Torrent, coach O’Rourke part ways after one season

There’s already a changing of the guard in the Emerald City.

On Friday, Seattle Torrent General Manager announced that the team and head coach Steve O’Rourke have parted ways after just one season.

In a release from the team, Turner thanked O’Rourke for his efforts during the team’s first campaign.

“We are grateful to Steve for his contributions to the Seattle Torrent during our inaugural season,” Turner said. “We wish him and his family nothing but the best in the future.”

While there was a lot of excitement for the new team in Seattle, the Torrent didn’t quite meet expectations in year one. O’Rourke had, in his midst, a pretty talented group featuring captain Hilary Knight, Hannah Bilka, goaltender Corinne Schroeder, Danielle Serdachny and Cayla Barnes. However, from the onset of the season, it seemed like the Torrent weren’t able to connect and gel compared to the established six franchises of the PWHL. The team struggled to find a groove during the season and hung around the bottom of the standings for most of the year. It certainly didn’t help that the Torrent lost both Knight and Billa to injury coming out of the Olympic break, with Bilka missing the last of the year.

O’Rourke’s team finished with the worst record in the PWHL, going 8-1-5-16, setting a new single-season record for both regulation losses and overall defeats.To add insult to injury, the Torrent, despite entering the Gold Plan earlier than the other four teams that missed the Walter Cup Playoffs, failed to win the number one pick for the 2026 PWHL Draft, losing out to a fellow expansion team, the Vancouver Goldeneyes.

O’Rourke came to the PWHL after spending time with the Ontario Hockey League’s Oshawa Generals as both an associate and head coach.

Turner added that the team will begin search for a new head coach immediately.