The 2023 IIHF Coaching Symposium ended with an 60-minute panel discussion about Integrity, featuring Carla MacLeod, Brandon Kozun and Kirill Starkov, three individuals with extensive playing and coaching experience.
MacLeod, a retired member of the Canadian national women’s hockey team who won two Olympic gold medals as a player, is Head Coach of both the University of Calgary Women’s program, as well as the Czech Republic Women’s team, which has won back-to-back World Championship Bronze Medals since she took over.
Kozun is an active player currently playing with HC Dinamo Minsk of the (KHL). The LA-born forward, who attended Shattuck–Saint Mary’s, was a drafted in the sixth round, 179th overall, in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by his hometown Kings. His pro career began in 2010 and includes seasons in the AHL, NHL, NL & KHL. Kozun, who has dual citizenship, has represented Canada internationally at the World Juniors and Olympics.
Starkov is also still an active player, currently with HC Château-d’Oex in the Swiss 2. Liga, of the Swiss hockey system. The Russian forward was drafted 189th overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets; the veteran has been playing pro since 2005 with time played in the SEL, AHL, ECHL, CHL, KHL, DEN, Allsv, SUI.2 & SUI.5 for the past three seasons. Starkov has represented Denmark at two Olympics and six World Championships.
Before the panel kicked off, Ashley Ehlert, IIHF Deputy General Secretary & Legal Director, spoke on the IIHF’s four Integrity Pillars were introduced, namely Anti-Doping, Competition Manipulation, Harassment & Abuse and Ethics, going into great detail about each to arm attendees with tools to understand these critical issues and how to deal with them. That led into a lively discussion amongst panelists about their experiences dealing with these issues. Some of the talk was sobering – such as Starkov’s account of being issued with a bogus passport after his club failed to renew his visa – but the discussion ended on a positive call to action, wrote Andy Potts who covered the event for the IIHF.
“When you think about coaching and the facets that we’re truly responsible for, these are really important,” said MacLeod. “These are situations that can have a massive domino effect. It’s important that we have great break-outs and power plays, there’s no doubt about it. But we must recognize that our portfolio is so much more extensive than that and dedicate time we need to ensure that our athletes are not going down the wrong path, to ensure we have the right infrastructure around us.”
- More content on The Coaches Site:
- 2023 IIHF Coaching Symposium: Shaping Skilled Intentions, with James Vaughan (VIDEO)
- 2023 IIHF Coaching Symposium: In-Season Defence Development Program, with Paul Boutilier (VIDEO)
- 2023 IIHF Coaching Symposium: How a Structured Championship System Help Player Development, with Angelica Lindeberg (VIDEO)
- 2023 IIHF Coaching Symposium: Minnesota was Unintentionally Inspired by Finland, with Mike Snee (VIDEO)
Carla MacLeod
Carla MacLeod is the head coach of the Czechia Women's National Team and University of Calgary Dinos.She joined the Dinos from Edge School, a private school for Grades 4-12 located just west of Calgary, where she has led the U18 Female Prep Team since 2014. MacLeod's teams excelled both academically and athletically during her time in charge of the Edge program. Student-athletes recorded a team-academic average of 89 per cent — 98 per cent pursued post-secondary degrees and 88 per cent continued their hockey careers. In 2019-20, MacLeod's Edge team captured its first Female U18 Prep Division championship in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League.
MacLeod's international playing career was highlighted by a pair of Olympic gold medals with Canada's Women's Hockey team at Turin 2006 and Vancouver 2010, where she posted a stellar nine points in 10 contests across those Games. She also competed at four IIHF Women's World Championships — winning gold in 2007 and earning MVP honours in 2009 — as well as five 4 Nations Cups, where she earned an additional three gold medals.
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