Seattle Kraken Welcome Torrent Coach Christine Bumstead to Development Camp

The Seattle Kraken have officially launched their fourth consecutive season by inviting Christine Bumstead, head coach of the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Seattle Torrent, to their development camp. This collaboration aims to infuse a fresh perspective into the training regimen of the young prospects.

Kraken director of player development Cory Murphy emphasized the importance of diverse coaching voices, stating, “As coaches, we’re always looking to grow and learn, too. When you bring new voices in with that kind of experience to add to the camp and provide their feedback and their voice, I think it makes us all better.”

Bumstead’s association with the Kraken dates back to June when she was appointed head coach of the Torrent. Previously, she served as an assistant bench coach during the Torrent’s inaugural season, where they achieved a record of 8-1-5-16.

Her invitation to the development camp came from Kraken assistant general manager Alex Mandrycky, who recognized the value Bumstead could bring. Bumstead articulated her unique viewpoint: “The PWHL game is different than the NHL game. That’s also something that we can share and provide – the different little nuances within our game or the little nuances within our athletes and how we develop them. You have to work with those players … they’re very successful and elite where they’re playing, but you want to craft them and develop them to be elite and successful here as a Seattle Kraken or as a Coachella Firebird, right? So that’s something that’s important, and we are able to have those conversations between the dev staff and me.”

Murphy further highlighted the advantages of having Bumstead at development camp, noting, “Just getting a different perspective, you can see the passion comes out right away. We had (Bumstead) running the bench, and you could see her getting prepared and the competitive fire. It was great to have her on the ice. I’ll be following the Torrent for sure.”

Note: This recap is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting.