The Seattle Torrent and Vancouver Goldeneyes sit at the bottom of the PWHL standings. 

When the two latest expansion teams were announced it was clear it would come with its own set of challenges. With these two newest teams, Seattle and Vancouver, being the only two teams on the west coast, it pointed to long road trips and interesting game schedules.

The Seattle Torrent had a long homestand throughout the month of December but just returned home after 17 days on the road. During these 17 days, the team traveled more than 7,000 miles roundtrip and played four total games, including two Takeover Tour games.

The Torrent ended their trip in Minnesota taking on the Frost who really took control of the game from the jump. Seattle lost that game six to two and were outshot 45-26. The previous meeting between these two teams also resulted in a Seattle loss, three to zero, but wasn’t quite as lopsided with shots on goal 30 to 25 in favor of Minnesota.

After the most recent loss to the Frost, head coach, Steve O’Rourke said, “We didn’t talk about it but coming in here we knew this was going to be tough for us. This was our day 17 of a road trip and then it's sitting here waiting for us. We don’t make the schedule, but they [Minnesota] were well prepared and they’re a good hockey team and came at us in waves.”

Some teams just match up better against certain teams which could be true for a Torrent-Frost scenario, but does the length of time on the road also play a role in this? Seattle scored three goals in both first two games on the trip but only scored a combined three goals in the final two.

Vancouver is currently on a lengthy road trip of their own with their last home game having been on December 27. With one game left to play out, they have only notched one so far on their travels. When the east-coast teams make their trips to the west coast, they have two teams to play and then they can at least get much closer to home, and time zones, when they move on to their next games even if not going directly to their own rink.

It hasn’t been all bad for the Torrent on the road, however. They had their first road win against the Sceptres during a Takeover Tour game in Hamilton to a crowd of over 16,000 fans. That game also marked goaltender Corinne Schroeder’s first win this season as she stopped 37 of 39 shots.

After that shootout win against Toronto, O’Rourke remarked on the team’s progression during the road trip. “The results aren’t always the most important thing. We want to put things together period after period, but what we’re doing is working period after period and seeing our identity grow, game in game out,” he said. “We’re getting better as a group with our details, but the biggest thing here is understanding that these are 30 playoff games. That’s really what it is with intensity. We get ready each and every night to have that mentality, and we’re starting to form that each night, that playoff mindset,” said O’Rourke.

The firsts on the trip didn’t stop at Schroeder’s first win. During the first game of the journey against the Sirens, Danielle Serdachny, Mikyla Grant-Mentis, and Lexie Adzija all recorded their first goals of the season. In another fun first, goaltender Hannah Murphy secured her first assist and point of the season against New York. Alex Carpenter, with a goal in the Sceptres game, became the first American player in the PWHL to reach 50 career points.

Those are fun milestones, but they weren’t enough to move the Torrent up in the standings as they currently sit in second to last in the league. Something noticeably lacking is scoring from the defenders. When the blue line starts to contribute with goals, that will be another marker that the team is truly coming together, systems are working, and voices are familiar among the new lines on the new team.

The last games prior to the Olympic break will be an interesting study for the Torrent. It's going to be important to get some wins, especially in front of the home crowd, before the team heads out again and before the long break. Takeaways from the road, the familiarity of home ice, and three good practices before that first game back need to translate into success in these games.

The Torrent play two home games in quick succession, January 18 and 20, then go back on the road. They’ll play a Takeover Tour game in Denver on January 25 against the Goldeneyes, and then play in Ottawa on January 28. From there, the six Olympians from the Torrent go directly to Milan and the next game for the Seattle team is after the break on February 27.