Dinos Get An Edge

When head coach Danielle Goyette stepped away from the Calgary Dinos women's hockey team for an opportunity with the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs, there were some pretty big shoes to fill when it came to all the accomplishments and accolades that Goyette both brought to the team and created with the team while she was there. At the time, I had speculated that a handful of younger women with Canada's national program may step up and apply for the position. I don't know if that happened, but the Dinos named their new head coach effective August 9 and they didn't go far to find her.

Edge School, based in Calgary, is where she was previously working, so it is with great honour to welcome Carla MacLeod, former head coach of the U18 Female Prep Team at Edge, to Canada West as she takes over the head coaching duties for the Calgary Dinos women's team! If I were to answer if the new person could fill Goyette's shoes, the answer might be yes as Goyette's former teammate steps into her former role, but MacLeod brings all sorts of amazing experiences with her that should help her guide the Dinos back to a U SPORTS National Championship!

Where do you start with MacLeod's list of achievements? She was a Wisconsin Badger in the NCAA from 2001-05 while serving as the captain of the Badgers in both 2004 and 2005. In 2005, she was named as the USCHO Defensive Player of the Year, and she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies. She is a 2007 IIHF Women's World Championship gold medalist while earning a silver medal in 2005, 2008, and 2009. She is an Olympic gold medalist at the 2006 Torino Olympics and at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Needless to say, Carla MacLeod, who wore #3 for Team Canada as shown above, knows how to win.

Now you might be saying, "She's a coach, not a player, Teebz" and you'd be right. But it seems that Carla MacLeod has only become more valuable as a coach after collecitng all sorts of accolades as a player.

Following her playing career, she joined the Mount Royal Cougars in the ACAC in 2010 as an assistant coach where she helped the Cougars win that championship, leading to their promotion to Canada in 2012. She was an assitant coach on the gold medal-winning Team Canada squad at the 2012 U18 IIHF Women's World Championship. Japan reached out to her and hired her to join their Women's National Team at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. She was Team Alberta's assistant coach in 2015 and head coach in 2016 at the Canadian U18 National Championship, she was an assistant coach at the 2017 Team Canada National Development Camp, and she was the head coach of the gold medal-winning Team Alberta entry at the 2019 Canada Winter Games. She's coached at Edge School for the last six years, leading them to the 2019-20 CSSHL Female Prep National Championship gold medals.

In other words, she knows how to run a bench, she's good at recruiting, she has excellent motivational and communication skills, and players reach their potentials under MacLeod based on how often she seems to win. Academically, Edge School student-athletes recorded a team academic average of 89% with 98% of those girls pursuing post-secondary degrees while 88% continued their hockey careers at the post-secondary level.

I'd say that Calgary did pretty darn well in finding Danielle Goyette's replacement!

"We're thrilled to welcome Carla aboard to take the Dinos women's hockey program forward," Athletic Director Ben Matchett stated. "As a player, a coach and a leader, Carla has won at every level, and her track record of academic success and community involvement speaks for itself. She will be a tremendous asset to the women's hockey program, the athletic department, and the university."

That "tremendous asset" comment might be understatment of the year in Canada West as MacLeod is already looking to push the Dinos higher than where they finished in 2019. With some of the recruits brought in by Goyette, this won't exactly be MacLeod's team out of the gates, but expect her to demand more, raise the expectations, set new standards, and find winning ways for the Dinos to consider their resurgeance in Canada West!

If you're wise, I would suggest buying your tickets now because she'll visit Manitoba on October 15 and 16 when the Calgary Dinos come to visit the Bisons to open the 2021-22 Canada West season, and it will be a chance to see a little history as Carla MacLeod coaches her first U SPORTS game at Wayne Fleming Arena. Of course, the Bisons will try to send Carla McLeod home to Calgary with an 0-2 record to start her Canada West coaching career, but I'm already excited to see how the Dinos play under MacLeod's watch.

Congratulations to Carla MacLeod on the new position, and to the University of Calgary and the Calgary Dinos on finding the right person to take the head coach job. I hae a feeling you won't be disappointed for any reason with the selection of Carla MacLeod!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!