Scepters prepare to enter second PWHL season without MVP and top scorer Spooner

By Tim Wharnsby, The Canadian Press on November 29, 2024.

Minnesota goaltender Maddie Rooney (35) makes a save on Toronto's Natalie Spooner (24) during first period PWHL playoff hockey action in Toronto on Friday, May 10, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

TORONTO – The Toronto Sceptres have new jerseys, a fresh roster, a new home rink and, unfortunately, a new problem.

The Professional Women’s Hockey League regular-season champions begin their second year without Billie Jean King MVP Natalie Spooner.

The 34-year-old Spooner, who led the PWHL in its inaugural season with 20 goals in 24 games, has been reduced to skating after her teammates as she recovers from left knee surgery.

“It’s not something you never wish upon any team or any group,” Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan said.

His team opens the 30-game regular season against the Boston Fleet at home at the Coca-Cola Coliseum on Saturday.

“If you compare it to say a National Hockey League team it would be like if Edmonton was starting the year without Connor McDavid, or Pittsburgh without (Sidney) Crosby. It would be devastating.

“I think for our group, it’s the same losing an MVP and a top scorer. Last year we found ways to score by committee. We’re just going to have to do the same. No one will come in and put up the numbers Spooner put up last year, but we expect everybody to increase their total a little bit and find ways to contribute more.”

After a slow start last season, winning only one of its first five outings, Toronto rebounded to win 17 of its final 19 games, ripping off an 11-game win streak to finish first.

They led Minnesota 2-0 in the best-of-five first round of the playoffs, but Spooner then suffered her devastating knee injury in the third period of Game 3. Toronto lost the game and the next two games to take a seat on the sidelines.

Sceptres general manager Gina Kingsbury, Ryan and the management staff went to work on rebuilding the roster. They overhauled a lineup that not only put together the best record but also led the league in goals scored (69) and the fewest goals allowed (50). The next best goal differential to Toronto’s plus-19 was second-place Montreal at plus-three.

The Sceptres will have nine new players on the opening-day lineup, including six forwards. One of those new players up front is Daryl Watts. The 25-year-old forward was signed as a free agent from Ottawa, where she scored a team-leading 10 times.

“Ever since I was a kid, my dream was to play on a pro team in Toronto, the city I’m from,” Watts said. “It’s just crazy to think it’s a reality. Growing up I was the biggest Maple Leafs fan. I still am. So this is kind of my Leafs.”

After a successful collegiate career at Boston University and Wisconsin, she thought her hockey days had ended, even though she became the first freshman to win the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top U.S. college player and claim a national championship in her final year at Wisconsin.

Watts decided to enrol in a Masters Program for commercial real estate at Wisconsin.

“Basically, because of the uncertainty for the women’s pro hockey landscape and the lack of money. I just didn’t see a future for myself in women’s hockey,” she said.

But an opportunity arrived to play for the Toronto Six of the Premier Hockey Federation in January 2023 and Ottawa last year.

Now she’s playing for her hometown Sceptres and is on the radar of Canada’s national team.

Watts’s new teammate, Renata Fast, a stalwart defender for Toronto and Canada, is excited about playing in the Coca-Cola Coliseum.

Toronto outgrew the 2,600-seat Mattamy Athletic Centre last year, moving their playoff games to the 8,140-seat Coca-Cola Coliseum at Exhibition Place.

“I can’t wait to get in our new uniforms with this group of players,” said Fast, whose team went through a workout at their new home on Friday.

“I think we’ve had a really good training camp. To think about how playoffs were at Coca-Cola and to know we’re going to be back there in front of our fans with our logo is pretty special.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov 29, 2024