Seattle Torrent
| Seattle Torrent | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Seattle, Washington |
| League | PWHL |
| Founded | 2025 |
| Home arena | Climate Pledge Arena |
| Colors | Slate green, River blue, Glacier blue, Foam, Haze grey, Basalt black |
| Owner(s) | Mark Walter Group |
| General manager | Meghan Turner |
| Head coach | Steve O'Rourke |
| Captain | Hilary Knight |
| Website | thepwhl.com/en/teams/seattle-torrent |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 0 |
| Walter Cups | 0 |
 Current season | |
The Seattle Torrent are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle that compete in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). They began play in the 2025–26 season, as did the Vancouver Goldeneyes, the PWHL's first two expansion teams. The team plays home games at Climate Pledge Arena, which is also home to the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League.
History
[edit]Seattle had been considered for a potential PWHL expansion team and hosted a league game during the Takeover Tour in January 2025. The Boston Fleet played the Montreal Victoire at Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena and drew a crowd of 12,608.[1] Seattle also holds the record for the highest attendance at a non-college women's hockey game in the United States, having drawn 14,551 for a Rivalry Series game between the United States and Canada women's national teams in 2022.[2]
The PWHL announced their expansion to Seattle on April 30, 2025. The Seattle team is the eighth franchise in the league and second expansion team, part of the league's first round of expansion alongside the Vancouver Goldeneyes. The team began play in the 2025–26 season. They play their home games at Climate Pledge Arena, shared with the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League and Seattle Storm of the WNBA. The team's colors, emerald green and cream, are described as similar to the Storm's.[3] The Kraken, who were part of the bidding group alongside arena operator Oak View Group, assist the PWHL team in marketing and business operations.[4] On June 20, 2025, former Oshawa Generals head coach, Steve O'Rourke, was named the team's inaugural coach,[5] and on November 14, Hilary Knight was named the inaugural team captain.[6]
The Torrent's first game was hosted by their fellow expansion team, the Vancouver Goldeneyes, at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, on November 21. The team lost 4–3 in overtime; the first two goals for the Torrent were scored by Julia Gosling.[7] The team's inaugural home game at Climate Pledge Arena drew 16,014 spectators—the largest attendance for a women's hockey game in the United States. The visiting Minnesota Frost won 3–0.[8] The Torrent earned their first win in franchise history in their third game, a 2–1 victory at home against the New York Sirens, on December 3.[9]
Team identity
[edit]As part of the expansion announcement, the team's initial colors were revealed to be emerald green and cream. Like the original six teams of the PWHL did during the 2023–24 PWHL season, the team temporarily operated as PWHL Seattle during the 2025 offseason until the Torrent identity was announced.[3] Given their close proximity to one another, the team is expected to have a rivalry with PWHL Vancouver.[10][3]
On October 21, 2025, Seattle released their inaugural season jerseys, which feature the city name diagonally across the front. The jerseys are produced by Bauer. It was announced that team names and logos would be revealed prior to the beginning of the season and brought into circulation during the 2025-26 season.[11] Hailey Salvian, a reporter for The Athletic, reported that Seattle had record-breaking sales after the commercial release of the inaugural jersey, with the most single-day sales recorded in PWHL history for the jersey.[12]
The team's name and identity, the Seattle Torrent, were officially unveiled on November 6, 2025.[13][14] The team's colors were updated and expanded to represent the ocean and river waters, the mountains and igneous rock, and the trademark cloud cover of the Pacific Northwest: Slate green (a dark teal), River blue (a blue-grey) and Glacier blue (an icier blue-grey), Foam (a sandy cream), Haze grey, and Basalt black.
