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 ...
executive, currently serving as executive director of the Devils Youth Foundation, the youth outreach arm of the New Jersey Devils. She previously served as executive of operations for W Hockey Partners, the organization that oversees the league-owned teams in 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).
Career in ice hockey
Whitman Annis was a figure skater until age 12, at which point her father convinced her to give ice hockey a try. She attended
Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy is an elite coeducational preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, the Ten Schools Admis ...
, a boarding school in
Deerfield, Massachusetts
Deerfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Settled near the Connecticut River in the 17th century during the colonial era, the population was 5,090 as of the 2020 census. Deerfield is part of the Springfield, Massachu ...
, for secondary school and played on the school's ice hockey team.
From 1995 to 1999, she played as a
defenceman
Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...
for the
Wesleyan Cardinals
Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the ...
women's ice hockey program. Across 94
NCAA Division III
NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...
games, she scored 42 points.
While living abroad in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
from 2012 to 2015, she played ice hockey with the Jayhawks Leuven, a Flemish recreational team in Leuven, Belgium.
She has served as head coach of the girls' varsity ice hockey team at Pingry School since 2015.
Premier Hockey Federation
During the
2018–19 NWHL season
The 2018–19 NWHL season is the fourth season of the National Women's Hockey League. All four teams from the previous three seasons returned: the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, and the Metropolitan Riveters while the Minneso ...
, Whitman Annis served as an assistant coach for the Metropolitan Riveters in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). In April 2019, she was named Riveters general manager, the fifth female general manager in PHF history and the first woman to be named to the position after the league spent two years without any team having official general manager. After the team improved its position to third in the league in the 2019–20 season, she received praise for her role in the team's rebuild.
As the PHF did not hold a draft in 2019, the 2020 Draft was Whitman Annis' first at the helm of the Riveters. With the fourth overall pick, she selected defenceman
Saroya Tinker
Saroya Tinker (born February 17, 1998) is a Canadian retired ice hockey defenseman. She last played for the Toronto Six of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), with whom she won the 2023 Isobel Cup championship.
Playing career
Tinker attended Mo ...
. Other players selected by Whitman Annis at the draft included Delaney Belinskas at tenth, Tera Hofmann at sixteenth, and Bridgette Prentiss at twenty-first.
In 2021, she was named the replacement for league founder
Dani Rylan
Dani Rylan Kearney (born August 5, 1987) is an American entrepreneur and former ice hockey player. She is the founder and former commissioner of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), the first professional women's hockey league in the United ...
as the director of operations for W Hockey Partners, the organization that oversees the league-owned teams in the PHF: the Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, and
Minnesota Whitecaps
The Minnesota Whitecaps are a professional ice hockey team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF; formerly known as the National Women's Hockey League). They play in Richfield, Minnesota, part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, a ...
. Anya Packer was named as her replacement as general manager of the Riveters.
Personal life
Whitman Annis is the daughter of former
Governor of New Jersey
The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official r ...
Far Hills, New Jersey
Far Hills is a borough in Somerset County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the population was 919,Oldwick community of Tewksbury Township.
Whitman Annis holds a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in political science from
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...
and a
MBA
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
from the
Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management
The Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (abbreviated as SBS-EM and also known as simply Solvay) is a school of economics and management and a Faculty of the Université libre de Bruxelles, a French-speaking private research univ ...
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
US House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
. She ran for one of the two seats on the Peapack-Gladstone borough council in 2009, but finished with 30% of the vote in the three-way race, losing by 55 and 59 votes respectively.
Whitman married Craig Annis, a lobbyist, at a 2003 ceremony in Bedminster, New Jersey. They have four sons, twins born in 2005 and two younger boys, all of whom play ice hockey.