Natalie Spooner

Natalie Spooner
Born	(1990-10-17) October 17, 1990 Scarborough, ON, CAN
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position	Forward
Shoots	Right
CWHL team	Toronto Furies
National team	Canada
Playing career	2007–present
Medal record Women's ice hockey Competitor for  Canada Olympic Games 2014 Sochi Team IIHF World Women's Championships 2012 United States Team 2011 Switzerland Team 2013 Canada Team 2015 Sweden Team IIHF World Women's U18 Championships 2008 Canada Team 4 Nations Cup 2014 Canada Team 2015 Sweden Team

Natalie Marie Spooner (born October 17, 1990) played for the Canadian National women's ice hockey team from 2007 to 2008,^[1] and rejoined the program in 2010. Currently, she competes for the Toronto Furies of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. Spooner was the first player to play for the Canadian National Women's Team, the National Women's Under-22 Team and its Under-18 Team.^[2] In 2014, Spooner became the first woman in hockey history to claim the gold medal in the Winter Games and the Clarkson Cup in the same year.

Playing career

Hockey Canada

Spooner has represented Canada on its National and Under-22 squads. In 2008–09 and 2009–10, she played on the Under-22 team. She has won gold at the 2010 MLP Cup and silver at the 2009 MLP Cup. She played on the Canadian National Women's Team at the 2008 Four Nations Cup. From May 25–30, 2010, in Calgary, Spooner was invited to take part in the Canadian National Women's Program Strength and Conditioning Camp. Spooner also played for Team Canada at the Ball Hockey World Championship in Pilsen, Czech Republic from June 13–20, 2009. Spooner won gold at the event. Spooner participated in the inaugural IIHF World Women's U-18 Championships in January 2008 and won the silver medal. In August 2007, the Canadian U-18 played a summer series against the U-18 Team USA squad and Spooner was an assistant captain. On November 10, 2010, Spooner scored a hat trick against Sweden in the 2010 Four Nations Cup.^[3] In the gold medal game of the 2011 Four Nations Cup, Spooner scored two goals in a 4–3 loss to the USA.^[4] In a game versus Russia at the 2012 IIHF Women's World Championship, Spooner logged a hat trick in a 14–1 victory.^[5] In addition, Spooner registered an assist for a four-point performance.

Mississauga Chiefs

Spooner participated in the 2008 Esso Women's Nationals with the Mississauga Chiefs.

PWHL and Junior

While she attended Cedarbrae Collegiate Institute, Spooner played with the Durham West Jr. Lightning. At Cedarbrae, was named the school's athlete of the year for four-consecutive years. She captained the team to a fourth-place finish in the Provincial Women's Hockey League in 2008. During the 2007–08 season, Spooner led the Lightning in goals with 25 and was third on the team in scoring with 38 points in 23 games. Her point total ranked 11th in the league. During the 2006–07 PWHL season, Spooner was the leading goal-scorer with 32 goals and served as an assistant captain. She was a member of Team Ontario Red with future Buckeye teammate Laura McIntosh. Spooner served as captain of the squad and leading it to the gold medal in the U-18 National Hockey Tournament, after recovering from a broken jaw sustained in a PWHL game. She broke her jaw in two places, had her mouth wired shut for five weeks and was limited to a liquid diet.^[6] Before committing to Ohio State, approximately 30 universities and colleges expressed interest in her.

Ohio State

As a freshman, Spooner played in 30 games (she missed six games due to her commitments with Team Canada). Despite playing in only 30 games, Spooner scored 21 goals to lead the Buckeyes. She added nine assists for 30 points, which ranked third on the Buckeyes. Spooner set a Buckeye-record by winning four WCHA Rookie of the Week awards. She has been one of the top goal-scorers in the WCHA during the 08-09 and 09-10 two seasons. Her 43 career goals rank sixth among the Buckeyes. Her 74 career points are 14th after 65 games played. Spooner was a First Team All-WCHA honoree during the 2009–10 season. ^[7] On January 28–29, 2011, Spooner scored four goals and contributed six points as the Buckeyes swept conference rival St. Cloud State on the road. In Ohio State’s 6–1 victory on January 28, Spooner recorded her third-career hat trick as well as an assist. Her goal at 9:58 of the second period, came shorthanded and proved to be the game-winner. In the second game, Spooner had two points as the Buckeyes prevailed by a 3–2 mark. Spooner leads the Buckeyes with 14 multi-point games this season and owns a team-high 24 goals. Spooner owns the Buckeye record for career game-winning goals with 12.^[8] In the Buckeyes final regular season game of the 2010–11 season, Spooner scored a goal (her 25th of the season) in a 5–1 loss to Minnesota-Duluth to tie Jana Harrigan for second on the all-time Ohio State career list with 68 goals^[9]

In the first conference game of the 2011–12 Ohio State Buckeyes women's ice hockey season against Bemidji State, Spooner had four goals in regulation, along with the only goal in the shootout to lead the Buckeyes to victory.^[10] On November 25, 2011, Spooner scored four goals for the third time in her NCAA career, including a natural hat trick as the Buckeyes enjoyed a home-ice conference victory over Minnesota Duluth.^[11] She scored all four goals as the final score was 4–1 in the Buckeyes favor. It was the second time in the 2011–12 campaign that she scored four goals in a game. The natural hat trick (three consecutive goals) was scored in the second period as the Buckeyes faced a 1–0 deficit against the Bulldogs. The eventual game-winner was scored at 10:56 of the second period. The hat trick was the fifth of her collegiate career. The four goal performance moved Spooner to fourth overall on the Buckeye career points list with 129. Spooner is now four goals away from tying Jeni Creary’s Ohio State record of 86 career goals.

