# 2023–24 PWHL Toronto season

The 2023–24 PWHL Toronto season was the team's inaugural season as a member of the newly created Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). They played the majority of their home games at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, hosting one game at Scotiabank Arena and their playoff games at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Toronto topped the regular season standings, becoming the first team to clinch a playoff spot on April 22, 2024. On May 1, the team clinched first overall. Natalie Spooner led the team and the league in goals, with 20, and points, with 27. By virtue of finishing first, Toronto had the option to select its semifinal opponent, and Toronto chose PWHL Minnesota. Despite winning the first two games of the series, Toronto would lose three straight and be eliminated from Walter Cup contention. After the season, Spooner was named the winner of the league's inaugural Billie Jean King MVP Award as most valuable player; she was also named the league's top forward, while Kristen Campbell was named the top goaltender and Troy Ryan the coach of the year.

## Offseason

On September 1, 2023, PWHL Toronto hired Gina Kingsbury as its first general manager. Troy Ryan was named as Toronto's first head coach on September 15, and Rachel Flanagan was hired as assistant coach on October 6. On November 28, it was revealed that Toronto would play their home games at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
On September 6, Toronto announced the signings of their first three players, Canadian national team members Sarah Nurse, Renata Fast, and Blayre Turnbull. On December 29, Turnbull was named captain, with Fast and second overall draft pick Jocelyne Larocque named assistant captains.

## Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Toronto (Y) | 24 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 69 | 50 | +19 | 47 |
| 2 | Montreal (X) | 24 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 60 | 57 | +3 | 41 |
| 3 | Boston (X) | 24 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 50 | 57 | −7 | 35 |
| 4 | Minnesota (X) | 24 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 54 | 54 | 0 | 35 |
| 5 | Ottawa (E) | 24 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 62 | 63 | −1 | 32 |
| 6 | New York (E) | 24 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 53 | 67 | −14 | 26 |
* 1 2 Greater number of games won, excluding games won by Shootout: Boston 11 wins, Minnesota 10 wins

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

Toronto hosted the first ever PWHL game at a sold-out Mattamy Athletic Centre on January 1, 2024. PWHL New York won the game by a score of 4–0. Toronto won its first game in a re-match against New York on January 5, winning by a score of 3–2.
On January 25, it was announced that Toronto would host its February 16 match against PWHL Montreal at Scotiabank Arena, in a game dubbed by the league as "The Battle on Bay Street". The game set a league and women’s hockey attendance record with a sellout crowd of 19,285, beating the previous record of 18,013 set at the 2013 IIHF Women's World Championship.
Despite losing four of its first five games and sitting last overall two weeks into the season, Toronto became the first team to clinch a playoff spot on April 22 after an 11-game win streak. The team went on to clinch first overall in the league standings.

### Regular season schedule

The regular season schedule was published on November 30, 2023.
Regular season schedule (Home: 8–1–0–3; Road: 5–3–0–4) :
January: 2–1–0–5, 8 points (Home: 1–0–0–3; Road: 1–1–0–2)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
1January 1PWHL New York0–4Campbell Mattamy Athletic Centre2,5370–0–0–10
2January 5@ PWHL New York3–2CampbellTotal Mortgage Arena2,1521–0–0–13
3January 10@ PWHL Minnesota1–3CampbellXcel Energy Center4,7071–0–0–23
4January 13PWHL Ottawa1–5CampbellMattamy Athletic Centre2,4171–0–0–33
5January 17PWHL Boston2–3CampbellMattamy Athletic Centre2,4911–0–0–43
6January 20@ PWHL Montreal4–3SOCampbellVerdun Auditorium3,2321–1–0–45
7January 23@ PWHL Ottawa1–3HoweTD Place Arena6,3161–1–0–55
8January 26PWHL New York2–0CampbellMattamy Athletic Centre2,5062–1–0–58 :
February: 3–2–0–0, 13 points (Home: 2–1–0–0; Road: 1–1–0–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
9February 3PWHL Minnesota4–1CampbellMattamy Athletic Centre2,4703–1–0–511
10February 14@ PWHL Boston5–3CampbellTsongas Center1,7914–1–0–514
11February 16PWHL Montreal3–0CampbellScotiabank Arena19,2855–1–0–517
12February 23PWHL New York2–1SOCampbellMattamy Athletic Centre2,4945–2–0–519
13February 27@ PWHL Minnesota4–3OTCampbell3M Arena at Mariucci2,7185–3–0–521 :
March: 5–0–0–1, 15 points (Home: 3–0–0–0; Road: 2–0–0–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
14March 2@ PWHL Ottawa5–2CampbellTD Place Arena8,4476–3–0–524
15March 6PWHL Boston3–1CampbellMattamy Athletic Centre2,4797–3–0–527
16March 8PWHL Montreal3–0CampbellMattamy Athletic Centre2,5548–3–0–530
17March 17@ PWHL Montreal2–1CampbellPPG Paints Arena8,8509–3–0–533
18March 20PWHL Boston2–1HoweMattamy Athletic Centre2,52510–3–0–536
19March 23@ PWHL Ottawa3–5CampbellTD Place Arena8,44810–3–0–636 :
April: 1–1–0–1, 5 points (Home: 0–0–0–0; Road: 1–1–0–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
20April 18@ PWHL Boston1–2CampbellTsongas Center4,08410–3–0–736
21April 20@ PWHL Montreal3–2OTCampbellBell Centre21,10510–4–0–738
22April 28@ PWHL New York6–2CampbellUBS Arena1,66811–4–0–741 :
May: 2–0–0–0, 6 points (Home: 2–0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
23May 1PWHL Minnesota4–1CampbellMattamy Athletic Centre2,57112–4–0–744
24May 5PWHL Ottawa5–2CampbellMattamy Athletic Centre2,62013–4–0–747 :
Regulation Win (3 points)
  Overtime/Shootout win (2 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)
  Regulation Loss (0 points) :

