams, this is a bold claim to make, but when you look at what they achieved, this claim is well founded. I hope you enjoy this issue of the Calgary Hockey Magazine, and if you have any suggestions for future editions, please pass them along. In the meantime, best wishes to everyone this hockey season. Stay safe, stay active, and stay positive!
ROB SUGGITT Publisher Calgary Hockey Magazine
CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE | 5
CHRIS STRONG By Jeremy Freeborn Photos provided by the calGARY flames foundation In June of 2019, at the age of 37, Calgary Flames assistant general manager Chris Snow was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (best known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease). For three years, Snow has continued with his regular duties with the Flames organization, as he fights ALS as the disease has started to impact his speech and the use of his hand. Currently, on average, life expectancy for those diagnosed with ALS is between two to five years. With help from the Flames foundation, the Snow family has created the Snowy Strong fundraising campaign. A significant portion of the funds raised goes to the CAPTURE ALS Initiative, whose research is conducted by a team led by Dr. Sanjay Kalra at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. CAPTURE ALS is an acronym for the Comprehensive Analysis Platform To Understand, Remedy, and Eliminate ALS. As of December 2021, the campaign has generated $520,000, with $240,000 coming directly from the Flames foundation.
Kalra is grateful for the contribution made by the Flames foundation, along with the efforts made by Chris and his wife Kelsie. “This is a huge benefit,” said Kalra. “The vision is that this research program will eventually be available to all patients with ALS in Canada. That really is the goal as this is a patient-centred program. What Chris, Kelsie, and the Flames foundation have done is very generous and helps us move closer towards that vision. Chris and Kelsie’s efforts in advocating for other patients and families and raising awareness is so important. For people to understand ALS, we all have to work together.” Calgary Hockey Magazine also had the privilege of speaking with Kelsie Snow, to receive insight on Chris’ condition and how he is presently coping with ALS. “When Chris was diagnosed, we knew right away that we would have a decent-sized platform (through the Flames foundation) to make a little bit of a difference,” she said. “We knew right away we were going to raise money as soon as we went public with it. People have been so generous and we have been so amazed.” Kelsie is also hoping that the research currently being conducted by Dr. Kalra stops with Chris, and does not impact their two children. “Chris’ ALS is genetic,” said Kelsie. “Only 10 per cent of those diagnosed with ALS is genetic, and the rest is random. Chris’ dad died of ALS, his uncles died of ALS, and his 28-year-old cousin died of ALS. To learn that ALS is genetic used to be a horrible thing for families to learn. Right now, the research in ALS is the farthest along in genetic ALS. The drug Chris is currently on is created specifically for his genetic mutation, which actually is the second leading cause for familial ALS. We are weirdly lucky that this is the kind of ALS he has. There is a lot of exciting work being done.”
The CAPTURE ALS initiative currently has core centres in Edmonton, Toronto, Quebec City and Montreal. Through comprehensive studies of people diagnosed with ALS, researchers have compiled extensive information, which in turn will be used to create a database and a biorepository. “The idea behind the study is to understand why patients are different,” said Dr. Kalra in an interview for Calgary Hockey Magazine on Jan. 28. “Every patient with ALS is so different. Some patients are older, while others are young. As we collect detailed information, such as MRIs, neurological examinations, cognitive tests, and speech recordings, we will have such a rich database for scientists to work with. We also hope this will eventually produce tools to improve the diagnosis of ALS, monitor progression, and to test new drugs. It is quite ambitious, but it is something that is really needed right now to solve the disease.”
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Initially, the Snows were under the impression that Chris would die quickly from the disease after his initial diagnosis. After seeing Dr. Michael Benatar at the University of Miami, Snow was placed in a clinical trial, which has helped prolong his life. “(The trial) has given us an immeasurable amount of hope and belief that our story could have a different ending,” said Kelsey. Initially, Chris traveled to the Sunnybrook Brain Sciences Centre in Toronto for regular ALS gene therapy treatment. Clinical trials in Canada have been significantly challenged because of the coronavirus pandemic. “When the pandemic first hit, research programs stopped abruptly,” said Kalra. “But we developed ways to resume research in a safe manner, though like many other operations. It continues at a slower pace.”
