TORONTO - Natalie Spooner was happy to shed the knee brace when the time came after getting some advice from Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman.
The Toronto Sceptres forward crossed paths with the NHLer at Hockey Canada's Olympic orientation camp in late August that brought together players from the men's, women's and paralympic teams.
"I was talking to Zach Hyman because I'd heard how he had the same surgery as me," Spooner told reporters at the Sceptres' opening day of training camp. "And I was like, you know, I'm just, I'm feeling slow and he's like, 'don't worry, it comes back after the year.'
"(He asked) 'oh, are you running? What are you doing?' And he was like 'are you in the brace?' And I said, I am in the brace. And he was like 'Get out of the brace. It will help you so much.' So after that I was like OK, Zach Hyman told me to get out of the brace, I'll get out of the brace."
The 35-year-old Spooner spent a rare off-season being able to fully commit herself to training. Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) last year after getting injured in the playoffs of the PWHL's inaugural season.Â
With that came a long road back, a late start to the season and not feeling or looking like herself. The former league MVP and scoring champion had just five points (three goals, two assists) in 14 regular-season games.
"If you look at her recent years, from having Rory (Spooner's son) to having the knee injury, her summers have been all about rehab or coming back," Sceptres general manager Gina Kingsbury said. "This summer, her summer was about building and growing and getting faster and training like every other athlete."
This year, Spooner doesn't look the part of somebody coming back from anything. She has looked significantly better in her movement and with her speed at camp.
"It's nice to be able to just start the season with the team and get those games that maybe aren't so good out of the way and feel good now going into it and just get my stride back and feeling like I have a step again," Spooner said. "I think last season I felt a little bit like I was in quicksand out there just holding on."
The Sceptres took a step back in scoring in 2024-25 with 73 goals in 30 games, fourth in the PWHL, after a league-best 69 goals in 24 games in 2024.Â
"There's no doubt when a player like (Spooner) is out of the lineup for prolonged periods of time, you're going to miss that offence because she's so threatening around the net and she takes pucks to the net," superstar defender Renata Fast said. "And she's a huge asset to this team."
With the injury and recovery now in the past, Spooner looks ahead to returning to the role she played in 2024.
The Sceptres lost significant pieces through the expansion process and free agency, including top forwards Sarah Nurse and Hannah Miller and 2024 draft picks Julia Gosling, Izzy Daniel and Megan Carter.
With a whole new team, and championship aspirations, Toronto will need a return to form from Spooner.
"I want to play that role. I think season one, I was able to do that," said Spooner, who led the PWHL with 20 goals and 27 points in 2024. "Last season was definitely tough. I wasn't myself out there at all.Â
"So, I hope this season that I can come back and be a threat every time on the ice, help my team win games, do whatever it takes out there. And I think we have a great group here.Â
"I mean, today, even skating around, I was like, we are big. I am like average height out here. So it was pretty cool to see and I think we're going to have a great team and be a hard team to play against."
This report by ºÃÉ«tvwas first published Nov. 11, 2025.
