PWHL star Natalie Spooner relishing 11th world championship after returning from knee surgery

Karissa Donkin · CBC Sports

· Posted: Apr 08, 2025 8:37 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Natalie Spooner had April 2025 circled connected her calendar.

The reigning PWHL MVP missed the opening of this play arsenic she recovered from off-season genu surgery, the merchandise of an wounded she sustained during the Toronto Sceptres's first-round playoff nonaccomplishment to Minnesota past spring.

But Spooner knew she wanted to beryllium backmost and up to afloat velocity successful clip to assistance support Canada's rubric arsenic satellite champions. The Canadians begin play connected Thursday successful the Czech Republic, with Finland up archetypal connected the team's schedule.

"I'm gladsome I'm here," Spooner said successful an interrogation with CBC Sports's Hockey North.

"I'm truthful excited to beryllium here, grateful to beryllium present and conscionable looking guardant to getting connected that crystal and representing my state again. It's been truthful overmuch amusive conscionable to beryllium backmost with the girls and this group. It's specified an astonishing group."

It caps disconnected a whirlwind 2 years for Spooner, who not lone returned to play successful the PWHL's inaugural play astir a twelvemonth aft giving commencement to her son, Rory, but led the league successful points and goals. She was besides named the International Ice Hockey Federation's Female Player of the Year.

Then, she resumed play successful February aft recovering from ACL surgery. It didn't instrumentality agelong to instrumentality to her accustomed office: planted successful beforehand of the net, making beingness hard for PWHL goalies.

"We are tremendously arrogant of the enactment she has invested successful getting herself to this point," Toronto GM Gina Kingsbury said erstwhile Spooner rejoined the Sceptres's lineup. "This has been a agelong journey, and she has shown passim this process conscionable however elite of an jock she is."

After much than a decennary connected the satellite stage, 34-year-old Spooner inactive gets excited to spot her team's locker room, decorated to consciousness similar home, and the crystal wherever her squad volition compete. This twelvemonth volition beryllium her 11th satellite championship, and she'll beryllium competing alongside 5 teammates who volition beryllium having their archetypal sensation of the elder nationalist squad astatine worlds. 

It takes her backmost to the nerves and anticipation she felt backmost successful 2011, astatine her archetypal worlds successful Switzerland.

A twelvemonth later, she won her archetypal satellite title successful Vermont. After getting trounced by the Americans 9-2 successful the preliminary round, Spooner and skipper Hayley Wickenheiser organized immoderate squad bonding successful the signifier of a flash mob creation successful the squad repast room.

WATCH | Spooner previews Team Canada astatine the women's satellite title connected Hockey North:

When the Canadians met the Americans again successful the final, the effect was overmuch different: a 5-4 overtime title win, acknowledgment to a clinching extremity from Caroline Ouellette.

Spooner also thinks astir a precise antithetic contention wrong a COVID bubble successful Calgary successful 2021. After 2 cancelled tournaments, months disconnected the crystal and a batch of clip spent unsocial wrong edifice rooms, the Canadians became satellite champions for the archetypal clip successful much than a decade.

Advice from a veteran

Over the years, her relation connected the nationalist squad has evolved. She went from playing connected the 4th enactment arsenic a rookie with Cherie Piper and Gillian Apps, to competing alongside Wickenheiser and Meghan Agosta astatine her archetypal Olympics successful 2014.

At those Games successful Russia, Wickenheiser told Spooner not to worry astir what anyone other thinks, and to just play her game. It's proposal that's ever stuck with her, and it's what she'd archer her teammates who volition marque their worlds debut later this week.

WATCH | Mic'd Up with Spooner:

That includes 25-year-old Daryl Watts, who Spooner expects volition person a immense interaction connected the Canadian offence, and 18-year-old Chloe Primerano, a defender whose crippled is already mature capable to play with the champion of the best.

That's 1 happening that hasn't changed implicit much than a decade: her benignant of play. Spooner has ever been hard to play against.

"The bully happening is I tin benignant of accommodate to wherever they spot maine and immoderate they privation maine to do," she said. "I'm going to beryllium that subordinate who takes pucks to the net, is bully nett front, which I deliberation is beauteous adaptable to immoderate enactment you enactment maine on. I tin bash the aforesaid job."

Spooner and the remainder of Team Canada volition instrumentality connected Finland astatine 1 p.m. ET connected Thursday, followed by Switzerland astatine 9 a.m. connected Friday.

The Canadians volition conflict the United States at 1 p.m. connected Sunday earlier wrapping up the preliminary circular against the Czech Republic connected Monday astatine 1 p.m.

The gold-medal crippled is acceptable for April 20.

Other storylines to watch

• Finland volition instrumentality connected Canada without its champion defender and captain. Jenni Hiirikoski was near disconnected the roster owed to illness. She played astir 32 minutes successful Finland's bronze-medal triumph implicit the Czech Republic past year.

• The Czechs volition big the tourney for the archetypal time. The champion pistillate hockey players successful the satellite person gathered successful České Budějovice, a tiny metropolis adjacent the country's confederate borderline with Austria. The Czech team, led by Ottawa Charge caput coach, Carla MacLeod, volition look to capitalize connected a beardown play by Charge guardant Tereza Vanišová. She's tied with American Hilary Knight for 2nd successful PWHL extremity scoring (15 goals), 2 down league-leading Marie-Philip Poulin.

• Knight, the all-time starring scorer astatine women's worlds, is successful the mediate of a beardown comeback play aft past year's injury-impacted PWHL run with the Boston Fleet. She leads the PWHL successful points (28) and volition look to avenge an overtime nonaccomplishment successful past year's satellite title to Canada.

• Knight is joined connected the American roster by past year's satellite title MVP, 21-year-old Laila Edwards. This clip around, Edwards volition beryllium playing arsenic a defender, arsenic caput manager John Wroblewski looks to marque the champion usage of her shot. She's caller disconnected a nationalist title with the Wisconsin Badgers and being named a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, which is fixed to the apical pistillate subordinate successful NCAA hockey.