Sceptres' top forward Natalie Spooner to miss PWHL season opener

The Toronto Sceptres will have a big piece of their lineup missing to start the upcoming Professional Women's Hockey League campaign.

Reigning league MVP and scoring champion Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.

In mid-October, Spooner told The Canadian Press she was targeting a return for the Nov. 30 season opener against the Boston Fleet.

"There is no timelines for her, she will not start the season unfortunately," Kingsbury said. "We will work with her here deliberately throughout this recovery process on getting her healthy and back on the ice.

"She's doing really well. As you can imagine, her positivity, her approach, her work ethic, all helps her heal much faster than most people, I would say. But we'll be very careful on making sure she's ready to go at 100 per cent and not putting her at more risk."

The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota's Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.

She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.

Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.

"I think any team that gets to start the season without an MVP and a top-scorer, and just her presence in general — and although she'll be around our group all the time, it's really difficult," head coach Troy Ryan said. "It's a lot of offence that we're going to look to manufacture elsewhere.

"We're not going to get that offence from any one particular player, it's going to be a shared responsibility, for sure. But it's good that she's going to be around and back before we know it."

Lineup deeper

Despite the Spooner injury, there is excitement around the Sceptres' new additions entering the season.

Toronto added depth with the likes of forwards Daryl Watts and Emma Woods, who came over from Ottawa and New York in free agency, and top draft picks Julia Gosling, Izzy Daniel and Megan Carter.

We got some great additional athletes ... that play a similar style to how we play. We're going to be hard to play against, again.— Sceptres GM Gina Kingsbury

The Sceptres had the majority of its core from the inaugural season locked in entering the off-season. The team also added University of Toronto head coach Vicky Sunohara as a coach consultant on Tuesday and said she will have "a more hands-on role" when the U Sports season ends.

"This off-season was so long that everyone is just so eager to get started, I can't believe we're here now," Kingsbury said. "It's really exciting. Last season was an incredible year for us, for the entire league, so much success.

"I think we got substantially deeper, especially up front. I think we got some great additional athletes that are coming in that play a very similar style to how we play. I think we're going to be hard to play against, again, this season."

Camp will also feature battles for roster spots, with three unsigned draft picks — Lauren Bernard, Noemi Neubauerova and Anneke Linser — competing with a few returnees. Toronto will have two pre-season scrimmages against Minnesota and New York on Nov. 20 and Nov. 22.

"I think it's going to be a battle for this training camp," Kingsbury said. "We've left some open spots and we are 100 per cent open on seeing what they can do at camp. We're not coming in with predetermined names and certain slots or decisions that are already made."

The PWHL also introduced team names, logos and jerseys, while some teams, including Toronto will have a new primary venue in the league's second season.

The Sceptres will primarily play at Coca-Cola Coliseum, where they played their playoff games, after mainly playing at Mattamy Athletic Centre during last year's regular season.

Despite the way last season ended in that building, however, Ryan wants no part in looking back.

"A lot of success to be drawn on," he said. "One of the big things, and we've talked a lot about this in the off-season, I think it's a bit of a disservice to be talking about last season when you got a group of new players, a group of new staff. Everything's moving forward."

PWHL home openers: 

Toronto Sceptres – Nov. 30, 2024, 2:00 p.m. ET vs. Boston Fleet at Coca-Cola Coliseum. 

Montréal Victoire – Nov. 30, 2024, 5:00 p.m. ET vs. Ottawa Charge at Place Bell. 

Minnesota Frost – Dec. 1, 2024, 6:00 p.m. ET vs. New York Sirens at Xcel Energy Center. 

Ottawa Charge – Dec. 3, 2024, 7:00 p.m. ET vs. Toronto Sceptres at TD Place.

Boston Fleet – Dec. 4, 2024, 7:00 p.m. ET vs. Minnesota Frost at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell. 

New York Sirens – Dec. 18, 2024, 7:00 p.m. ET vs. Toronto Sceptres at Prudential Center.