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 Women's Hockey Association (OWHA) most valuable defenceman on three occasions. The Aeros retired her jersey number 91 in 2006. Internationally, Heaney was a member of the Canadian national team in the first seven Women's World Championships, winning gold each time. She is a two-time Olympian, winning silver at the inaugural tournament in 1998 tournament, and gold in 2002. On June 14, 2022, she became the head coach of the Toronto Six of the Premier Hockey Federation.

A pioneer of women's hockey, Heaney is credited with aiding the growth of the sport. Her offensive prowess as a defenceman earned her comparisons to National Hockey League star Bobby Orr, particularly after she flew through the air after scoring the gold medal-winning goal in the inaugural world championship. In 2008, Heaney became one of the first three female inductees, along with Angela James and Cammi Granato, to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Hall of Fame. She was the third woman, after James and Granato, to be inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.

Early life Heaney was born on October 1, 1967, in Lurgan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Her parents, Mike and Kathleen Heaney, emigrated to Canada when Geraldine was one year old, but she retained pride in her Irish birth, often returning to Ulster. Her family settled in North York, Ontario, where she grew up and developed her passion for hockey, often playing goal for her brothers on outdoor rinks. A gifted athlete, Heaney also played Gaelic football, soccer, fastball and in-line hockey.

Playing career Toronto Aeros Heaney first joined a girls' hockey team at age 10, playing against girls up to six years older than her. She joined the Toronto Aeros in 1980 at the age of 13. It began a career with the organization in which she played over 1,000 games at the senior level and later the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). She was a member of six provincial championship winning teams and named the Ontario Women's Hockey Association's top defenceman on three occasions: 1987–88, 1991–92 and 1992–93.

Heaney was a member of four national championship teams with the Aeros.

She was the overtime hero in the 2004 Abby Hoffman Cup when Toronto beat the defending champion Calgary Oval X-Treme in the Canadian Final. Heaney scored four goals and seven points at those 2004 National Championships.

International The first International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) sanctioned Women's World Championship was played in 1990, in Ottawa. Heaney was selected for Team Canada, but as she was a landed immigrant, she had to rush the process of gaining citizenship before she could play. Canada and the United States were the class of the tournament and met in the final. While Canada had won every World Championship to that point, defeating the United States in the final each time, the Americans had begun to defeat Canada at other tournaments. Heaney scored two goals and added four assists in six games;

Heaney planned on the 2002 Salt Lake Games being her final tournament. The final was controversial as the American referee called 13 of the final 16 penalties in the game against Canada. Heaney described the feeling of the Canadian players following the game: "We got an unbelievable number of penalties. We never had any idea that could happen. [The officials] tried to give them the game, and we weren't going to let that happen." In addition to celebrations in Canada, Heaney was recognized as a sporting hero in Northern Ireland. A pioneer of modern women's hockey, Proud of her induction, Heaney saw it as a sign of worldwide recognition of women's hockey, and added: "There are so many young girls playing hockey now, it's amazing. I really feel we need to promote the game worldwide, not just in Canada, and inducting women now should help that." Five years later, Heaney became the third woman (following James and Granato in 2010) to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as part of its 2013 class.

Personal Heaney settled in Ancaster, Ontario, following her playing career where she and her husband John are raising their two children, Shannon and Patrick.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1986-87 Seneca College CIAU — — — — — — — — — — 1987-88 Seneca College CIAU — — — — — — — — — — 1992-93 Toronto Aeros COWHL 21 8 12 20 14 — — — — — 1993-94 Toronto Aeros COWHL 28 13 28 41 27 — — — — — 1995-96 North York Aeros COWHL 29 21 28 49 20 — — — — — 1996-97 North York Aeros COWHL 32 21 45 66 18 — — — — — 1998-99 Beatrice Aeros NWHL 29 8 25 33 22 — — — — — 1999-00 Beatrice Aeros NWHL 37 13 38 51 18 — — — — — 2000-01 Beatrice Aeros NWHL 27 8 27 35 25 — — — — — 2002-03 Beatrice Aeros NWHL 32 20 33 53 40 — — — — — 2003-04 Toronto Aeros NWHL 32 8 19 27 30 2 0 1 1 0

International

Awards and honours Award Year National Most Valuable Player, Women's Nationals 1992 Best defender, Women's Nationals 199319972001 All-Star Team, IIHF World Championship 1992