“A lot of work actually did happen. We just had to focus our energies elsewhere until we got our clinical research activities back up,” said Kalra. Earlier this season, the Flames were hit hard by coronavirus. They had 33 members of the organization test positive. Luckily, Snow was not among the positive cases. In a tweet, Eric Francis of Rogers Sportsnet stated the following on Dec. 15: “Thrilled to report that Flames assistant GM Chris Snow has not tested positive for COVID-19. Some rare good news in all this. Oh, and it’s his anniversary today.” Kelsie regularly uses social media to discuss ALS and update everyone on Chris’s condition and their activities. “One of the reasons why ALS is a disease that people do not understand is because people do not see people going through it,” Kelsie said. “There is this belief that ALS is an old man’s disease. What I want to sort of do is offer up my family. If you do not know someone who has been touched by this disease, look at my family, and care about my family.” Bringing awareness to the disease is a growing part of advocacy in making strides in research for ALS, she adds. “From a selfish perspective, the support we have gotten from people who we have never met has been incredible. It really does make a difference on those really hard days. I try to keep sharing and inform people about what the disease looks like,” Kelsie said. For Chris’ fortieth birthday, the family went back home to Boston where Chris threw out the opening pitch at Fenway Park in a game between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays on Aug. 13. Recently, Chris was able to take his daughter Willa to Edmonton for the Flames game on Jan. 22. As well, their son Cohen recently volunteered to donate $100 of his birthday money and allowance. Willa and Cohen are aware of their dad’s condition and Kelsie and Chris try to answer as many questions as they can. “Those three letters of ALS are a part of our everyday life here,” said Kelsie. “We talk about it just like what time hockey practice is. They know that their dad has the same disease that their grandpa died from and they know that things are different for Dad because he is on medicine. They know things are not perfect, but we have had a lot of good examples.”
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[Chris] is the most resilient person I have ever known. He has an incredible amount of perseverance and works very hard not to let this disease be what he is... In big ways and in small ways, Chris is an inspiring person, who never stops trying to do better.
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During the down time, he says, while they didn’t actively see patients with ALS, they used the time to analyze the data they had already collected, write papers, and strengthen and create new collaborations with other scientists.
One of those examples is former New Orleans Saints safety Steve Gleason, who has been living with ALS since 2011. In a wheelchair, Gleason is able to communicate through a computer which tracks his eye movements. Since Chris’ diagnosis, Kelsie has realized that ALS is underfunded. Unlike cancer, where there is a large community of cancer survivors, the same cannot be said for those who have ALS. As time has gone along, Kelsie has remarkable optimism. “I’ve learned that the people who are affected by this disease are some of just the most genuine, selfless and optimistic people out there, and you can never underestimate the patient community,” she said. “I really do believe we are on the (verge) of making this a disease that is something patients can live with rather than die from.” Finally, when I ask Kelsie if there is one thing she would like the world to know about Chris, she offers the following response. “I have said for a long time that I have never believed in anybody the way I believe in Chris. I have always said how difficult the obstacle and how unlikely the situation that Chris finds a way. He always finds a way. I still hold on to that and believe that very much. He is the most resilient person I have ever known. He has an incredible amount of perseverance and works very hard not to let this disease be what he is. I am just very, very proud of him and am very humbled to be able to watch him. I don’t know if I would have been able to do the same thing and coach youth hockey and show up to work every day. In big ways and in small ways, Chris is an inspiring person, who never stops trying to do better.”
To make a donation to the Flames foundation, go to
www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/m/37860/donation
CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE | 7
CALGARY CANUCKS Celebrating a PROUD 50 YEARS By Jeremy Freeborn
Photos PROVIDED BY Billie Barrett - Calgary Canucks A Calgary-based hockey team is celebrating a milestone birthday this year. The Calgary Canucks are turning 50. The franchise came into the Alberta Junior Hockey League in 1971-72, a year after the Vancouver Canucks entered the National Hockey League in 1970-71. The Calgary Canucks have the distinction of being the oldest franchise in the AJHL without moving to another city. The Spruce Grove Saints franchise originated in 1963 as the Edmonton Canadians, but have spent time over the years in Edmonton, three years in the 1970s as the Spruce Grove Mets, and 27 seasons in St. Albert, before arriving in Spruce Grove in 2004.
