This week on The IX Sports Podcast Hockey Edition, host Maya Smith is joined by The Ice Garden’s Seattle Torrent beat reporter, Silvia Leija Rosas, to discuss the team’s offseason.
Leija said the team has some work to do on defense following expansion.
“I mean, [Seattle’s] biggest weakness? Definitely the blue line. You know, we lost Cayla Barnes, Megan Carter, Mariah Keopple. Like that’s three defenders just totally gone,” Leija said.
Leija said that the loss of Hannah Bilka — who is headed for PWHL Detroit — was another departure the Torrent would likely feel next season.
“Like she was incredible in in the time that she got to play. I think she was like nine points in 14 games …,” Leija said. “And I’m — I don’t know how how this will like come up this season, but like Seattle desperately needed scoring, and like we really saw that, so Bilka might be the one that Seattle generally, like, regrets the longest.”
Abbey Murphy controversy
Then the pair turned to discuss the controversy surrounding the second-overall pick in the 2026 PWHL Entry Draft, Abbey Murphy. Murphy was one of just two players from the 2026 Olympic gold medal winning Team USA women’s hockey team to visit the White House in August.
Leija asked Murphy about this at a press conference.
“I’m curious to hear a little bit more from you about her answer and kind of what you think this season will look like from that perspective,” Smith said.
“It was more of a question that I knew that the fans wanted answered,” Leija said, explaining that part of the reason there was such a big reaction to the visit is because the Torrent have done a lot of work to make the fan base welcoming.
“I recently had a conversation with Emily Brown and the business [operations] for the Seattle Torrent about the kind of culture that they’ve cultivated, and you know, bringing in these community like these community groups and like having tabling events, and just … having this very Seattle … environment in there that was so welcoming,” Leija said.
Tune in to this week’s episode to hear a more in-depth discussion of the team — and theories about the upcoming jersey redesign for Seattle and Vancouver.
Make sure to subscribe to The IX Sports Podcast for in-depth coverage of women’s soccer, hockey and basketball; and tune in each weekday morning for a quick overview of the biggest headlines on Women’s Sports Daily, like WNBA news and PWHL expansion updates.