Arena
[edit]
The team plays home games at Climate Pledge Arena, which it shares with the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League and Seattle Storm of the WNBA. It has a seating capacity of 17,151, making it the second-largest arena in the PWHL by capacity.[3] The team's training facility is the Kraken Community Iceplex in the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle, which it shares with the Kraken.[10]
Players and personnel
[edit]Current roster
[edit]- As of November 21, 2025[15]
Reserves
[edit]| No. | Nat | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 52 | 
|
Jada Habisch | F | R | 23 | 2025 | Buffalo, Minnesota |
| 71 |
|
Sydney Langseth | F | R | 23 | 2025 | Eden Prairie, Minnesota |
| 6 |
|
Emily Zumwinkle | D | R | 22 | 2025 | Excelsior, Minnesota |
All-time players
[edit]Head coaches
[edit]- Steve O'Rourke, 2025–present
Assistant coaches
[edit]- Christine Bumstead, 2025–present[17]
- Clayton Beddoes, 2025–present[18]
First-round draft picks
[edit]- 2025: Jenna Buglioni (8th overall)
Broadcasting
[edit]The team announced agreements with KZJO (Fox 13+) and KONG to broadcast its games on television, with the majority of games airing on KZJO and six airing on KONG.[19] All PWHL games also air on the league's YouTube channel. Alison Lukan and Piper Shaw, of the Seattle Kraken's broadcasting team, also broadcast for the Torrent.[20]
References
[edit]- ^ Kennedy, Ian (January 5, 2025). "Seattle Misses Record But Draws Strong Crowd". Retrieved September 1, 2025.
- ^ Shefte, Kate (January 5, 2025). "As PWHL takes over CPA, crowd makes it clear 'Seattle wants its own team'". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
- ^ a b c d Shefte, Kate (April 30, 2025). "PWHL expanding to Seattle. Here's what we know". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
- ^ Salvian, Hailey (April 30, 2025). "PWHL expanding to Seattle for 2025-26 season, Kraken to play supporting role". The Athletic. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
- ^ "PWHL Seattle names Steve O'Rourke as first-ever head coach". Professional Women's Hockey League. June 20, 2025. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
- ^ "Seattle Torrent name Hilary Knight as first ever captain". Professional Women's Hockey League. June 20, 2025. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
- ^ Shefte, Kate (November 21, 2025). "Seattle Torrent lose PWHL debut to Vancouver Goldeneyes in overtime". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 5, 2025.
- ^ Shefte, Kate (November 28, 2025). "Seattle Torrent drop PWHL home opener to Minnesota before record crowd". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 5, 2025.
- ^ Shefte, Kate (December 3, 2025). "Seattle Torrent earn franchise's first win with late rally". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 5, 2025.
- ^ a b Donkin, Karissa (April 30, 2025). "PWHL continues West Coast expansion, adding franchise in Seattle". CBC Sports. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
- ^ "PWHL SEATTLE AND PWHL VANCOUVER UNVEIL INAUGURAL JERSEYS AHEAD OF 2025-26 SEASON". PWHL. October 21, 2025. Retrieved October 28, 2025.
- ^ Salvian, Hailey (October 22, 2025). "PWHL Seattle had the most single-day jersey sales in PWHL..." x.com. Retrieved October 28, 2025.
- ^ "PWHL UNVEILS SEATTLE TORRENT IN EXPANSION TEAM IDENTITY LAUNCH". pwhl.com. November 6, 2025. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
- ^ Osborne, Ben (November 6, 2025). "Seattle Torrent: Feel the Power". pwhl.com. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
- ^ a b "Seattle Torrent Roster". Professional Women's Hockey League. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
- ^ "Seattle Torrent announce 2025-26 roster". Professional Women's Hockey League. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
- ^ "Christine Bumstead Becomes First Assistant Coach for PWHL's Seattle Expansion Team". Huskie Athletics. August 21, 2025. Retrieved August 27, 2025.
- ^ "PWHL Seattle names Christine Bumstead and Clayton Beddoes to coaching staff". Professional Women's Hockey League. August 21, 2025. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
- ^ Stecker, Brent (November 18, 2025). "PWHL team Seattle Torrent will air games on free local TV". Seattle Sports. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
- ^ Klein, Ava (November 19, 2025). "Seattle Torrent wraps up first week on the ice". Sound Of Hockey. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
