Calgary Fire Black captain MacLeod brings her leadership, work ethic and strong habits to the Griffins
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Habits. Details. Leadership. Work ethic.
All are needed for a hockey team to be successful.
The Griffins are getting a nice package of those attributes in Calgary Fire U18AAA captain Shannon MacLeod, who is joining longtime teammate Mya Magowan at MacEwan next season.
The duo have played together for three-straight seasons in the Fire organization and will make it four in a row in 2026-27 when they join the Griffins.
"I think it always helps in the sense of familiarity," said Griffins head coach Chris Leeming of both joining the team together. "You have somebody to lean on that you have a tighter relationship with.
"I think our girls do a really great job of facilitating that within our dressing room anyways. That's some of the feedback we got is the girls just felt that it was a really tight dressing room regardless of outcomes for our team. As a coach, that's music to your ears because you don't have to worry about anything in the dressing room – the players are handling it themselves – and that's the sign of a mature program."
By all accounts, MacLeod will add nicely to that dynamic. Her coach Jordan Fenton confirmed that in an Instagram post: "You would be hard pressed to find someone who works harder than her or puts her team first more than Shannon."
MacLeod missed part of the 2025-26 season with injury, finishing with three points in 15 games. She had 10 points in 27 games with the same squad in 2024-25 and spent the 2023-24 season with Calgary Fire White U18AA.
"The biggest thing is she's got really good habits," said Leeming. "When you watch her play and someone does a cutback, she doesn't loop away. She stops and starts, faces the puck, has a good stick, is always reloading to support and being above the puck on a transition moment.
"In talking with her, she's super dialled. She's big into the sport and the mental performance side. That's her goal at the end of the day is to become a sports psych. So, those would be her habits off the ice.
"She was captain of that team in Calgary and had a lot of good things said about her with everyone I talked to. She's a mature young lady."
