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. Toronto was upset by eventual Walter Cup champion Minnesota, losing three straight after winning the first two. 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
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.
| 1 || January 1 || PWHL New York || 0–4 || || Campbell || Mattamy Athletic Centre || 2,537 || 0–0–0–1 || 0 ||
| 2 || January 5 || @ PWHL New York || 3–2 || || Campbell || Total Mortgage Arena || 2,152 || 1–0–0–1 || 3 ||
| 3 || January 10 || @ PWHL Minnesota || 1–3 || || Campbell || Xcel Energy Center || 4,707 || 1–0–0–2 || 3 ||
| 4 || January 13 || PWHL Ottawa || 1–5 || || Campbell || Mattamy Athletic Centre || 2,417 || 1–0–0–3 || 3 ||
| 5 || January 17 || PWHL Boston || 2–3 || || Campbell || Mattamy Athletic Centre || 2,491 || 1–0–0–4 || 3 ||
| 6 || January 20 || @ PWHL Montreal || 4–3 || SO || Campbell || Verdun Auditorium || 3,232 || 1–1–0–4 || 5 ||
| 7 || January 23 || @ PWHL Ottawa || 1–3 || || Howe || TD Place Arena || 6,316 || 1–1–0–5 || 5 ||
| 8 || January 26 || PWHL New York || 2–0 || || Campbell || Mattamy Athletic Centre || 2,506 || 2–1–0–5 || 8 ||
| 9 || February 3 || PWHL Minnesota || 4–1 || || Campbell || Mattamy Athletic Centre || 2,470 || 3–1–0–5 || 11 ||
| 10 || February 14 || @ PWHL Boston || 5–3 || || Campbell || Tsongas Center || 1,791 || 4–1–0–5 || 14 ||
| 11 || February 16 || PWHL Montreal || 3–0 || || Campbell || Scotiabank Arena || 19,285 || 5–1–0–5 || 17 ||
| 12 || February 23 || PWHL New York || 2–1 || SO || Campbell || Mattamy Athletic Centre || 2,494 || 5–2–0–5 || 19 ||
| 13 || February 27 || @ PWHL Minnesota || 4–3 || OT || Campbell || 3M Arena at Mariucci || 2,718 || 5–3–0–5 || 21 ||
| 14 || March 2 || @ PWHL Ottawa || 5–2 || || Campbell || TD Place Arena || 8,447 || 6–3–0–5 || 24 ||
| 15 || March 6 || PWHL Boston || 3–1 || || Campbell || Mattamy Athletic Centre || 2,479 || 7–3–0–5 || 27 ||
| 16 || March 8 || PWHL Montreal || 3–0 || || Campbell || Mattamy Athletic Centre || 2,554 || 8–3–0–5 || 30 ||
| 17 || March 17 || @ PWHL Montreal || 2–1 || || Campbell || PPG Paints Arena || 8,850 || 9–3–0–5 || 33 ||
| 18 || March 20 || PWHL Boston || 2–1 || || Howe || Mattamy Athletic Centre || 2,525 || 10–3–0–5 || 36 ||
| 19 || March 23 || @ PWHL Ottawa || 3–5 || || Campbell || TD Place Arena || 8,448 || 10–3–0–6 || 36 ||
| 20 || April 18 || @ PWHL Boston || 1–2 || || Campbell || Tsongas Center || 4,084 || 10–3–0–7 || 36 ||
| 21 || April 20 || @ PWHL Montreal || 3–2 || OT || Campbell || Bell Centre || 21,105 || 10–4–0–7 || 38 ||
| 22 || April 28 || @ PWHL New York || 6–2 || || Campbell || UBS Arena || 1,668 || 11–4–0–7 || 41 ||
| 23 || May 1 || PWHL Minnesota || 4–1 || || Campbell || Mattamy Athletic Centre || 2,571 || 12–4–0–7 || 44 ||
| 24 || May 5 || PWHL Ottawa || 5–2 || || Campbell || Mattamy Athletic Centre || 2,620 || 13–4–0–7 || 47 ||
|- style="text-align:center;"
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 Mattamy 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 and upset in Game 5, securing a 4–1 victory and eliminating Toronto from the playoffs.
