Sceptres look to erase playoff disappointment in Year 2
Published
The Toronto Sceptres finished atop the Professional Women’s Hockey League regular-season standings last year but a disappointing five-game series loss in the playoffs has them looking for redemption in Year 2.
The Sceptres will have to start strong without reigning league MVP Natalie Spooner for the first part of the season as she continues to recover from a torn ACL that required surgery in May.
Spooner led the PWHL in goals (20) and points (27) last season and the Sceptres lost three playoff games in a row after she was injured in Game 3 against Minnesota.
Toronto made a number of notable additions in the off-season, signing forward Daryl Watts
in free agency and selecting forward Julia Gosling sixth overall in the draft.
Watts, who played in the final Premier Hockey Federation season with the Toronto Six, returns to the city after spending last season with Ottawa. In 24 games, she had 10 goals and 17 points. The former Patty Kazmaier winner had an illustrious NCAA career split between Boston College and Wisconsin and recently made her debut with Team Canada’s senior national team during the Rivalry Series, scoring one goal in three games.
Gosling wrapped up a four-year NCAA career with St. Lawrence University in 2024, where she scored 22 goals and 51 points in 37 games as a senior. She also helped Canada to gold at the Women’s World Championships in April with two goals in seven games.
With Sceptres general manager Gina Kingsbury and head coach Troy Ryan also holding those same roles with Team Canada, Toronto has a strong national presence on its roster with forwards Spooner, Gosling, Watts, Sarah Nurse, Emma Maltais, Blayre Turnbull, defenders Jocelyne Larocque and Renata Fast and goaltender Kristen Campbell all appearing with Team Canada in 2024.
Ryan captured the inaugural PWHL Coach of the Year award, edging out Montreal’s Kori Cheverie and Boston’s Courtney Kessel.
Nurse was second in league scoring with 11 goals and 23 points while Maltais was tied for first in assists with New York’s Alex Carpenter with 15. The Sceptres led the league in scoring with 69 goals.
Campbell had a breakout season in goal in her busiest season since graduating from Wisconsin in 2020. She appeared in 22 games for Toronto, going 16-6-0 with a .927 save percentage and 1.99 goals-against average as she claimed PWHL Goaltender of the Year. She was a big reason why Toronto allowed a league-low 50 goals.
Toronto has all the pieces in place to challenge for the crown this season. How they respond to not having Spooner to start the year will be telling in how this team can handle adversity, especially with how they lost their spark in the playoffs when she was injured.