Murzyn, who is a Calgary native, went on to play three seasons with the Calgary Wranglers of the Western Hockey League, before 14 NHL seasons, which included four seasons with the Calgary Flames from 1987 to 1991. He also played three seasons with the Hartford Whalers from 1985 to 1988 and nine seasons with the Vancouver Canucks from 1990 to 1999. In 838 games in the NHL, Murzyn had 52 goals and 152 assists for 204 points, was a +136, with 1,571 penalty minutes, 12 power play points, eight shorthanded points, seven game-winning goals, and 1,013 shots on goal.
Over the last half-century, the Canucks have the record for the most AJHL championships with nine. Known from 1965 to 1997 as the Carling O’Keefe Cup, the Canucks were victorious in 1973 (over the Red Deer Rustlers), 1977 (over the Taber Golden Suns), 1978 (over the Fort Saskatchewan Traders), 1983 (over the Fort McMurray Oil Barons), 1986 (over the Sherwood Park Crusaders), 1988 (over the St. Albert Saints), 1990 (over the Crusaders), and 1995 (over the Olds Grizzlys). They then went on to win the 1999 Rogers Wireless Cup over the St. Albert Saints.
Murzyn clearly remembers his one season in the AJHL. He was among a number of 15- and 16-year-olds who were traded midway through the season from the Calgary Canucks to the Calgary Spurs for 19- and 20-year-olds. The Calgary Spurs had an older team, as a year prior they finished first in the AJHL South Division finals but lost the 1982 Carling O’Keefe Cup to the St. Albert Saints. After a slow start to the season for both teams in 1982-83, a trade was made, and as a result the Canucks won their fourth AJHL championship.
The Canucks’ finest season came in 1995 when they won the Centennial Cup. That year they won the AJHL championship by beating the Grizzlys in five games, the British Columbia Hockey League champion Chilliwack Chiefs in seven games to win the Doyle Cup, and then the Gloucester Rangers 5-4 in the final of the Centennial Cup (the Canadian Junior A Hockey League championship).
Murzyn’s time in the AJHL significantly helped him make the next step in his hockey career, which was with the Calgary Wranglers from 1982 to 1985. In his time in the AJHL and the early stages of the WHL, Murzyn had an adjustment curve.
Many Calgary Canucks players over the years have gone on to play in the National Hockey League. They include two-time Stanley Cup champion Craig Adams (2006 with Carolina and 2009 with Pittsburgh); 1994 Canadian Olympic silver medalist Mark Astley, who went on to play with the Buffalo Sabres; centre Bob Bassen (15 seasons in the NHL with the New York Islanders, Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, Quebec Nordiques, Dallas Stars and the Calgary Flames); former San Jose Sharks goaltender Aaron Dell; former Islanders and Florida Panthers goaltender Mark Fitzpatrick; three-time NHL All-Star Dany Heatley (with the Atlanta Thrashers and Ottawa Senators); 1994 Canadian Olympic silver medalist goaltender Corey Hirsch, who went on to play with the Vancouver Canucks; journeymen defensemen Doug Houda, Terry Johnson, and Jason Smith, and former Flames goaltending legend Mike Vernon. In early February, Calgary Hockey Magazine caught up with another Canucks alumni, defenseman Dana Murzyn. It was during the 1982-83 AJHL season that Murzyn shared his time with the Calgary Canucks and Calgary Spurs. In 34 games, he had seven goals and 20 assists for 27 points with 78 penalty minutes.
