Toronto Staff

Ownership Team

Johanna Neilson Boynton

Ownership

Johanna Neilson Boynton, has been a women’s hockey pioneer since she started playing pond hockey with the boys in first grade. She played on the first women’s team at St. Paul’s School and was recruited to play at Harvard where she was a 2-time captain and winner of the Ivy League championship in 1987 and 1988. She served as co-chair of the Friends of Harvard Hockey for nearly two decades during which time she was instrumental in attracting funding and supporting the growth of the women’s program. She and her family coordinated billets for the 2014 US Women’s Olympic Team that trained near her home in Concord, Massachusetts, and she worked with USA Hockey to establish the Sochi Family Fund which enabled the families of US players to travel to Sochi, Russia to see their daughters realize their Olympic dreams. Hockey has been a central part of her life and she was thrilled by the opportunity to get involved with the Toronto Six.

When she’s not in a rink, she runs a residential building company in Concord, serves as President of the Harvard Varsity Club, and sits on the board of Middlesex School.

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Front Office

Digit Murphy

President and Head Coach

Digit Murphy is a visionary, innovator, and builder with a lifetime of experience in the women's sports world. In April 2020 she accepted a role as the President of the first National Women’s Hockey League franchise in Canada — The Toronto Six.

Prior to joining the Six, Murphy helped a KHL professional hockey organization, the Kunlun Red Star, build women’s hockey in China in preparation for the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Under Murphy, the Red Star reached the Canadian Women’s Hockey League final — Murphy’s fourth appearance in the final, including two Clarkson Cup championships with the Boston Blades in 2013 and 2015. While coaching professionally, and as head coach of Division I Brown University for 18 seasons, Murphy has coached Olympians and All-Americans and earned numerous awards and honours. Murphy was awarded the 2013-14 CWHL coach of the year, was the first NCAA female coach to reach 200 wins, has Cornell’s women’s hockey MVP award named in her honour, and was inducted into the International Scholar Athlete Hall of Fame for her work as both a coach and player. A key component to Murphy’s coaching philosophy is her belief in the growth of women’s presence in ice hockey and coaching — a passion she incorporates into all her work.

Alongside Aronda Kirby, Murphy founded a professional Women's Lacrosse (The UWLX) in 2016 and is presently the founder of Proven Winners — a company that connects athletes and corporations. Murphy is a tireless advocate for women’s hockey, women’s sport, and women in general, and is proud to fight for the future of women’s professional hockey as president and coach of the Six.

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Mandy Cronin

General Manager

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The NWHL’s new team in Toronto has hired Mandy Cronin, a co-founder of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and former goaltender in the league, as GM. Cronin was general manager of the Buffalo Beauts last season, and is the founder and director of M-Power Hockey, which since 2006 has provided coaching, mentoring and consulting services for players in Toronto and neighboring communities. Cronin, who played four years for the University of Maine Black Bears between 1998-2002 and was a captain in her junior and senior seasons, lives in Toronto with her family.

Gary Soper

Assistant Coach

With over twenty years of coaching, scouting, and player development experience, Gary Soper joined the Toronto Six as an Assistant Coach in October 2020. An NCCP certified coach, Soper has been involved in hockey at almost every level, from competitive youth teams to the Canadian Women’s National Teams.

As Head Coach of the Whitby Jr. Wolves from 2009 to 2014, Soper led the team to two PWHL titles, won over 70% of games played, and graduated numerous players to Canadian university hockey and the NCAA. In 2011, Soper coached Team Ontario to a silver medal at the Canada Winter Games, and since 2014 the Oshawa native worked as a Regional Scout for Hockey Canada and National Women’s Programs.

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