### Playoffs

On May 6, 2024, Toronto elected to play PWHL Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs. Toronto announced that it would play its post-season home games at Coca-Cola Coliseum, which offers more seating than Mattamay Athletic Centre.
Toronto won the first two games of the series, both at home, without allowing a single goal against. However, leading scorer Natalie Spooner was injured in Game 3, and she would not return for the rest of the series. Toronto failed to score a goal in back-to-back losses in Minnesota, including a double-overtime defeat in Game 4. Minnesota completed its comeback in Game 5, securing a 4–1 victory and eliminating Toronto from the playoffs.
2024 PWHL Playoffs :
First round vs. PWHL Minnesota: Minnesota won 3–2
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceSeriesRecap
1May 8Minnesota4–0CampbellCoca-Cola Coliseum8,4731–0
2May 10Minnesota2–0CampbellCoca-Cola Coliseum8,5812–0
3May 13@ Minnesota0–2CampbellXcel Energy Center3,3442–1
4May 15@ Minnesota0–12OTCampbellXcel Energy Center2,7662–2
5May 17Minnesota1–4CampbellCoca-Cola Coliseum8,5012–3 :

## Player statistics

    As of May 17, 2024

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | SOG | +/− | PIM |
| Natalie Spooner | 24 | 20 | 7 | 27 | 101 | +11 | 4 |
| Sarah Nurse | 24 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 67 | +6 | 14 |
| Emma Maltais | 24 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 44 | +7 | 16 |
| Hannah Miller | 23 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 39 | +6 | 8 |
| Renata Fast | 24 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 49 | 0 | 12 |
| Jocelyne Larocque | 23 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 42 | +8 | 6 |
| Blayre Turnbull | 24 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 63 | +4 | 16 |
| Rebecca Leslie | 24 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 36 | +2 | 12 |
| Brittany Howard | 23 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 33 | 0 | 10 |
| Maggie Connors | 24 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 35 | +2 | 6 |
| Kali Flanagan | 24 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 29 | +7 | 2 |
| Allie Munroe | 24 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 17 | +1 | 12 |
| Victoria Bach | 16 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 25 | +3 | 2 |
| Jesse Compher | 24 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 31 | –1 | 23 |
| Samantha Cogan | 23 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 18 | –6 | 6 |
| Alexa Vasko | 24 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 14 | –2 | 4 |
| Olivia Knowles | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | +7 | 6 |
| Kaitlin Willoughby | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | –3 | 2 |
| Lauriane Rougeau | 24 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | +4 | 4 |
| Jess Jones | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maude Poulin-Labelle | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | –4 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | SOG | +/− | PIM |
| Hannah Miller | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | +3 | 0 |
| Renata Fast | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | +1 | 4 |
| Blayre Turnbull | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 16 | +2 | 0 |
| Natalie Spooner | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | +4 | 0 |
| Emma Maltais | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | –1 | 2 |
| Jesse Compher | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | –1 | 2 |
| Rebecca Leslie | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | +2 | 0 |
| Victoria Bach | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Kali Flanagan | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | +1 | 2 |
| Brittany Howard | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | +1 | 0 |
| Jocelyne Larocque | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | +1 | 6 |
| Allie Munroe | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 6 |
| Sarah Nurse | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | –2 | 4 |
| Jess Jones | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Samantha Cogan | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | –1 | 0 |
| Maggie Connors | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | –2 | 0 |
| Olivia Knowles | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Lauriane Rougeau | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alexa Vasko | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Kaitlin Willoughby | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | –1 | 0 |

