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Five Olympians Record Points for Torrent in Olympic Sendoff

The Seattle Torrent hosted their Olympic sendoff at Climate Pledge Arena, with five of six Olympians contributing to the statsheet.
Jennifer Streeter|
Seattle Torrent at Toronto Sceptres, Jan. 3, 2026
Seattle Torrent at Toronto Sceptres, Jan. 3, 2026 | COURTESY: PWHL

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Seattle Kraken

A glimpse of the Women's Ice Hockey Tournament in the rapidly upcoming 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics was on full display for Seattle locals and fans at Climate Pledge Arena.

Jan. 20 saw the Professional Women's Hockey League's Seattle Torrent and Toronto Sceptres face off in the Torrent's Olympic sendoff game. With the women's hockey tournament scheduled to begin on Feb. 5, the game against Toronto served as the Torrent's first of final three games prior to the Olympic break. The league will pause play from Jan. 29 to Feb. 25, and PWHL action will return on Feb. 26 following the conclusion of the Winter Olympics. The Torrent won the CPA sendoff game, 6-4 over the Sceptres.

Seattle's Cayla Barnes, Hannah Bilka, Alex Carpenter and Hilary Knight will be playing for USA in the upcoming Winter Games. Julia Gosling will represent Canada and Aneta Tejralova will be playing for Czechia.

The Sceptres boast a whopping seven players participating in the Milano Cortina Olympics — Renata Fast (Canada), Ella Shelton (Canada), Emma Maltais (Canada), Natalie Spooner (Canada), Blayre Turnbull (Canada), Daryl Watts (Canada), Kristin Della Rovere (Italy, reserves), Sara Hjalmarsson (Sweden), Anna Kjellbin (Sweden).

Almost All Torrent Olympians Contribute to Statsheet Prior to PWHL Olympic Break

The Torrent will once against host Toronto in the Sceptres' first game after the Olympic Break on Feb. 27.

Five of the six named Olympians on the Seattle roster put up points en route to the win over Toronto. Gosling, Bilka (who also had an additional assist) and Knight all scored, with Barnes (one) and Carpenter (two) logging assists throughout the evening. Lexie Adzija scored on a jailbreak goal — which is unique to the PWHL in that a player serving a minor penalty can “break out” of the penalty box if their team scores a short-handed goal) — in addition to Jessie Eldridge who were the lone goal scorers of the Torrent who are not yet an Olympians.

Torrent Head Coach Steve O'Rourke said his roster completely ran with the theme of the Olympic sendoff.

"The theme of the night of these Olympians, they saw it, I'm sure internal they knew what the crowd was here tonight to send them off in a great fashion, and they stepped up, they got that ball rolling and kept it rolling, and the rest just jumped on the train and kept it going," O'Rourke said in the postgame presser.

Knight is captain of the Seattle club during their inaugural season and will be suiting up in the Olympics for the U.S. squad for the fifth time. This is the most Olympic appearances in history by an American in hockey for men or women.

Seattle Torrent captain, forward Hilary Knight
Seattle Torrent captain, forward Hilary Knight | COURTESY: PWHL

10,160 was marked as the official attendance at CPA for the Torrent's Olympic sendoff event. Seattle Kraken assist coach of Jessica Campbell was also in attendance and shown on the big screens.

I think every single time we play at home, it's been incredible. I've played for multiple organizations, and it's different here. Our fans rally around us, even on a weekday, we have over 10,000 fans," Adzija said to Breakaway On SI. "As players, that makes makes this experience so special for us. So we really want to get that win for them, and I'm happy that we did."

As previously reported by Breakway On SI, 16 players from the PWHL are represented on Team USA alone, with many other league faces shown on other countries' rosters.

The Torrent recently set the highest attended home venue game in PWHL history with 16,014 fans in attendance on Nov. 28. Seattle will also make history in April in the league's first game at the ever-iconic venue of Madison Square Garden.

Attendance for the league can additionally only be expected to grow following the conclusion of the Milano Cortina Games.

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Jennifer Streeter
JENNIFER STREETER

Jennifer Streeter graduated with a B.A. in journalism from Texas A&M and received her Master of Science from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. At both schools, she focused on an emphasis of sports reporting. A former athlete herself, "Jenny" was a varsity soccer player and comes from a family who participated in NCAA athletics. She has covered everything from the 2025 Hughes Bowl, SEC football, Ivy League athletics, the 2023 ALCS and the 2023 World Series, the WNBA, and much more.

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