| 1 || May 8 || Minnesota || 4–0 || || Campbell || Coca-Cola Coliseum || 8,473 || 1–0 ||
| 2 || May 10 || Minnesota || 2–0 || || Campbell || Coca-Cola Coliseum || 8,581 || 2–0 ||
| 3 || May 13 || @ Minnesota || 0–2 || || Campbell || Xcel Energy Center || 3,344 || 2–1 ||
| 4 || May 15 || @ Minnesota || 0–1 || 2OT || Campbell || Xcel Energy Center || 2,766 || 2–2 ||
| 5 || May 17 || Minnesota || 1–4 || || Campbell || Coca-Cola Coliseum || 8,501 || 2–3 ||
Player statistics = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader
Skaters
Regular season Player Natalie Spooner 24 20 7 27 101 4Sarah Nurse 24 11 12 23 67 14Emma Maltais 24 4 15* 19 44 16Hannah Miller 23 7 7 14 39 8Renata Fast 24 3 10 13 49 12Jocelyne Larocque 23 1 9 10 42 6Blayre Turnbull 24 3 6 9 63 16Rebecca Leslie 24 2 7 9 36 12Brittany Howard 23 2 6 8 33 10Maggie Connors 24 3 3 6 35 6Kali Flanagan 24 3 3 6 29 2Allie Munroe 24 1 5 6 17 12Victoria Bach 16 2 3 5 25 2Jesse Compher 24 1 4 5 31 23Samantha Cogan 23 2 0 2 18 6Alexa Vasko 24 2 0 2 14 4Olivia Knowles 20 0 1 1 6 6Kaitlin Willoughby 23 0 1 1 9 2Lauriane Rougeau 24 0 1 1 12 4Jess Jones 5 0 0 0 0 0Maude Poulin-Labelle 11 0 0 0 5 0
Playoffs Player Hannah Miller 5 1 2 3 7 0Renata Fast 5 0 3 3 9 4Blayre Turnbull 5 2 0 2 16 0Natalie Spooner 3 1 1 2 10 0Emma Maltais 5 1 1 2 6 2Jesse Compher 5 1 0 1 9 2Rebecca Leslie 5 1 0 1 9 0Victoria Bach 5 0 1 1 2 0Kali Flanagan 5 0 1 1 5 2Brittany Howard 5 0 1 1 12 0Jocelyne Larocque 5 0 1 1 3 6Allie Munroe 5 0 1 1 2 6Sarah Nurse 5 0 1 1 8 4Jess Jones 2 0 0 0 0 0Samantha Cogan 5 0 0 0 3 0Maggie Connors 5 0 0 0 7 0Olivia Knowles 5 0 0 0 2 2Lauriane Rougeau 5 0 0 0 0 0Alexa Vasko 5 0 0 0 1 2Kaitlin Willoughby 5 0 0 0 4 0
Tied with Alex Carpenter (NY)
Goaltenders
Regular season Player Kristen Campbell 22 1293:57 16 6 0 43 1.99 587 0.927 3 0 1 0Erica Howe 3 158:24 1 1 0 5 1.89 63 0.921 0 0 0 0
Playoffs Player Kristen Campbell 5 321:03 2 2 1 5 0.93 131 0.962 2 0 0 0
Awards and honours
Milestones
Regular season Date Player Milestone January 1, 2024 Jocelyne Larocque 1st career PWHL game Lauriane Rougeau Kali Flanagan Olivia Knowles Alexa Vasko Allie Munroe Renata Fast Samantha Cogan Jesse Compher Rebecca Leslie Sarah Nurse Maggie Connors Natalie Spooner Emma Maltais Kaitlin Willoughby Hannah Miller Blayre Turnbull Brittany Howard Maude Poulin-Labelle Kristen Campbell 1st career PWHL game 1st career PWHL loss January 5, 2024 Natalie Spooner 1st goal in franchise history 1st career PWHL goal 1st career PWHL power-play goal Alexa Vasko 1st career PWHL goal Emma Maltais 1st career PWHL goal 1st career PWHL short-handed goal Sarah Nurse 1st assist in franchise history 1st career PWHL assist Renata Fast 1st career PWHL assist Rebecca Leslie Brittany Howard Jesse Compher Jocelyne Larocque Kristen Campbell 1st career PWHL win January 10, 2024 Sarah Nurse 1st career PWHL goal January 13, 2024 Allie Munroe 1st career PWHL assist Emma Maltais