Seattle Torrent Practice Notebook: March 28th, 2026
By Charles Hamaker
Northgate, WA - Ahead of their home game tomorrow afternoon against the Ottawa Charge, the fourth game of the season series, the Seattle Torrent returned to full-team practice at the Kraken Community Iceplex. After an optional practice session yesterday that was closed to the public, the Torrent were at full strength attendance-wise outside of forward Hannah Bilka, who was placed on season-ending long-term injured reserve earlier this month.
After goaltenders Carly Jackson and Corinne Schroeder hit the ice to begin their early work, as the netminders tend to do at hockey practices, forward Mikyla Grant-Mentis was the first skater to hit the ice. Donning a red non-contact jersey, it’s the first appearance for “Buckey” on the ice since she was placed on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury suffered after a hit by Britta Curl-Salemme in the game against the Minnesota Frost on March 13th.
Grant-Mentis didn’t stay for too long on the ice, doing some power skating work off to the side before her day was wrapped up. This indicates that it’s early in the road to recovery for “Buckey,” but it’s still good to see that she is able to get out on the ice and begin making that progress. She was not deemed out for the season when placed on long-term injured reserve, so it seems realistic that she can rejoin the team for some games down the stretch.
The morning after she delivered the ceremonial first pitch ahead of the first Mariners win of 2026, Team USA and Torrent captain Hilary Knight was on the ice in a standard practice jersey. Knight had been on the ice in a recent TikTok she posted alongside reserve defender Emily Zumwinkle, but that had to have been a smaller session, considering the rest of the team was still on the road trip when it was posted. It was still an indicator that Knight had gotten onto the ice and begun taking steps to return to game action. Considering that when she was placed on long-term injured reserve, she was never deemed out for the season like Bilka was, a return to the Torrent lineup has always been possible for Hilary.
Knight took some power play reps with the first unit, which is typically an indicator in hockey that someone is ready to play/will play in that team’s upcoming game. If you’re not getting power play reps and you typically would as someone returning from injury, it’s a good sign you’re still out. Knight did take on some contact along the boards, another good sign for a potential return, but there still appears to be some rust to shake off. Given that it’s only her second documented on-ice session since the Olympics, this isn’t surprising. A team source tells Circling Seattle Sports that Knight has been practicing for the past week, so if that’s the case, a return tomorrow certainly could make a ton of sense.
She still has to be activated off long-term injured reserve before she can play, so it isn’t a certainty that she’ll play tomorrow against Ottawa, but it seems clear that Knight will play for the Torrent again before the inaugural season wraps up.
The full Torrent roster was on the ice for this session, with Bilka obviously absent as previously mentioned. New faces, Theresa Schafzahl and Gabrielle David, made their Kraken Community Iceplex debuts without nameplates on their practice jerseys, unlike their Seattle teammates.
After some special teams work and different rush scenarios, the teams’ rushes saw Hilary Knight back in as a full participant on the Torrent top line alongside Team USA teammate Alex Carpenter and newly acquired Theresa Schafzahl. Danielle Serdachny was bumped down to wing on the second line with David and Gosling. Below, you’ll see the rushes that we saw from this practice.
Theresa Schafzahl-Alex Carpenter-Hilary Knight
Julia Gosling-Gabrielle David-Danielle Serdachny
Lexie Adzija-Sydney Langseth-Natalie Snodgrass
Wagner-Buglioni-Bryant
Lily Delianedis-Jada Habisch (Extras)
Aneta Tejralová-Cayla barnes
Emily Brown-Anna Wilgren
Mariah Keopple-Megan Carter
Emily Zumwinkle*-Lyndie Lobdell
*Reserve player
Not going to guarantee that Knight plays tomorrow, but given that she didn’t have a red non-contact jersey, took reps on the power play, and was a full participant in line rushes, we think there’s a decent chance she’ll be activated. One of the reserve forwards who has been signed to a standard player agreement (Jada Habisch or Sydney Langseth; it seems more likely it would be Habisch) would have to be reverted to a reserve player once Knight is activated as well.
What’s next?
Following this morning's full practice at the Kraken Community Iceplex, the Seattle Torrent are back in game action tomorrow, Sunday, March 29th, 2026, as they host the Ottawa Charge for the second time this season. That game has a puck drop at 4 PM PDT at Climate Pledge Arena, streamed on YouTube everywhere and broadcast on FOX 13+ in the local market. This game will also be the Torrent’s “Kids & Youth Hockey Day,” presented by WaFd Bank.
The Charge have struggled to find consistent footing dating back to mid-January, trading results since a six-game win streak starting after a road loss to the Torrent and that ended on January 13th.
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Check out our previous Seattle Torrent articles here.
Check out our previous articles written by Charles Hamaker here.
Check out our previous articles with photos by Nick Lyons here.
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