SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 17: Head coach Steve O'Rourke of the Seattle Torrent looks on against the Ottawa Charge at Climate Pledge Arena on December 17, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
The Seattle Torrent will have a new head coach for their second season in the PWHL.
The Torrent announced on Friday they have parted ways with head coach Steve O'Rourke after a disappointing inaugural season. The search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
"We are grateful to Steve for his contributions to the Seattle Torrent during our inaugural season. We wish him and his family nothing but the best in the future," Torrent general manager Meghan Turner said in a statement.
Though the group carried lofty projections after landing several household names like Hilary Knight and Alex Carpenter through the expansion draft process, the performance of the group lagged behind. Seattle finished at the bottom of the standings with just 31 points (8-1-5-16), which was 13 points out of a playoff spot.
Seattle allowed the most goals in the league at 92 for the season (3.06 GAA) while finishing the year with the third-fewest goals scored at 64. The top two seeds in the PWHL playoffs – Montreal (41) and Boston (45) – allowed less than half as many goals over the 30-game season. Montreal won the Walter Cup over Ottawa earlier this week.
The Torrent will likely look vastly different next season on multiple fronts. With four new expansion teams set to enter the league next season in Detroit, Las Vegas, San Jose, and Hamilton, Ontario, the existing players will again be redistributed throughout the league. The league is departing from a traditional expansion draft model and will instead have a five-phase offseason that will see teams able to protect a limited number of players under contract.
"Obviously, we're all at the mercy of this expansion and what those rules look like," Knight said last month. "Everybody wants to come back, and I think that's going to be the hard part, right, is figuring out what that looks like. But you know, I think for me personally, like, I want to be here in Seattle, and hopefully I can find my way back here. It's something that, you know, is top of mind and has been back of mind for a handful of weeks, as expansion rumors have come out. So yeah, just we'll see what happens."
The players who are back with the Torrent next season will have a new coach leading the way.
Seattle Torrent enter their first offseason with fond memories and uncertain futures as expansion looms
While the results on the ice didn't match expectations entering their inaugural season, the Seattle Torrent enter their first offseason with fond memories and uncertain futures as expansion looms.
The Source: Information in this story came from the Seattle Torrent and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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