Toronto's Spooner (knee) out for remainder of playoffs
Published
If PWHL Toronto is to win the inaugural Walter Cup, it will be without its leading scorer.
The team announced Wednesday that forward Natalie Spooner will miss the remainder of the playoffs with a knee injury and has been placed on long-term injured reserve.
“It’s a big loss for us, obviously Natalie has been an important part of our success all year,” Toronto general manager Gina Kingsbury said in a statement. “We have no doubt Natalie will continue to have an impact on our team, just in a different way.”
Spooner, 33, incurred the injury during the third period of the team's 2-0 Game 3 loss to Minnesota on Sunday. Toronto leads the best-of-five series 2-1.
A native of Scarborough, Ont., Spooner had a league-leading 20 goals and 27 points in 24 games this season. She had one goal and an assist in three playoff games.
In a corresponding move, Jess Jones has been activated from the Reserve Player list and has signed a standard player agreement. Jones, 33, appeared in five games for Toronto this season.
Toronto can advance to the Walter Cup Final with a victory in Minnesota on Wednesday night in Game 4.
The winner of this series will go on to meet Boston in the final.