London Inc. Fall 2021 - 27

facing page: Kathy McLlwain along with
Boone Jenner, Bo Horvat and Corey Perry
" She really gets to know the
player and really focuses in on
their needs, " says Bill Bowler,
general manager of the OHL's
Windsor Spitfires, a long-time
client.
" Our players know that Kathy
truly cares about them, and them
getting better. That's why [she's]
a great person and a good coach.
And obviously she helps them
with their skating. "
McLlwain grew up in Zurich, a
village of about 900 people in Huron
County, 70 kilometres northwest of
London. She began skating at age five,
attended high school in Exeter and
London, and began competing internationally
when she was 16.
Her time with the Ice Capades
allowed her to share the stage with
Olympians Elizabeth Manley,
Brian Orser, Dorothy Hamill and
Brian Boitano. She also spent a
year in Finland in the mid-1990s,
coaching synchronized skating teams.
McLlwain later returned to Exeter to start a family with
her husband, Mark, a financial planner and brother of former
NHLer, Dave McLlwain. Her coaching business grew almost
entirely by word of mouth and despite the lack of any formal
marketing plan.
Bo Horvat is perhaps her best-known pupil. The Vancouver
Canucks standout and captain began working with McLlwain
when he was a raw 18-year-old prospect. Together, they
drastically cut down his endto-end
stride count, from a
choppy 22 strides when they
first started to work together
to just three (plus crossovers
around the end boards). The
league took notice.
" I'm very grateful to be a
small part of his journey, " she
says.
Other clients have included
NHLers Ryan and Cal O'Reilly,
Christian Dvorak and Michael
McCarron, and female players
from Team Canada and the London
Devilettes.
Though notoriously intense on
the ice ( " You can hear her outside
the arena, yelling, " Perry jokes), in
hockey circles McLlwain is equally
well-known for being conscientious.
" If you work with her, you're going to
hear from her, " Perry says. " And that's a
great thing to have, because during the
season you get tired. She'll text you and
say, 'Great job last night,' or 'Bend your
knees a little bit more, and you'll have a
little bit more power,' or whatever it is. She's always there. "
As she approaches the end of her third decade as a coach,
McLlwain knows age will eventually prevent her from
chasing 20-year-olds through on-ice pilons. Still, she plans
to stay with it as long as she can.
" I do love my job, " she says. " I'm passionate about it, and I
really believe coaching is a privilege; I believe it's a gift. "
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FALL 2021 | londonincmagazine.ca | 27
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London Inc. Fall 2021

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