The Seattle Torrent professional women’s hockey team begins play on Friday. The team is one of two expansion franchises in the now-eight-team Professional Women’s Hockey League. The Torrent’s 31-year-old general manager, Meghan Turner, talked with KNKX’s Kirsten Kendrick for our series Going Deep.
Interview Highlights
On starting hockey
I am the youngest of five kids, and all four of my siblings played hockey before me. So my parents in New Hampshire built a pretty big rink in our yard, and so when I was two, they put me on skates, and then at four, I started playing with my brothers, and here we are.
On her playing career
I played with boys until I was 15, and then moved over to the girls game, just in Southern New Hampshire and Massachusetts. And then went to
Quinnipiac University, which was some of the best years of my life. I played a year in the [Canadian Women’s Hockey League]. That turned into the [Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association] and then stopped playing early 2020s sometime right after COVID. So it was a long career. And I just love the game. There's nothing like stepping out on a fresh sheet of ice and having the cold wind in your face. It’s pretty awesome.
On playing with boys
I think maybe a couple of those years I had another girl on my team, but for the most part, it was just me. My coaches did a really great job and the boys on my team were really great, too, but it certainly is difficult being the only girl on a team full of boys and playing against only boys who sometimes would see the ponytail and not like it. I'm sure, you know, 20-something years later, the game's a bit different at the youth level, but there are certainly some challenges playing as the only girl in the boys’ game. It's really great to see how much the game has grown and how we have more access for little girls to choose. If they want to play boys, they can play boys. If they want to play with all girls, they can play with all girls, and there's a market there.
On building a team from the ground up
What really intrigued me about the league and this opportunity is that it's a really big challenge to make a good organization and a good team. And I like challenges. I feel good about the leaders that we have in place. Obviously [Torrent forward and captain] Hilary Knight is a big element of that. For me, it's about the people that you put in the locker room, the people that are on the coaching staff. I feel great about the start that we have, as far as our culture goes.
On what makes women’s hockey fun to watch
You're going to get a really hard-fought game and, with eight teams, we have a lot of competitive balance across the board. And when you walk into the arena, it's a different experience than you might have in other games that you've been to in the past. I think what's truly special about our league, and the way that… folks present the game, is that it's super welcoming and it's really inclusive. You're going to walk in and know that you're meant to be here and we want you here.
"Going Deep" features KNKX Morning Edition host Kirsten Kendrick talking with folks tied to sports in our region about what drives them — as professionals and people.
