The Toronto Six is a professional women's

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 ...

team based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

playing out of Canlan Ice Sports – York. They are one of two Canadian 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) (formerly known as the National Women's Hockey League) along with the Montreal Force, and the first expansion team to join the league since the collapse 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 2019. The team was founded in 2020 with their inaugural regular season held in

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburg ...

, followed by the

Isobel Cup The Lady Isobel Gathorne-Hardy Cup, often shortened to Isobel Cup, is the championship trophy awarded annually to the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) playoff winner. It is named after Lady Isobel Gathorne-Hardy, one of the first known women to p ...

playoffs in Brighton, Massachusetts.

History

Following the 2018–19 season, the

(CWHL) ceased operations and with it the league's Toronto team, the Toronto Furies, citing the fragmentation of corporate sponsors between the CWHL and

National Women's Hockey League 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 ha ...

(NWHL), which caused their league to be financially infeasible. The NWHL then announced it was pursuing adding two CWHL markets to the league, Montreal and Toronto, for the 2019–20 season if the NWHL found financial backers for the teams. The league was not able to set up the new teams before the start of the season, partially due dealing to a player strike that resulted in the creation of the

Professional Women's Hockey Players Association The Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization dedicated to advocating for the promotion of professional women's ice hockey. It was founded in May 2019 following the dissolution of the Canadian W ...

. On April 22, 2020, the new Toronto NWHL franchise was officially announced as the league's sixth team and first original expansion team (the

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 ...

joined the league's original four teams after being an independent team). The team's ownership was announced as of a group of Boston-based investors headed by Johanna Neilson Boynton, a former competitor with the Harvard Crimson women's ice hockey program. Margaret "Digit" Murphy, former head coach of the

Brown Bears The Brown Bears are the sports teams that represent Brown University, an American university located in Providence, Rhode Island. The Bears are part of the Ivy League conference. Brown's mascot is Bruno. Both the men's and women's teams share th ...

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 ...

, and Kunlun Red Star WIH, became team president, while sports executive

Tyler Tumminia Tyler Adwen "Ty" Tumminia (born ) is an American sports executive and former commissioner of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). Prior to her involvement with the PHF, she was a baseball executive and partial owner of several Minor League Base ...

was announced as the team's chairman. The team simultaneously announced its first five signed players as

Kristen Barbara Kristen Barbara (born October 30, 1992) is a Canadian ice hockey defenceman, last played for the Metropolitan Riveters in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). Playing career Across five years with the York Lions women's ice hockey program, ...

Elaine Chuli Elaine Monica Chuli (born May 16, 1994) is a Canadian ice hockey goaltender, currently playing with the Toronto Six of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). She played college ice hockey with th ...

, Shiann Darkangelo, Emma Greco, and

Taylor Woods Taylor Cassidy Woods (born September 26, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player and strongwoman, currently playing in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) with the Toronto Six. A defenceman who has also played as a two-way forward, sh ...

. All five were former players in the CWHL. The team held the first overall pick in the

2020 NWHL Draft The 2020 NWHL Draft took place on April 28–29, 2020. The Boston Pride selected Sammy Davis with the 1st overall pick, having made a trade with the yet unnamed Toronto expansion team. Davis becomes the third Terriers hockey player to go first ...

, but traded the pick to the

Boston Pride The Boston Pride are a professional women's ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are one of the four charter franchises of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL; 2015–2021). The ...

. It was also the first trade in franchise history. The first player drafted by Toronto was

Jaycee Gebhard Jaycee Gebhard (born June 2, 1999) is a Canadian ice hockey centre, currently playing with Brynäs IF Dam of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). Selected in the first round, 6th overall in the 2020 NWHL Draft, she was the first ever draft ...

, an alumna of the Robert Morris Colonials women's ice hockey program, with the sixth overall pick in the

. The team announced

Mandy Cronin Mandy Cronin is an American ice hockey executive and former player. She was the general manager of the National Women's Hockey League's (NWHL) Buffalo Beauts and Toronto Six, as well as one of the co-founders of the Canadian Women's Hockey Leag ...