### Goaltenders
## Awards and honours
### Milestones

Regular season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Jocelyne Larocque | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Lauriane Rougeau | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Kali Flanagan | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Olivia Knowles | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Alexa Vasko | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Allie Munroe | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Renata Fast | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Samantha Cogan | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Jesse Compher | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Rebecca Leslie | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Sarah Nurse | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Maggie Connors | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Natalie Spooner | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Emma Maltais | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Kaitlin Willoughby | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Hannah Miller | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Blayre Turnbull | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Brittany Howard | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Maude Poulin-Labelle | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Kristen Campbell | 1st career PWHL game | January 1, 2024 |
| Kristen Campbell | 1st career PWHL loss | January 1, 2024 |
| Natalie Spooner | 1st goal in franchise history | January 5, 2024 |
| Natalie Spooner | 1st career PWHL goal | January 5, 2024 |
| Natalie Spooner | 1st career PWHL power-play goal | January 5, 2024 |
| Alexa Vasko | 1st career PWHL goal | January 5, 2024 |
| Emma Maltais | 1st career PWHL goal | January 5, 2024 |
| Emma Maltais | 1st career PWHL short-handed goal | January 5, 2024 |
| Sarah Nurse | 1st assist in franchise history | January 5, 2024 |
| Sarah Nurse | 1st career PWHL assist | January 5, 2024 |
| Renata Fast | 1st career PWHL assist | January 5, 2024 |
| Rebecca Leslie | 1st career PWHL assist | January 5, 2024 |
| Brittany Howard | 1st career PWHL assist | January 5, 2024 |
| Jesse Compher | 1st career PWHL assist | January 5, 2024 |
| Jocelyne Larocque | 1st career PWHL assist | January 5, 2024 |
| Kristen Campbell | 1st career PWHL win | January 5, 2024 |
| Sarah Nurse | 1st career PWHL goal | January 10, 2024 |
| Allie Munroe | 1st career PWHL assist | January 13, 2024 |
| Emma Maltais | 1st career PWHL assist | January 13, 2024 |
| Hannah Miller | 1st career PWHL goal | January 17, 2024 |
| Jocelyne Larocque | 1st career PWHL goal | January 20, 2024 |
| Maggie Connors | 1st career PWHL goal | January 20, 2024 |
| Maggie Connors | 1st career PWHL assist | January 20, 2024 |
| Rebecca Leslie | 5th career PWHL assist | January 20, 2024 |
| Kristen Campbell | 1st career shoot-out win | January 20, 2024 |
| Brittany Howard | 1st career PWHL goal | January 23, 2024 |
| Blayre Turnbull | 1st career PWHL assist | January 23, 2024 |
| Hannah Miller | 1st career PWHL assist | January 26, 2024 |
| Natalie Spooner | 5th career PWHL goal | January 26, 2024 |
| Kristen Campbell | 1st career PWHL shutout | January 26, 2024 |
| Renata Fast | 1st career PWHL goal | February 3, 2024 |
| Blayre Turnbull | 1st career PWHL goal | February 3, 2024 |
| Natalie Spooner | 1st career PWHL assist | February 3, 2024 |
| Natalie Spooner | 1st career PWHL hat-trick | February 14, 2024 |
| Natalie Spooner | 10th career PWHL goal | February 14, 2024 |
| Kali Flanagan | 1st career PWHL goal | February 14, 2024 |
| Lauriane Rougeau | 1st career PWHL assist | February 14, 2024 |
| Kristen Campbell | 1st career PWHL assist | February 14, 2024 |
| Emma Maltais | 5th career PWHL assist | February 14, 2024 |
| Victoria Bach | 1st career PWHL game | February 14, 2024 |
| Jesse Compher | 1st career PWHL goal | February 16, 2024 |
| Victoria Bach | 1st career PWHL goal | February 16, 2024 |
| Jocelyne Larocque | 5th career PWHL assist | February 23, 2024 |
| Victoria Bach | 1st career PWHL assist | February 27, 2024 |
| Samantha Cogan | 1st career PWHL goal | March 2, 2024 |
| Sarah Nurse | 5th career PWHL assist | March 2, 2024 |
| Renata Fast | 5th career PWHL assist | March 2, 2024 |
| Allie Munroe | 1st career PWHL goal | March 6, 2024 |
| Hannah Miller | 5th career PWHL goal | March 8, 2024 |
| Rebecca Leslie | 1st career PWHL goal | March 8, 2024 |
| Blayre Turnbull | 5th career PWHL assist | March 8, 2024 |
| Olivia Knowles | 1st career PWHL assist | March 8, 2024 |
| Natalie Spooner | 5th career PWHL assist | March 17, 2024 |
| Kali Flanagan | 1st career PWHL assist | March 17, 2024 |
| Sarah Nurse | 10th career PWHL assist | March 20, 2024 |
| Natalie Spooner | 15th career PWHL goal | March 23, 2024 |
| Sarah Nurse | 15th career PWHL goal | March 23, 2024 |
| Sarah Nurse | 5th career PWHL goal | March 23, 2024 |
| Emma Maltais | 10th career PWHL assist | April 18, 2024 |
| Allie Munroe | 5th career PWHL assist | April 20, 2024 |
| Sarah Nurse | 1st career PWHL hat-trick | April 28, 2024 |
| Sarah Nurse | 10th career PWHL goal | April 28, 2024 |
| Hannah Miller | 5th career PWHL assist | April 28, 2024 |
| Brittany Howard | 5th career PWHL assist | April 28, 2024 |
| Emma Maltais | 15th career PWHL assist | May 1, 2024 |
| Renata Fast | 10th career PWHL assist | May 1, 2024 |
| Natalie Spooner | 20th career PWHL goal | May 5, 2024 |
| Kaitlin Willoughby | 1st career PWHL assist | May 5, 2024 |

