The Toronto Sceptres will get their MVP back on the ice as Natalie Spooner is set to make her season debut.
The 2024 PWHL MVP has been activated from long-term injured reserve and will be in the lineup Tuesday against the Minnesota Frost.
Spooner, the PWHL’s leading scorer from its inaugural season. injured her left knee in Game 3 of Toronto’s playoff run this past May, which saw the league’s top regular season team upset by Minnesota, the eventual Walter Cup champions. Spooner, who paced the league in Year 1 with 20 goals in 24 games, had surgery on her left ACL this off-season.
“I’m excited to be back with my teammates and looking forward to competing next to them again. It was obviously a long road to get to this point and doesn’t happen without a lot of amazing people in my corner,” Spooner said in a statement. “I’m very grateful for my surgical and medical team that have gotten me back to full health. Thank you to the fans and hockey community for all the well wishes and patience along the way. I can’t wait to play in front of the Toronto fans again and rock our new jerseys.”
Last season, Spooner led all players in goals (20) and points (27) and was selected a First-Team All-Star, Forward of the Year and Billie Jean King MVP Award recipient. She was also named the IIHF Female Player of the Year.
“We’ve been patiently waiting for the return of Natalie Spooner. We are tremendously proud of the work she has invested in getting herself to this point,” Sceptres general manager Gina Kingsbury explains. “This has been a long journey, and she has shown throughout this process just how elite of an athlete she is. We are excited to see number 24 back in blue!”
Unfortunately for Toronto, the team will be without forward Sarah Nurse who was placed on long-term injured reserve after she suffered a lower-body injury during Game 4 of the Canada-U.S. Rivalry Series. She is expected to be out indefinitely and has five goals and 12 points in 15 games.
With Spooner’s return to the lineup, the Sceptres released defenceman Lauren Bernard from her standard player agreement and has signed her to a reserve player contract, and forward Sam Cogan has been released from the team’s reserve player list.
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