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“The players were bigger, faster, and stronger and obviously better than what I was used to at the time,” recalled Murzyn. “It was another step to help me improve. The game was different back then. You got beat up quite a bit. The experiences in the AJHL and WHL help you learn how to play and groomed you to be in the NHL.” When asked about the overall skillset of the AJHL, Murzyn offered the following response. “What I think people need to understand is that there are a lot of really, really good hockey players in Canada. Even when you step up a level from midget hockey to the AJHL to the WHL, there is an improvement at every level, and the players are better at every level. The WHL will have the best players other than those who want to pursue scholarships.” Murzyn said a major reason the Calgary Canucks were able to succeed for a half-century was because of the efforts of the late Ken Bracko, the team’s president for over 20 years. He died in 2015. “I don’t think the organization would have survived without him.” In 2017, Max Bell Arena 1, which was home to the Calgary Canucks, was renamed the Ken Bracko Arena. According to the Calgary Canucks Facebook Page, Bracko “worked tirelessly to ensure the success of
CONNOR BERTAMINI
BLAKE SETTER MATTHEW BRUNTON our organization” and “was the epitome of a volunteer and dedicated decades of his life to ensuring that Calgary hockey players had the opportunity to play the top level of Junior A hockey in Calgary.” The most successful Calgary Canucks alumni is Calgary native and goaltender Mike Vernon. Vernon and Murzyn did not play together on the Calgary Canucks as Vernon was in the AJHL from 1979-80. However, they did play together with the Wranglers in 1982-83 and with the Flames from 1987-91. “He was always obviously a great player,” remembered Murzyn. “He played hard, was easy-going and was a great competitor.” As an NHL player, Murzyn was initially a little disappointed to be traded by Hartford in 1988 but was soon impressed by the Flames organization overall. “Once I got to Calgary I realized that Calgary was quite advanced in the way they approached the game in terms of physical conditioning and power-play and penalty-killing systems meetings. That was lacking where I was at in Hartford. It was a definitely step up as far as professionalism goes and they definitely helped me for the rest of my career.” In his second season with the Flames in 1988-89, Murzyn was part of the only Flames team to win a Stanley Cup in franchise history. “I remember how much fun we had and how tight a group we were and how much we cared for each other,” said Murzyn. “I take a lot of those lessons with me for the rest of my life and how to work as a team, and how to care for another individual, even though you may be in competition with him. People always ask me how did you win a Stanley Cup, and in my opinion it was about the people we had and how they cared for each other. Yes, we had a ton of talent, but we have seen it in a lot of different sports leagues around the world that talent alone will not win you anything. You have to have people that are willing to co-operate and buy into a plan and stick with it.” Today, Murzyn is the project manager for Envision Custom Renovations in Calgary. Before he played in the WHL, NHL, and was an integral member of the Calgary business community, Murzyn was a Calgary Canuck!
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ARENA LOCATOR MAP
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ARENA ADDRESSES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Acadia Rec. Centre 240 - 90th Avenue SE Bowness Sportsplex 7904 - 43rd Avenue NW Brentwood Sportsplex 1520 Northmount Drive NW Cardel Recreation Centre South 333 Shawville Blvd SE #100 Don Hartman North East Sportsplex 5206 - 68th Street NE East Calgary Twin Arena Society 299 Erin Woods Drive SE Ed Whalen / Joseph Kryczka Arenas 2000 Southland Drive SW Ernie Starr Arena 4808 - 14th Avenue SE
9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.
Flames Community Arenas 2390 - 47th Avenue SW Frank McCool Arena 1900 Lake Bonavista Drive SE Jack Setters Arena 2020 - 69th Avenue SE Max Bell Centre 1001 Barlow Trail SE Mount Pleasant Sportsplex 610 - 23rd Avenue NW Father David Bauer Olympic Arena 2424 University Drive NW Optimist / George Blundun Arena 5020 - 26th Avenue SW Rose Kohn / Jimmie Condon Arena 502 Heritage Drive SW
17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.
