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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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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Lisa Haley

Assistant Coach

Lisa is currently serving as the Head Coach of the Ryerson Rams women's hockey team, as well as Head Coach of the Hungarian national women's hockey team. Haley served as an Assistant Coach in 2007 for Canada's national women's ice hockey team, winning gold at the Four Nations Cup.She has worked with Canada's Under-18 national women's team and its Under-22/Development Program. Her first assignment with Hockey Canada involved the U22/Development Team. Serving as the head coach during the 2005-06 season, she led the team to a gold medal in the Air Canada Cup (now known as the Nations Cup). With the U18 team, she served as an assistant coach for Canada's gold medal entry at the 2010 IIHF U18 Worlds, the first gold in the history of the Canadian U18 program.

Spiros Anastas

Assistant Coach

Spiros was an Assistant Coach with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins and won a Calder Cup with the organization in 2013. He then moved to the University of Lethbridge where he was the Head Coach of the program for four seasons. From there, the Mississauga native made the jump to the ECHL with the South Carolina Stingrays, guiding them to the playoffs in his first season. He most recently finished up his first term as the Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations for the Brampton Beast Hockey Club. With the Six, Anastas will be responsible for assisting in video coordination, pre-scouting, stats and analytics, practice and game planning.