04/08/2025
WEST MALL LIGHTNING ALUMNI
NATALIE SPOONER
RETURNS TO PWHL
Natalie Spooner, a West Mall Lightning Alumni returned to the PWHL after a season ending injury forced her out of the 23/24 Season Play-offs.
Spooner was a star player with the PWHL Toronto team in the 23/24 season, she not only led her Toronto team in scoring, she was the highest scorer in the PWHL, with 20 goals & 7 assists for a total 27 points in 24 games. She also won the League MVP Award and Best Forward Award, but also the IIHA Player of the Year Award.
She helped her Toronto team, who had an initial slow start (1 win, 4 losses), go on to place 1st in regular season play, with a record of 13 wins, 4 ties & 7 losses.
Toronto was highly favoured to win in the playoffs. They were leading against Minnesota 2 games to 1 in the
semi-finals, when Spooner incurred a season ending knee injury. This enabled Minnesota to win the semi-final and move on to final were they lost to Montreal.
The knee injury was serious, a torn ACL in her left knee. It required surgery, and many months of rehab & conditioning to get her ready to return to the ice, game ready.
She was finally able to return to her Toronto PWHL team , now called the Toronto Sceptres, on February 11, 2025. The Sceptres had a record of 4 wins & 11 losses up to that date. Since then their record has been 7 wins & 2 losses. Let's hope Natalie can lead the Sceptres to much success during the regular season and into the playoffs.
Spooner had a briiliant hockey career prior to joining the PWHA. She played in 10 World Championships, winnng 3 times. She played in 3 Olympics, winning 2 gold medals. She holds many other awards & team/league records.