, CWHL co-founder and former

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

of the Buffalo Beauts, as general manager on May 11, 2020. The team name, colours, and logo were announced by the NWHL on May 19, 2020. The name was chosen from over 300 entries submitted in an online poll and was chosen because the team is the sixth NWHL team founded for the sixth NWHL season, as well as there being six players on the ice. The Six is also a nickname for the city of Toronto, referring to the city's 416 area code, as well as the current municipality's original cities of Old Toronto, North York,

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

and

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

plus the borough of

East York East York is a former administrative district and municipality within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1967 to 1998, it was officially the Borough of East York, a semi-autonomous borough within the upper-tier municipality of Metropolitan Toron ...

. The team colours were revealed as red and gold, the former representing the country of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the latter representing the

Golden Horseshoe The Golden Horseshoe is a secondary region of Southern Ontario, Canada, which lies at the western end of Lake Ontario, with outer boundaries stretching south to Lake Erie and north to Lake Scugog, Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. The ...

. The logo is a combination of the letter "T", "O" and the number 6, with a maple leaf in the middle. On October 1, 2020, the team announced that they had agreed to a partnership with Canlan Ice Sports for the team to play their inaugural season at Canlan Ice Sports – York. On October 13, Tyler Tumminia stepped down as club chairperson to become interim NWHL commissioner. On October 20, the club announced team president Digit Murphy would also be the inaugural head coach. In January 2021, the team announced a partnership with the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

Brampton Beast The Brampton Beast were a professional ice hockey team based in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. The team originally played in the Central Hockey League for one year during the 2013–14 season prior to the league's folding before joining the ECHL f ...

with the expectation of holding joint camps, practices, fan events, and double headers together, with Beast general manager Cary Kaplan stating that "We feel that we have a lot in common, as many people have still not appreciated or experienced both the exceptional level of hockey in the ECHL, or the equally strong fan experience that the Beast provide." The Beast's head coach Spiros Anastas then joined the Six during the 2020–21 season as an assistant coach while the Beast were inactive due to the pandemic. However, the Beast ceased operations entirely in February 2021.

Inaugural season

Due to the ongoing restrictions during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the Six started their inaugural season in a bubble with the rest of the league in

, in January 2021. The leadership for the inaugural season included Shiann Darkangelo appointed as the first team captain in franchise history, while Emma Woods and Emma Greco served as alternate captains. The Six played their first game on January 23 against 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 ...

, losing by 3–0. The following day, Lindsay Eastwood scored the first goal in franchise history via a power play in an eventual 6–5 shootout loss to the

with assists credited to Emma Woods and Shiann Darkangelo. Breanne Wilson-Bennett scored twice in the game, recording the first multi-goal game by a player for the team. Other Six players to score versus Minnesota included Mikyla Grant-Mentis and

. The Six earned their first win on January 26, 2021, with a 2–1 victory over the

. The Six came back from a 1–0 deficit with a pair of third period goals by

Brooke Boquist Brooke Boquist (born July 27, 1996) is a Canadian ice hockey forward, currently playing with the Toronto Six of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). Playing career Across 139 NCAA Division I games with the Providence Friars of Hockey East, Bo ...

and Mikyla Grant-Mentis, whose goal stood as the game-winner. Boquist was named the First Star of the game, while Elaine Chuli recorded 24 saves in the win. The Six went on to win their three remaining games to clinch the top seed for the

playoffs. On February 3, 2021, the season was suspended due to positive cases of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

within the bubble. On March 8, 2021, the league announced that the

playoffs would be held March 26–27 at

Warrior Ice Arena Warrior Arena is an ice hockey arena and practice facility in Brighton, Boston, Massachusetts. The arena is part of a larger mixed-use development being constructed by New Balance at Boston Landing that includes the headquarters of New Balance an ...

in Brighton, Massachusetts. The Six lost their semifinal game to the fourth-seed and eventual champion

6–2. Following their inaugural season, assistant coach Lisa Haley, who had also coached in Toronto as head coach for the Ryerson Rams women's ice hockey program, was appointed as the league's senior vice president of hockey operations. Six forward Mikyla Grant-Mentis became the most decorated player in a single NWHL season, Grant-Mentis earned a record four accolades. She won the NWHL's Most Valuable Player award, the first Black player to win the league's MVP, tied as the leading scorer in the league, and captured the league's Newcomer of the Year award.

