Canadian Olympic gold medalist Natalie Spooner of Scarborough, Ontario was named the 2024 Professional Women’s Hockey League Most Valuable Player on Tuesday. Spooner, a forward with Toronto, had 20 goals and seven assists for 27 points in 24 games. She also had four penalty minutes, and was a +11 with seven faceoff wins, seven power-play goals, one shorthanded goal, five game-winning goals, and 101 shots on goal.
Spooner’s most memorable game came on Valentine’s Day. That is when she had a hat trick in a 5-3 Toronto win over Boston. Spooner’s Olympic gold medals in women’s hockey came at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi and at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
Three other Canadians won PWHL Awards on Tuesday. Canadian Olympic gold medalist Erin Ambrose of Keswick, Ontario was named the top defenseman, Canadian Olympic gold medalist Kristen Campbell of Brandon, Manitoba was named top goaltender, and Troy Ryan of Spryfield, Nova Scotia was named top coach. Ambrose and Campbell won a gold medal for Canada at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
Ambrose had four goals and 14 assists for 18 points in 24 games for Montreal. She was a +5 with four penalty minutes, one power-play goal and 47 shots on goal.
Campbell had a record of 16 wins and six losses with three shutouts for Toronto, a goals against average of 1.99 and a save percentage of .927. Ryan meanwhile coached a Toronto team that led the PWHL with 47 points. They had six more points than second place Montreal.
