The boost from the 2026 Winter Games was real and immediate, as fans packed Climate Pledge Arena to the ceiling for a Seattle Torrent game Friday night. Seattle reclaimed an attendance record it set earlier this season with a crowd of 17,335, the U.S. arena record for a women's hockey game.
The CPA seating capacity for hockey is 17,151, so the first game after the monthlong Olympic break had to be standing-room only. It’s only the second women’s pro hockey game in the U.S. to top 17,000 fans. A crowd of 17,228 filled Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. for a Professional Women's Hockey League Takeover Tour matchup between the Montréal Victoire and the New York Sirens in January.
The PWHL said attendance was up 17% season-over-season through 61 games at the Olympic break.
Just over 16,000 spectators took in the Torrent’s home opener Nov. 28, which was a record at the time. The Torrent were shut out in that one.
Friday's record-setting game was also a Torrent loss. However, Paramore’s “Misery Business” had the arena vibrating after two Seattle goals. In each of the first two periods, the Toronto Sceptres scored early and the Torrent tied things up just before the intermission. Aneta Tejralová and Natalie Snodgrass both scored their first goal in Torrent green.
In the third period, Toronto bucked the trend. The Sceptres went up 3-2 on an Emma Maltais goal and scored two empty-netters before the Torrent could get any funny ideas. The final score was 5-2, Sceptres.
I just wish we could have gotten a couple more points for them tonight," Snodgrass said of the crowd. "What a cool experience, for us and for them."
The fans weren't roaring for her, but Toronto goaltender Raygan Kirk enjoyed the noise anyway.
"We thrive with that atmosphere. I think every team will say that," Kirk said. "They're cheering at every opportunity, obviously, for their home team. But I think we feed off that as well. It's great that everybody showed up tonight."
Seattle went without captain Hilary Knight, who is expected to miss at least three weeks with a lower-body injury sustained at the Winter Olympics, and her Team USA teammate Hannah Bilka, who is day-to-day. Both players are in the Torrent’s top five in scoring, and their absences affected the cadence of a team already adjusting after a long layoff, according to Seattle coach Steve O'Rourke.
Knight and Bilka, along with Alex Carpenter and Cayla Barnes, are coming off a gold-medal victory at the Milano Cortina Games. Torrent forward Julia Gosling took home silver as a member of Team Canada.
Bilka was named a tournament All-Star in her first Olympics. She tied for the tournament lead with four goals. Gosling, meanwhile, led the tournament with three power-play goals and tied for third in scoring for Canada.
The captain of Czechia’s team, defender Tejralová was the only Torrent Olympian who didn’t medal. She earned a double roar Friday after she was introduced, then opened the scoring for the Torrent. She tapped a feed from Danielle Serdachny past Kirk (20 saves) to make it 1-1.
"It was a great play from (Gosling) and (Serdachny). I'm grateful for that," Tejralová said. "But I would rather get the three points."
Thirteen games into her third PWHL season, forward Snodgrass was waiting on her first goal as a member of the Torrent. Toronto allowed her and Carpenter to get loose on what was basically a staggered 2-on-0, though both had defenders close behind them. Snodgrass put back Carpenter’s rebound to tie the game at 2.
"I had all the faith in the world for 'Carps' to bury that one," Snodgrass said.
"She's just a natural goal-scorer. But thanks to her, I got the monkey off my back.
Jessie Eldridge set the play in motion by chipping the puck ahead to Carpenter.
Hannah Murphy got the start in net for Seattle and made 21 saves.
High attendance numbers haven't translated to standings success yet. Exactly halfway through the regular season, the Torrent (4-8-3) sit last in the eight-team PWHL. Seattle took the first two meetings with Toronto this season, 3-2 in a shootout on Jan. 3 and 6-4 in regulation on Jan. 20.
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