Sceptres look to keep positive start going in neutral-site game against Victoire

By Canadian Press on December 16, 2025.

While much of the focus has been how different the team looks this year, the main difference has been the Toronto Sceptres’ start to the season.

Toronto lost four of its first five games each of the previous two Professional Women’s Hockey League campaigns before settling in and finding its groove. The Sceptres were outscored 17-10 in their first four losses last season, and 15-4 in their first four losses of the league’s inaugural season.

This time around, Toronto is 2-0-0-2 (two regulation wins and two regulation losses) entering its matchup against the Montreal Victoire on Wednesday in Halifax for the first of 16 Takeover Tour games this season in the PWHL.

“That was the hope, we wanted to come up with a strong start,” star forward Natalie Spooner told reporters on a Zoom call. “And this game tomorrow can kind of cement that we’re playing good hockey.

“We’re getting better every game. And I think we’re doing a lot of the right things. I think about the game against Boston (3-1 loss on Nov. 29), we outplayed them. We just weren’t finishing. So I think there’s a lot of really great moments that you can take from our game and I think we’re playing some great hockey and just need to find ways to win those games.”

The teams last played on Dec. 7 when they met in Laval, Que., as the Victoire earned a 3-1 victory. The league then had an international break due to a pair of Rivalry Series games in Edmonton between Canada and the United States.

Sceptres assistant coach Rachel Flanagan said the group that was home during the break worked on “being ready to accept that physicality” as well as some “wall work and plays from below the goal line offensively and defensively.”

“One of the things that we’ve talked about as a group is minimizing some of our compound errors,” Flanagan said. “We’re going to make mistakes but one play needs to stop the errors from happening. And so it just takes one player, one play to be able to stop those.

“And I think we expect the errors, but when they pile on, error after error after error, that’s when you’re at risk. So cleaning up some of those details I think has been a focus for us, even while the girls were away at Rivalry (Series), just back home, working on some things with the group that’s here and focusing on that.”

The players are looking forward to competing in front of a new set of fans. Spooner said the team was welcomed by fans at the airport upon arrival in Halifax.

“I think the fans are hungry for a team,” she said. “They want to be supportive. They want to come out to our games. And I think they’re probably a city that hasn’t had a lot of women’s hockey come through.

“So every mom and dad that has a little girl is probably trying to get tickets to this game to bring their daughter out to see us play, which I think is pretty special. I think it’s a great community. They’re a hockey loving community.”

TO KEEP IT OR NOT TO KEEP IT?

Whether the Rivalry Series should be kept going or not has been a hot topic, with the PWHL growing and an Olympic year ahead that will see the world championships played next November in Denmark.

The PWHL has typically accommodated international play with multiple breaks in the midst of its schedule, for both the Rivalry Series and the world championships.

“I’m sure it’s going to be re-evaluated after this year and see how our schedule is. If there’s more teams, does that mean a few more games? What does that mean? What does our schedule look like?” Spooner asked. “For me, I still love playing Canada (versus) U.S. games … So for that experience, I think it’s great.

“But I think obviously down the line, there’s going to have to be some compromise and see where that falls if it’s necessary. All these breaks, I think, is harder on the girls staying back. … So that should probably be taken into account, too.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2025.

Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press