SAIT Arena 1301 - 16th Avenue NW Sarcee Seven Chiefs Sportsplex 3700 Anderson Road SW Shouldice Arena 1515 Home Road NW Stew Hendry / Henry Viney Arena 814 - 13 Avenue NE Stu Peppard Arena 5300 - 19th Street SW Trico Centre 11150 Bonaventure Drive SE Village Square Arenas 2623 - 56th Street NE Westside Regional Rec. Centre 2000 - 69th Street SW
CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE | 11
START OF A NEW
Photo Provided By Seinosuke Uchigasaki
CHALLENGE FOR CALGARY’S
Photo Provided By David Moll University of Calgary
CARLA MACLEOD By Jeremy Freeborn
On Aug. 9, 2021, a new chapter in the life of Calgary’s Carla MacLeod began. After seven seasons as the head coach of the Under-18 Female Prep Team at Edge School, MacLeod accepted the position as head coach of the University of Calgary Dinos women’s hockey team. MacLeod took over from Hockey Hall of Famer Danielle Goyette, who had been in the position since 2007. MacLeod and Goyette won a gold medal together for Canada at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin. When Goyette accepted a position as director of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs, MacLeod got the opportunity to coach.
MacLeod is grateful to Mount Royal Cougars women’s head coach Scott Rivett for bringing her on board as an assistant coach for the 2010-11 Alberta Collegiate Athletic Conference season. At the time, MacLeod had just announced her retirement from women’s hockey as she was part of the Canadian team that won gold at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
Hockey, in fact, has always been in MacLeod’s blood. Her great-grandmother was the sister of Maurice Richard’s grandmother.
“(Upon retirement from playing), Scott reached out right away and asked if coaching would be something I was interested in. To be able to step out of playing and into a college atmosphere and learn how to coach from a guy who understands the game and understands people, I was really lucky. Scott let me have the chance to coach. He really fostered my love for coaching and gave me a platform to really see what I could do. To have that time with him at the program at Mount Royal was really the foundation of my coaching career.”
In an exclusive interview for Calgary Hockey Magazine, MacLeod said she was thrilled to join the Dinos’ hockey program. She was familiar with the University of Calgary, despite not playing there as a university student. MacLeod played at the University of Wisconsin in addition to playing five seasons with the Oval Xtreme, who had their home games at the University of Calgary’s Olympic Oval. “It has been incredibly meaningful,” said MacLeod. “Maybe I didn’t outright fully understand the impact of how it made me feel until I was there and wearing the Dinos’ logo everyday. Growing up in Calgary (born in Spruce Grove and moved to Calgary at age seven) and doing a lot of training at the Olympic Oval and the University of Calgary campus, it really has felt like a fullcircle moment. I did so much of my hockey career there, it has genuinely been special. To be a coach in Calgary alone is a privilege, as there are not a lot of full-time positions. Certainly to be at the University of Calgary, it is special.” MacLeod knows she has a tough act to follow. Goyette led the Dinos to a Canadian USports national championship title in women’s hockey in 2012 as the Dinos defeated the University of Montreal Carabins 5-1 in the gold medal game at the Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton. “You always appreciate the roots and Danielle was a big part of how the roots have been established,” said MacLeod. “To be able to take over from her has been great. Obviously at the end of the day, we are going to look and put our stamp on it now. We will continue to grow and make sure it is an incredible experience for all of the young women who come through our program.”
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MacLeod spent four seasons with the Cougars before joining Edge in 2014. In 2012, the Cougars won the ACAC Women’s Hockey championship for the second time in school history. They had previously won in 2010.
MacLeod is also grateful for her time at Edge School as this was the first time she was the head coach of a team in Canada. She compared her time as a coach to working on a jigsaw puzzle. MacLeod had a lot of great hockey players and needed to find a way for them to gel and “fit the right way.” One of MacLeod’s memories of being at Edge was having frequent conversations with students and their parents about university careers. MacLeod went the NCAA route herself and encouraged players to educate themselves by watching the game at the different levels before making a decision. She also wants to get the message across that the belief that the “NCAA is much better than USports” is an old-school sentiment and that is no longer the case. “To play at the USports level is an exceptional accomplishment and a very hard one to attain,” said MacLeod. “Every program is trying to give their student athletes the best experience through academics and athletics.” In 2014, MacLeod took on another special challenge. She was the head coach for Team Japan at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. While there was a language barrier between MacLeod and the players, the players could still understand her because they shared the same common language of hockey. MacLeod learned to teach the game by using facial expressions and body language.
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To be a coach in Calgary alone is a privilege... Certainly to be at the University of Calgary, it is special.
