Anya Packer (; born November 19, 1991) is an American retired

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player and the current

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Metropolitan Riveters The Metropolitan Riveters (originally the New York Riveters) are a professional women's ice hockey team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with home games at the American Dream Meadowlands ice rink. They were one of the four charter franchi ...

of the

Premier Hockey Federation The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), is a women's professional ice hockey league located in the United States and Canada. The league was established in 2015 with four league-owned teams and h ...

(PHF). She played three PHF seasons with the Connecticut Whale before retiring from top-level play and stepping into the role as executive director of the Premier Hockey Federation Players' Association.

Career

University

During college, Packer played for the

Boston University Terriers women's ice hockey The Boston University Terriers women's ice hockey represent Boston University. The Terriers play in the Hockey East conference. From 2010 to 2015, the Terriers won five Hockey East Championships and made six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance ...

team during the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons.

CWHL

Packer began her post-collegiate career with the

Boston Blades The Worcester Blades were a professional women's ice hockey team in the Canadian Women's Hockey League, based in Worcester, Massachusetts, and played their home games at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center. The team began play in the 2010–1 ...

of the

Canadian Women's Hockey League The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey féminin ‒ LCHF) was a women's ice hockey league. Established in 2007 as a Canadian women's senior league in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, and Ottawa, the leag ...

(CWHL) in the 2012–13 season, making her debut with the team in a game against the

Calgary Inferno The Calgary Inferno (previously known as Team Alberta, nickname "Honeybadgers", during the 2011–12 season) was a women's ice hockey team that joined the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) for the 2011–12 season. The team played its home g ...

on December 10, 2012. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, her first season with the team, Packer won the

Clarkson Cup The Clarkson Cup (french: La Coupe Clarkson) is a women's ice hockey trophy, which from 2009 to 2019 was awarded to the winner of the Canadian Women's Hockey Championship (CWHL champion). With the folding of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CW ...

NWHL

Packer signed a contract with the Connecticut Whale in 2015, joining the franchise for the inaugural

2015–16 NWHL season The 2015–16 NWHL season is the first season of operation of the National Women's Hockey League. Four teams competed for the inaugural Isobel Cup: the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, New York Riveters, and Connecticut Whale. League business * ...

. Packer was injured in a November 2015 game against the Buffalo Beauts. Following the 2016–17 season, Packer was named one of the NWHL Fans' Three Stars of the Season alongside

Harrison Browne Harrison Browne (born Hailey Browne on May 13, 1993) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played for the Metropolitan Riveters and Buffalo Beauts of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). Browne was assigned female at birth an ...

and Rebecca Russo after a fan vote. On the June 2, 2017, it was reported that Packer had signed an extension to play with the Connecticut Whale for the 2017–18 NWHL season.

Post-playing career

In early 2017, Packer was named director of the NWHL Players' Association after serving as a players' representative in previous seasons. In 2019, the NWHLPA negotiated a 50/50 revenue split between the league and players, leading to a 26% increase in player salaries. She was named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Hockey by Sportsnet in 2020 and was named to the

Forbes 30 Under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists of people under 30 years old issued annually by ''Forbes'' magazine and some of its regional editions. The American lists recognize 600 business and industry figures, with 30 selected in twenty industries ...

– Sports 2021 List.

Personal life

Packer has actively campaigned in support of mental health awareness and inclusivity in sport. In March 2018, Packer came out and composed an accompanying commentary published on the website OutSports.com. On July 22, 2018, she became engaged to fellow NWHL player

Madison Packer Madison Packer (born June 25, 1991) is an American professional ice hockey forward, currently serving as captain of the Metropolitan Riveters of the Premier Hockey Federation. One of the longest tenured players in PHF history, she is the league' ...

. The two married in August 2019 and welcomed their first child, Waylon, in September 2020. In addition to her career as an ice hockey executive, Packer works in cybersecurity and technology research.

References

External links

* * 1991 births American women's ice hockey defensemen Boston Blades players Boston University Terriers women's ice hockey players Connecticut Whale (PHF) players American LGBT sportspeople LGBT ice hockey players Living people Lesbian sportswomen 21st-century American LGBT people Women ice hockey executives {{US-icehockey-player-stub