Friday, November 21, 2025 | 7 p.m. PT | Pacific Coliseum
WATCH LIVE: TSN 1, TSN.ca, TSN App, KONG (Seattle), PWHL YouTube & thepwhl.com (U.S. / International), More.
Kenzie Lalonde (Play-by-Play), Becky Kellar (Analyst), Brianne Foley (Reporter)
SEATTLE TORRENT
2024-25 PWHL Top Scorer:
Hilary Knight (BOS) – 30 GP, 15-14-29 PTS
Preseason Scrimmages: 3-0 L at VAN | 4-2 W at VAN
VANCOUVER GOLDENEYES
2024-25 PWHL Top Scorer:
Hannah Miller (TOR) – 29 GP, 10-14-24 PTS
Preseason Scrimmages: 3-0 W vs SEA | 4-2 L vs SEA
2025-26 HEAD-TO-HEAD SEASON SCHEDULE:
Nov. 21 at VAN | Jan. 25 at SEA (Denver) | Apr. 14 at VAN | Apr. 18 at SEA
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
A new era launches in the West Coast with the official debut of the league’s first-ever expansion teams. Pacific Coliseum becomes the 26th venue to host a PWHL game all-time.
Women’s hockey competition in the Pacific Northwest dates back over a century when the Seattle Vamps and Vancouver Amazons played a two-game series in 1920. On the men’s side, with the introduction of the Torrent and the Goldeneyes, both the PWHL and the NHL can now highlight a Seattle-Vancouver rivalry. The Canucks won the first six games between the two cities, but the Kraken has won seven of the last nine.
This will be the second-ever PWHL game played in Vancouver, following last season’s Takeover Tour between Montréal (4) and Toronto (2) on Jan. 8 at a sold-out Rogers Arena. The crowd of 19,038 is the fourth largest in league history.
Eleven players from these two teams competed in that game, including Seattle’s Cayla Barnes, Mariah Keopple, Mikyla Grant-Mentis and Anna Wilgren on Montréal and Julia Gosling on Toronto. Vancouver’s Abby Boreen and Jenn Gardiner played for the Victoire, with Kristen Campbell, Izzy Daniel, Hannah Miller and Sarah Nurse on the Sceptres. Grant-Mentis scored a goal and an assist in her best offensive game of the season.
Hilary Knight, the first-ever player signed by Seattle, has also been named its first captain. Her 29 points with Boston last season (15 goals, 14 assists) were tied for the PWHL lead (along with Sarah Fillier) after she recorded 11 points in 24 games in the inaugural PWHL season. Three of her final seven goals last season came on the power play.
Alex Carpenter and Emily Brown were announced on Thursday as the team’s inaugural season alternate captains.
Jessie Eldridge had 24 points last season for New York, tied for fifth most in the PWHL, and her 11 power play points (three goals, eight assists) were fourth most. She began last season with back-to-back multi-point games.
Jenna Buglioni headlines Seattle’s 2025 PWHL Draft class and is one of five rookies on the team’s active roster. The first-round pick from Ohio State will have a special PWHL debut as a British Columbia native from nearby Port Moody.
Vancouver has five of the league’s 12 BC natives on its roster including Gardiner (Surrey), Miller (North Vancouver), forward Katie Chan (Richmond), defender Nina Jobst-Smith (North Vancouver) and goaltender Kimberly Newell (Burnaby).
Miller (10 goals, 14 assists) was one of six PWHL players with double figures in goals and assists last year, and her 13 power-play points (four goals, nine assists) were tied with former Toronto teammate Renata Fast for the most in the league.
Ashton Bell, the first pick in the 2025 PWHL Expansion Draft, has been named Vancouver’s first captain. The Goldeneyes also announced Nurse and Claire Thompson as alternate captains to round out the Goldeneyes’ leadership core.
Thompson began last season with plenty of success — she recorded 11 assists (and one goal) in her first seven games. She recorded just three more assists in her 23 regular-season games after that, but did record six assists in eight playoff games, helping Minnesota win the Walter Cup.
Tereza Vanišová scored 15 goals last season with Ottawa, tied for second most in the PWHL (Marie-Philip Poulin, 19) and led the league in penalty minutes (38). There have only been three NHL players to finish in the top two in the league in goals and penalty minutes — Nels Stewart (1925-26), Ted Lindsay (1952-53) and Maurice Richard (1953-54).
Michelle Karvinen, chosen seventh overall by Vancouver in the 2025 PWHL Draft, is poised to make her league debut. Even though it’s her first PWHL season, by no means is the 35-year-old a rookie, having amassed over a decade of pro experience overseas on top of her highly decorated international credentials representing Finland. Among those highlights, winning Olympic bronze in Vancouver 2010.
Seattle’s Steve O’Rourke and Vancouver’s Brian Idalski will both make their PWHL head coaching debuts.
Prior to the season, 10 players from these two teams competed in November’s Rivalry Series. Vancouver’s Gardiner, Miller, Thompson and Sophie Jaques suited up for Canada alongside Seattle’s Gosling and Danielle Serdachny. The Torrent were represented on the U.S. by Barnes, Carpenter, Knight and Hannah Bilka.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“Tonight will be a special moment for our team as we officially kick off our inaugural season. This is step one in establishing our identity, and we expect a competitive game that will put our foundations to the test. We're looking forward to launching and seeing how this West Coast rivalry takes shape.” – Torrent General Manager Meghan Turner
“We found out last night that the game is sold out, which is pretty incredible to have one of the biggest home openers ever in the PWHL. We’ve been waiting for this moment for a while now, and I think this group is just super excited to get out onto the ice to showcase what we’ve been working on, the group that we have and what Goldeneyes hockey is all about. We can’t wait for tonight.” – Goldeneyes Captain Ashton Bell
FRIDAY’S GAME: Tonight’s inaugural game will be played in front of a sold-out crowd at Pacific Coliseum. Fans are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy festivities outside the arena and won’t want to miss the historic pre-game ceremony before the puck drops. The arena doors open to fans at 5:30 p.m., with the first 4,000 fans receiving a Magnet Schedule giveaway (while supplies last), plus a Rally Towel (full arena giveaway) presented by Canadian Tire. Events taking place in the plaza feature an autograph session with three-time Olympic gold medalist and Team Canada forward, Meghan Agosta; Jocks in Jills’ Tessa Bonhomme and Julia Tocheri on-site; the grand opening of the Goldeneyes retail store; food trucks and new PNE food items; and fan activations.
Opened by the PNE in 1968, the Pacific Coliseum is affectionately known to locals as the “Rink on Renfrew”. It served as the home of the Vancouver Canucks until 1995, the WHL’s Vancouver Giants from 2001-16 and notable events like Game 4 of the 1972 Summit Series, the 2006 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, the 2007 Memorial Cup and both figure skating and short-track speed skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Tonight is what fans have been waiting for since Vancouver (April 23) and Seattle (April 30) were introduced as the PWHL’s first-ever expansion markets, growing the league to eight teams with a West Coast footprint. The roster building process began June 4 with an exclusive signing window, followed by the Expansion Draft on June 9 and Entry Draft on June 24. Inaugural season jerseys were unveiled on October 21, then on November 6, the Goldeneyes and Torrent brands were revealed to further the momentum and anticipation for puck drop.