“For me one of the neatest things I have ever done as a player or as a coach, is to walk into the Opening Ceremonies with the Japan jacket on and have 21 women in front of me. They had a dream, but I don’t think they knew they could achieve that dream. There they were living it. For me, that was one of the most humbling moments of just sheer pride that they were getting that experience to live their dream. Hopefully, I played a small part in helping them get there.” MacLeod’s resume as a women’s hockey coach strengthened three years ago when she coached Team Alberta to a gold medal at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer. Alberta was the underdog and beat Quebec 2-1 in the gold medal contest. “That whole experience of the Canada Winter Games, all I can do is smile,” she said. “The group of young women on that team, and our staff collectively, were pulling and pushing in the same direction. We initially experienced adversity as we lost our first game (to British Columbia) 6-1. But those moments help shape you. I am really proud of the process we took as a group. At the end of the day, we had a group of really inspired and driven and committed young women who were willing to do anything to have the team succeed.” Hockey fans know MacLeod as a two-time Olympic gold medalist, but what MacLeod is most proud of are the relationships she has made along the way and that she is still connected to many of her teammates.
MacLeod is also proud of being given the opportunity to play hockey. “I have just been very blessed throughout my career and the reason I have been blessed is because of the people around me, who helped me get there.” One of those people was Melody Davidson, of Coronation, Alberta, who coached MacLeod for the first time when Carla was 12 years old in the 1995 Canada Winter Games in Grande Prairie. The pair has teamed up for much success beginning with a silver medal at the 1999 Canada Winter Games in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland. From there it has been gold medals at the 2006 Turin Olympic Winter Games, the 2007 Women’s World Hockey Championship, in Winnipeg, and at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. MacLeod gives us a glimpse of their relationship. “I made a deal with Mel,” said MacLeod, who is 5’3”. “If you decide to cut me at any point, can you please not cut me because you say I am small. Several coaches had used that against me, and I felt it as such an unfair statement because there is nothing you can do about it. You know, you do not cut a big girl because she cannot skate. I wanted something to measure and try to get better at.” Davidson held to the commitment and never told MacLeod her size was a disadvantage. “I grew up small and that is all I ever knew. For me, I had to do as much work as I could away from the rink, from a strength perspective, and make sure I was as strong as I could be. I was finding little ways to improve and would work on my shot a lot. I was trying to be the best I could be away from the rink so that when I got to the rink, I was given a fair shake.” MacLeod said she appreciates she was given that “fair shake” her entire career. “At the end of the day, I think my ability to understand the game was a tool of mine that helped me succeed with my smaller size.” It was MacLeod’s strong attention to detail and ability to understand the game from a technical and strategical perspective during her playing career that gave her an opportunity to be a high-performance hockey coach after her playing career was over. In the future, MacLeod’s goal is clear. “My objective is to make sure every Dino moving forward in the Dinos’ hockey program has the best five years of their career. That is the goal.” At the end of the day, MacLeod may be judged by coaching wins and losses, but she sees the broader picture when it comes to overall success.