Transition in second season

In May 2021, the owners of the Six also bought the

as part of the league's push to have all teams be independently owned. In September 2021, the league rebranded as the

(PHF) to promote inclusivity. On June 7, 2021, Mark Joslin, previously head coach of the

Ontario Junior Hockey League The Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada. It is under the supervision of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The league was listed as the 7th best d ...

Toronto Patriots The Toronto Patriots are a junior "A" ice hockey team from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of Ontario Junior Hockey League. History Quinte (1996–1998) In 1996, the Quinte Hawks of Deseronto, Ontario were granted expansion into the ...

, was hired to replace Digit Murphy as head coach, becoming the first black head coach in NWHL history. Murphy retained her position as team president. The Six added Hockey Hall of Fame member

Angela James Angela Diane James (born December 22, 1964) is a Canadian former ice hockey player who played at the highest levels of senior hockey between 1980 and 2000. She was a member of numerous teams in the Central Ontario Women's Hockey League (COWHL) ...

to their coaching staff on June 24. At the end of June, Krysti Clarke, previously the manager of operations with York United FC of

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary national soccer league compe ...

soccer, replaced

as general manager. With five picks among the top ten in the 2021 NWHL Draft, three of the picks were in the first round. Picking third overall, the Six selected Maegan Beres from Boston College, followed by Tatum Skaggs fourth overall, and

York Lions The York Lions is the official name for the athletic varsity teams that represent York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of U Sports and, where applicable ...

skater Taylor Davison with the fifth pick, marking the second straight season that the Six have drafted a player from a

U Sports women's ice hockey U Sports women's ice hockey is the highest level of play of women's ice hockey at the university level under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. Women's ice hockey has been played in U Sports since the 1997-9 ...

program. In addition, Davison made U Sports history, becoming the highest drafted player from the league. Towards the end of the 2021–22 season, the team was sold to a new ownership group including Anthony Stewart,

, Bernice Carnegie, and Ted Nolan.

Transition in third season

On May 31, 2022, co-owner

was promoted from assistant coach to General Manager of the Six. Additionally,

Digit Murphy Margaret Pearl "Digit" Murphy (née Degidio; born December 7, 1961) is an American ice hockey coach, administrator, and former college ice hockey player. She is president of the Toronto Six of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). Murphy h ...

would be leaving her post as the Six's Team President & Director of Player Personnel to join the

as their new Team President, but would "maintain involvement, advising on the logistics of the team" while "transitioning from her role as President." On June 14, 2022, the Six announced the hiring of

Geraldine Heaney Geraldine Heaney (born October 1, 1967) is an Irish-Canadian ice hockey coach and former defenceman. She played 18 seasons and over 1,000 games with the Toronto Aeros organization, won six Ontario provincial championships and was named Ontario W ...

as their third head coach in franchise history. On September 27, 2022, Sportsnet reported that

Sami Jo Small Sami Jo Small (born March 25, 1976) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. As a member of the Canadian national team, she was a three-time Olympic medallist and four-time World Championship medallist. One of the founders of the now defun ...

joined the leadership as team president.

Season-by-season records

Team

Current roster

Coaching staff and team personnel * Head coach:

* Assistant coach: Kevin Greco * Assistant coach: Jessica Turi * Goaltending coach: Nick Grainger * Head athletic therapist: Cam Borody * Equipment manager: Kris Franzoi Front office * President:

* General manager:

Captains

* Shiann Darkangelo,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

–present

Head coaches

, 2020–2021 *Mark Joslin, 2021–2022 *

, 2022–present

General managers

, 2020–2021 * Krysti Clarke, 2021–2022 *

, 2022–present

Franchise milestones and statistics leaders

Awards and honors

* Mikyla Grant-Mentis: 2021 Most Valuable Player, 2021 Newcomer of the Year, 2021 Foundation Award, 2021 Fans' Three Stars

References

External links

Official website
{{Ontario Sports Toronto Six Premier Hockey Federation teams Ice hockey teams in Ontario Ice hockey clubs established in 2020 Women's ice hockey teams in Canada 2020 establishments in Ontario Ice hockey teams in Toronto