### League awards

Award winners :
| Award | Recipient |
| Billie Jean King MVP Award Most valuable player, regular season | Natalie Spooner |
| Forward of the Year | Natalie Spooner |
| Goaltender of the Year | Kristen Campbell |
| Coach of the Year | Troy Ryan |
| Points Leader Regular season | Natalie Spooner – 27 |
| Goals Leader Regular season | Natalie Spooner – 20 |

## Transactions
### Signings

| Date | Player | Position | Term | Previous Team |
| September 6, 2023 | Sarah Nurse | F | 3 years | Team Adidas |
| September 6, 2023 | Renata Fast | D | 3 years | Team Adidas |
| September 6, 2023 | Blayre Turnbull | F | 3 years | Team Scotiabank |
| October 31, 2023 | Maggie Connors | F | 2 years | Princeton Tigers |
| November 2, 2023 | Rebecca Leslie | F | 1 year | Team Sonnet |
| November 3, 2023 | Emma Maltais | F | 3 years | Ohio State Buckeyes |
| November 7, 2023 | Jesse Compher | F | 2 years | Wisconsin Badgers |
| November 8, 2023 | Jocelyne Larocque | D | 3 years | Team Adidas |
| November 8, 2023 | Kristen Campbell | G | 3 years | Team Scotiabank |
| November 9, 2023 | Brittany Howard | F | 1 year | Toronto Six |
| November 9, 2023 | Allie Munroe | D | 1 year | Connecticut Whale |
| November 10, 2023 | Kali Flanagan | D | 2 years | Boston Pride |
| November 10, 2023 | Erica Howe | G | 1 year | Team Sonnet |
| November 14, 2023 | Natalie Spooner | F | 2 years | Team Scotiabank |
| November 15, 2023 | Hannah Miller | F | 1 year | Shenzhen KRS |
| November 29, 2023 | Alexa Vasko | F | 1 year | Team Sonnet |

## Draft picks

Below are the PWHL Toronto's selections at the 2023 PWHL draft held on September 18, 2023.
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | Position | Previous team |
| 1 | 2 | Jocelyne Larocque | Canada | Defence | Team Adidas (PWHPA) |
| 2 | 11 | Emma Maltais | Canada | Forward | Ohio State Buckeyes (WCHA) |
| 3 | 14 | Kristen Campbell | Canada | Goaltender | Team Scotiabank (PWHPA) |
| 4 | 23 | Natalie Spooner | Canada | Forward | Team Scotiabank (PWHPA) |
| 5 | 26 | Jesse Compher | United States | Forward | Wisconsin Badgers (WHCA) |
| 6 | 35 | Kali Flanagan | United States | Defence | Boston Pride (PHF) |
| 7 | 38 | Victoria Bach | Canada | Forward | Team Scotiabank (PWHPA) |
| 8 | 47 | Brittany Howard | Canada | Forward | Toronto Six (PHF) |
| 9 | 50 | Allie Munroe | Canada | Defence | Connecticut Whale (PHF) |
| 10 | 59 | Mellissa Channell | Canada | Defence | Team Harvey's (PWHPA) |
| 11 | 62 | Maggie Connors | Canada | Forward | Princeton Tigers (ECAC) |
| 12 | 71 | Rebecca Leslie | Canada | Forward | Team Sonnet (PWHPA) |
| 13 | 74 | Hannah Miller | Canada | Forward | Shenzhen Kunlun Red Star (ZhHL) |
| 14 | 83 | Alexa Vasko | Canada | Forward | Team Sonnet (PWHPA) |
| 15 | 86 | Olivia Knowles | Canada | Defence | Minnesota Whitecaps (PHF) |