January 17, 2024 Hannah Miller 1st career PWHL goal January 20, 2024 Jocelyne Larocque 1st career PWHL goal Maggie Connors 1st career PWHL goal 1st career PWHL assist Rebecca Leslie 5th career PWHL assist Kristen Campbell 1st career shoot-out win January 23, 2024 Brittany Howard 1st career PWHL goal Blayre Turnbull 1st career PWHL assist January 26, 2024 Hannah Miller 1st career PWHL assist Natalie Spooner 5th career PWHL goalKristen Campbell 1st career PWHL shutout February 3, 2024 Renata Fast 1st career PWHL goal Blayre Turnbull Natalie Spooner 1st career PWHL assist February 14, 2024 Natalie Spooner 1st career PWHL hat-trick 10th career PWHL goal Kali Flanagan 1st career PWHL goal Lauriane Rougeau 1st career PWHL assist Kristen Campbell Emma Maltais 5th career PWHL assist Victoria Bach 1st career PWHL game February 16, 2024 Jesse Compher 1st career PWHL goal Victoria Bach February 23, 2024 Jocelyne Larocque 5th career PWHL assist February 27, 2024 Victoria Bach 1st career PWHL assist March 2, 2024 Samantha Cogan 1st career PWHL goal Sarah Nurse 5th career PWHL assist Renata Fast March 6, 2024 Allie Munroe 1st career PWHL goal March 8, 2024 Hannah Miller 5th career PWHL goal Rebecca Leslie 1st career PWHL goal Blayre Turnbull 5th career PWHL assist Olivia Knowles 1st career PWHL assist March 17, 2024 Natalie Spooner 5th career PWHL assist Kali Flanagan 1st career PWHL assist March 20, 2024 Sarah Nurse 10th career PWHL assist March 23, 2024 Natalie Spooner 15th career PWHL goal Sarah Nurse 5th career PWHL goal April 18, 2024 Emma Maltais 10th career PWHL assist April 20, 2024 Allie Munroe 5th career PWHL assist April 28, 2024 Sarah Nurse 1st career PWHL hat-trick 10th career PWHL goal Hannah Miller 5th career PWHL assist Brittany Howard May 1, 2024 Emma Maltais 15th career PWHL assist Renata Fast 10th career PWHL assist May 5, 2024 Natalie Spooner 20th career PWHL goal Kaitlin Willoughby 1st career PWHL assist
Playoffs Date Player Milestone May 8, 2024 Natalie Spooner 1st career PWHL playoff goal 1st career PWHL playoff assist Emma Maltais 1st career PWHL playoff goal Blayre Turnbull Renata Fast 1st career PWHL playoff assist Jocelyne Larocque Hannah Miller Allie Munroe Sarah Nurse Olivia Knowles 1st career PWHL playoff penalty Kristen Campbell 1st career PWHL playoff win 1st career PWHL playoff shutout May 10, 2024 Jesse Compher 1st career PWHL playoff goal Hannah Miller Brittany Howard 1st career PWHL playoff assist Emma Maltais Jocelyne Larocque 1st career PWHL playoff penalty Allie Munroe Alexa Vasko May 13, 2024 Renata Fast 1st career PWHL playoff penalty Kali Flanagan Sarah Nurse Kristen Campbell 1st career PWHL playoff loss May 15, 2024 Jesse Compher 1st career PWHL playoff penalty Emma Maltais Kristen Campbell 1st career PWHL playoff overtime loss May 17, 2024 Rebecca Leslie 1st career PWHL playoff goal Victoria Bach 1st career PWHL playoff assist Kali Flanagan
League awards