On Thursday, Nov. 6, the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) announced their first ever expansion team names for the 2025-26 season: The Seattle Torrent and the Vancouver Goldeneyes.
These teams will take the league from six to eight teams, joining the original Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montreal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge and Toronto Scepters. Their inaugural game will take place against each other on Nov. 21, 2025, at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver — the Goldeneyes new home.
While Vancouver hosts the first game at home, Seattle will host their season at Climate Pledge Arena. Vancouver’s coaching staff will consist of head coach Brian Idalski and assistant coaches BJ Adams and Brendon Knight. Seattle’s staff will include head coach Steve O’Rourke, as well as assistant coaches Christine Bumstead and Clayton Beddos.
Since being announced back in late April, the teams’ development has created much anticipation. Rosters were announced in June as well — the two teams hold incredibly competitive players from both universities and the pro league.
Thanks to this new team, Seattle is becoming home to an incredibly talented group of players. Forward Hilary Knight, forward Alex Carpenter, defensive players Aneta Tejalova and Megan Carter and goaltender Carly Jackson lie among the league’s experienced players. The six collegiate draft picks include forward Jenna Buglioni from Ohio State University, goaltender Hannah Murphy from Colgate University, forward Lily Delianedi from Cornell University, defensive player Lyndie Lobdell from Penn State University, forward Olivia Wallin from University of Minnesota Duluth and UConn’s own forward Jada Habisch.
Knight is the record holder for all time points, assists and goals at the IIHF Women’s World Championship. She also holds the record for the most Olympic appearances by a U.S. Women’s player, most recently as captain for the U.S. team. Prior to being drafted to the Torrent, she was a key player for the Boston Fleet (PWHL). There is no doubt that she will back the Torrent in their inaugural season.
Jackson, who previously played for the Toronto Sceptres in the 2024-25 season, is entering Seattle with a Save Percentage (SV%) of 0.962. Between her and Hannah Murphy’s career SV% of .920, the Torrent are set to have a wall of a goal. Finally, Habisch from UConn left her mark on her university as the third all-time goal scorer in the program’s history. As captain in 2024-25, she helped lead the team to the Hockey East regular season championship.
This team will no doubt be full of effective communicators and incredibly strong as one, but only the season will tell if they will reign “torrentially” in the league.
Vancouver also possesses many names that have and will shape the league. Forwards Sarah Nurse and Michela Cava, defensive players Sydney Bard and Claire Thompson and goaltenders Emerance Maschmeyer and Kristen Campbell have built names for themselves to grow on with the Goldeneyes. Nurse has won both silver and gold medals with Team Canada and has over five appearances at the World Championship, winning three golds, a silver and a bronze. She played the 2024-25 season on the Toronto Sceptres, although she sustained an injury mid-season. The upcoming season will most definitely be redemption for her as she has only played one full PWHL season so far.
Thompson will be a key defensive player for The Goldeneyes. She was named a tournament all-star in the 2022 Beijing Olympics and a gold medalist at the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship. Previously playing for the frost, she adds to the experience level of this new team. Thompson will work seamlessly with Maschmeyer, Olympic Gold Medalist goalie from Alberta, Canada. Her 2.30 goals against average (GAA) and .913 (SV%) put her apart. Viewers should keep an eye out for the two of them working together; it’ll surely lead to some memorable saves.
From the collegiate level, Vancouver’s four draft picks include forward Nina Jobst-Smith from University of Minnesota Duluth, forward Brianna Brooks from Penn State University, defensive player Madison Samoskevish from Quinnipiac University and Chanreet Bassi from the University of British Columbia.
Fans should not make the mistake of overlooking Brooks; her 90 career points undoubtedly played a massive role in her three consecutive conference championships with PSU. Her first game in the league will be against her former teammate, Lobdell. Incredible rosters build the team from the inside, but from the outside, the growing league fanbase is to thank for their expansion. Between the first and second season of the league, average game attendance increased by 27%, and both league and team social media impressions increased by 68%. That’s a 253,925 fan attendance difference in just a year.
The fanbase is young and hungry for much more from the league — and these expansions are only the beginning.