In a weekend series versus St. Cloud State on January 6 and 7, 2012, Spooner had a record-breaking weekend. She scored three goals and added one assist in a two-game set while becoming the Buckeyes all-time leading goal scorer. Heading into the series, she was only three goals away from breaking the school record of 86 set by forward Jeni Creary. She tied the mark on January 6, 2012, as she scored both goals including the game-winner. In addition, she was acknowledged as the First Star of the Game in a 2–0 win. The following day, she set the record at 5:27 of the third period versus St. Cloud State in a 4–3 loss.^[12] Spooner was named Third Star of the Game. After the game, Spooner had accumulated 140 career points (87 goals, 53 assists) to rank fourth in that category. She is now six points shy of breaking the Buckeyes all-time scoring record.

In a January 27, 2012 defeat of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, Natalie Spooner finished the game with two goals as the Buckeyes prevailed by a 6–2 mark. Her two goals were both on the power-play (increasing her season total to seven). With the goals, Spooner reached the 150 career point plateau, moving her into third all-time in Ohio State history.^[13] On February 11, 2012, Spooner was one of five Buckeyes seniors honored as part of a pre-game ceremony. The Buckeyes were defeated by No. 2 Minnesota by a 7–4 mark. Natalie Spooner had a hand in all four Buckeye goals, with two goals and two assists.^[14]

On March 19, 2012, Spooner was named to the CCM All-America Team. She earned second-team honors and it marked the first Spooner was named an All-American. She became the fourth Buckeye (behind Tessa Bonhomme, Jana Harrigan, and Emma Laaksonen.^[15] She concluded her senior season with 50 points (team best) on 31 goals and 19 assists. Her 25 goals scored in WCHA conference action ranked second overall among all WCHA skaters. During the 2011–12 campaign, she had a team-best 16 multiple-point games while logging three hat tricks on the season. In addition, Spooner notched nine multiple-goal games and four multiple-assist games this year.

Spooner concluded her career first overall in four program record lists. She owns the season goals record, along with the Ohio State career record in goals scored (broke record on Jan 7, 2012). At the end of her four seasons, she finished with 100. On October 14, 2011, Spooner broke the program record in career goals vs. WCHA opponents. For her career, she has 75 goals versus WCHA opponents. Her 163 career points ranks second all time among Buckeyes players, while her 16 game-winning goals is another program record.

Amazing Race Canada - Season 2

Along with Sochi teammate Meaghan Mikkelson, the pair were among the competing teams in the second season of The Amazing Race Canada. In the ice hockey skills challenge Detour "Puck It" combined with partner Meaghan Mikkelson, to shoot 4 for 4 on the 1 through 4 "hole" targets, then 1 out of 53 attempting to hit the final five-hole target.^[16] She and Mikkelson would win seven legs of the race and ended in second place on the final leg.

Stats

Hockey Canada

Named to 2014 Olympic roster for Canada.^[17]

^[19]

Ohio State

^[20]

CWHL

Awards and honors

• First Team All-WCHA (2009–10)^[23]
• Played with the WCHA All-Star Team against the United States Women's National Team in St. Paul, Minn. (September 2009) * Ohio State's Most Valuable Offensive Player for 2009–10
• Ohio State co-Most Valuable Offensive Player in 2008–09
• WCHA All-Academic Team (2009–10)
• Academic All-Big Ten at-large selection (2009–10) ...
• Four WCHA Rookie of the Week awards (Oct. 24–25, Nov. 28–29, Dec. 12–13, Feb. 6–7)
• WCHA Offensive Player of the Week (Jan. 15–16, 2010).
• WCHA Offensive Player of the Week (Week of February 2, 2011)^[24]
• 2011 All-WCHA Second Team^[25]
• 2011 Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award^[26]
• WCHA Co-Offensive Player of the Week (Week of October 12, 2011)^[27]
• WCHA Offensive Player of the Week (Week of November 28, 2011)^[28]
• WCHA Offensive Player of the Week (Week of January 11, 2012)^[29]
• 2011–12 CCM Hockey Women’s Division I All-American: Second Team^[30]
• 2014 Clarkson Cup champion

Personal

Her brother Rick played hockey for the Wisconsin Badgers and currently for Seattle ESB. A second brother, Doug, played for the Waterloo Warriors in Ontario.

In 2014, Spooner appeared as a contestant in the second season of The Amazing Race Canada with teammate Meaghan Mikkelson. They finished the race in 2nd place.^[31]

References