Anthony Stewart part of historic ownership group for women's pro team

A diverse group led by retired NHL forward
Anthony Stewart
, former NHL coach Ted Nolan, Hockey Hall of Famer Angela James and Bernice Carnegie, the daughter of hockey legend Herb Carnegie, have purchased Toronto of the Premier Hockey Federation.

"Together with my partners, we know how much representation matters and how important role models are for young hockey players," Stewart said. "It brings me great joy to be part of something special and help strengthen a platform that will make the game better for the next generation and grow the game in the community that I love."
The four are part of an ownership group that purchased the Six from BTM Partners. They represent the first Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), and first Canada-born, investors in the six-team women's league's history.
"We are beyond excited for the PHF family to evolve by welcoming diverse leaders who will be difference makers and take the organization to the next level by enhancing the experience for our athletes, community partners and passionate fans," Toronto's founding chair and principal owner Johanna Boynton said.
Stewart, a native of Scarborough, Ontario, played six seasons for the Florida Panthers, Atlanta Thrashers and Carolina Hurricanes from 2005-12, scoring 71 points (27 goals, 44 assists) in 262 games. The retired forward is a hockey analyst for Sportsnet and "Hockey Night in Canada" and chairman of Hockey Equality, a charitable organization working to create sustainable change in the hockey community and creating diversity and inclusion at all levels of the sport.
Nolan, who is Ojibwe First Nations, went into coaching after playing 78 games for the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins, scoring 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) from 1981-86. He coached the Buffalo Sabres (1995-97, 2013-15) and New York Islanders (2006-08), winning the 1997 Jack Adams Award voted as the best coach in the NHL, and the Latvia men's national team at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where he guided it to the quarterfinals and its best finish in Olympics history (eighth place).

James, a Toronto assistant for coach Mark Joslin, is regarded as the Wayne Gretzky of the women's game after she helped Canada win four IIHF World Championships (1990, 1992, 1994, 1997). In 2010, she became the second Black player enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame after Grant Fuhr (2003) and the first Black woman to be inducted. James is also a member of the Black Ice Hockey and Sports Hall of Fame, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, IIHF Hockey Hall of Fame, and has been awarded the Order of Hockey in Canada.
Bernice Carnegie is co-founder of the Carnegie Initiative, a non-profit organization named after her late father with the mission of making hockey more diverse and inclusive.
Herb Carnegie is considered by some hockey historians as one of the best players never to play in the NHL. He won two scoring titles and three Most Valuable Player awards in the Quebec Professional Hockey League from 1944-48, and was part of the Black Aces, professional hockey's first all-Black line with Manny McIntyre and his brother, Ossie. Carnegie became a member of the Order of Canada and was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.
Toronto joined the former National Women's Hockey League in 2020 and won the regular-season title in 2021, which was shortened by the coronavirus pandemic. The Six are led on the ice by forward Mikyla Grant-Mentis, who was tied with Boston Pride defender Kaleigh Fratkin as the top scorer in the NWHL in 2020-21. Grant-Metis scored nine points (five goals, four assists) in six games and was named the first Black MVP of the league.
Joslin became the first Black coach in the PHF when he was hired by the Six on June 7, 2021.