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y
By Jeremy Freeborn Photos provided by Mark Blinch - COC
You could make the argument that 2022 will be an
historic year in Canadian hockey history. It will be the year that will forever be remembered as the finest Canadian Olympic women’s hockey team that was ever assembled. I am comfortable making that claim as I have seen every Canadian women’s Olympic hockey game live on television. This team may not have had the icons such as Hayley Wickenheiser, Jennifer Botterill, Danielle Goyette, Shannon Szabados, Jayna Hefford, Caroline Ouellette or Cassie Campbell on the squad, but a new nucleus of Canadian hockey talent proved they were more than capable of coming together when the stakes were at their highest. The Canadian women’s hockey team provided unprecedented dominance on their way to winning the gold medal at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. This Canadian team will be most remembered for their incredible offensive numbers. Canada scored 57 goals, the most goals any country has scored in a single Olympic women’s hockey tournament. The old record belonged to Canada with 44 goals at the 2010 games in Vancouver. It was the balanced offensive scoring and overall depth that is noteworthy. Of the top 10 scorers in the tournament, eight were Canadian players. Sarah Nurse, the cousin of Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse and Canadian women’s basketball superstar Kia Nurse, led the way for Canada. Her 13 assists and 18 points were Olympic women’s hockey records for a single Olympic Winter Games. Wickenheiser held the former records as she had 12 assists and 17 points when Canada won the gold medal at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin. Nurse was followed by Marie-Philip Poulin (six goals and 11 assists for 17 points), Brianne Jenner (nine goals and five assists for 14 points), Natalie Spooner (three goals and 11 assists for 14 points), Claire Thompson (two goals and 11 assists for 13 points), Sarah Fillier (eight goals and three assists for 11 points), Rebecca Johnston (two goals and eight assists for 10 points), and Jamie Lee Rattray (five goals and four assists for nine points). Jenner and Johnston have Calgary connections having both played for the Calgary Inferno in the past. Thompson and Fillier, who have both played for Princeton University, have much potential. Thompson is only 24 years old, while Fillier is only 21. You could make the argument that Thompson was the best defenseman in the entire Olympic women’s hockey tournament with an amazing +23 in seven games. Fillier, meanwhile, got off to a fantastic start in the tournament scoring five goals in Canada’s first three games.
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This Canadian team will be most remembered for their incredible offensive numbers. Canada scored 57 goals, the most goals any country has scored in a single Olympic women’s hockey tournament.
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The Canadian goaltending was simply outstanding. Ann-Renée Desbiens was spectacular in the games that mattered most (wins over the United States), while Emerance Maschmeyer blanked Sweden in the only shutout Canada had. There is no doubt that Canadian women’s goaltending coach Brad Kirkwood (featured in the winter issue of Calgary Hockey Magazine) had an instrumental role in the overall success of the Canadian team. It was no surprise that Canada clobbered Switzerland 12-1 in their opening game on Feb. 3. What was a massive surprise was the fact Canada clobbered Finland in their next game, 11-1 on Feb. 5. Remember Finland beat Canada 4-2 in the semi-final of the 2019 Women’s World Hockey championship in Espoo, Finland, and had a 2-0 lead on Canada in the opening game of the 2021 Women’s World Hockey championship in Calgary. Then, after Canada beat the Russian Olympic Committee 6-1 on Feb. 7, it set up a battle with their archrival, the United States on Feb. 8. In this game, Canada might not have played their best as a unit, but Desbiens played the best game of her life. The Canadian goaltender made 51 saves, many of them of highlight reel variety. Canada was outshot 53-27, but they made the most of their opportunities. Poulin scored a key insurance marker late in the second period, on a penalty shot, nonetheless. In the quarterfinals on Feb. 11, it was another Canadian romp as Canada put the beatdown on Sweden with an 11-0 win. Then in the semi-finals on Feb.14, Canada reached double digits in scoring again with a 10-3 victory over Switzerland.
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This set up a gold medal game against Team USA—the sixth time the two superpowers played for Olympic women’s hockey gold since women’s hockey joined the Olympic games in 1998. Here the United States had the edge when it came to forechecking, but Team Canada had the advantage in the most important position in hockey—goaltender. While Alex Cavallini struggled mightily between the pipes for Team USA (later found out she was playing with a torn MCL), Desbiens gave Canada stability. Team Canada jumped out to a 3-0 lead on two goals by Poulin and another by Nurse. While the United States controlled play in the latter parts of the second period and into the third period, Team Canada got some lucky breaks. The Americans hit the post not just once, but twice. Another key moment came in the first period. Canada had a goal scored by Spooner disallowed on an offside call. It would have been easy for the momentum to shift to the United States. This would not be the case. Just moments after the disallowed goal, Nurse put Canada up 1-0. It would be a lead Canada would not relinquish. Should we be surprised that Poulin scored the golden goal in the gold medal game? Absolutely not. Captain Clutch scored the game winner in Canada’s gold medal wins at the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Winter Games and the 2021 Women’s World Hockey championship. Although the Canadian blowouts over their opponents might not help the overall state of women’s hockey at the international level, it is time we celebrate Canadian excellence in the sport in addition to finding ways to improve the game’s competitive balance.
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