Seattle Torrent part ways with head coach Steve O’Rourke after just 1 season
The Seattle Torrent have parted ways with head coach Steve O’Rourke after just one season behind the bench, the team announced on Friday. “We are grateful to Steve for his contributions to the Seattle Torrent during our inaugural season,” said general manager Meghan Turner in a statement. “We wish him and his family nothing but the best in the future.
” O’Rourke, 51, was hired less than a year ago, in June 2025, as the Torrent’s first-ever head coach. He had more than 15 years of coaching experience, largely in the junior ranks, but was a newcomer to women’s hockey. The Torrent joined the PWHL last season along with the Vancouver Goldeneyes in the league’s first wave of expansion.
Each roster was well stocked with talent, thanks to an expansion draft process that was designed to ensure the league’s newest teams were able to compete on Day 1. Seattle’s roster looked promising with three of the PWHL’s most productive players of all-time (Hilary Knight, Alex Carpenter and Jessie Eldridge), and multiple promising young prospects (Danielle Serdachny, Hannah Bilka and Julia Gosling). But the Torrent finished their inaugural season last in the PWHL standings with just eight wins, a league-high 16 losses in 30 games, and the league’s worst goal differential (-28).
Injuries were certainly a factor with Knight and Bilka missing time after the Milan Winter Olympics. But several players also underperformed — including Eldridge, who was traded midseason only to flourish in Boston — and the club is moving on. Now, the Torrent are searching for their second head coach in two years.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic . Seattle Torrent, NHL, Women's Hockey 2026 The Athletic Media Company