JAMES HEALE
Date of Birth: 1954
Place of Birth: St. John’s, NL
Inducted: 2018 (Player Category)
Heale formed one-third of one of the best scoring trios in the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League during the mid-to-late 1970s and early ’80s, skating on the right wing with centre Randy Pearcey and left-winger Charlie Babstock, both Hall of Famers, on the Labatt BlueCaps.
Heale grew up in St. John’s, and attended Brother Rice High School, but did not play high school hockey.
Upon graduation, he toiled for two seasons with the Junior Brickbats, as a defenceman. When he tried out and made the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League’s St. John’s Capitals, Coach Bob Badcock converted Heale into a winger, and a star was born.
He would win three Herder Memorial Trophy titles, and establish himself as one of the top scorers in the league. He played two seasons with the Caps, winning Herders in 1974-75 and 1975-76, and then toiled for five seasons with the BlueCaps.
Heale played in 1981-82 with Mike’s Shamrocks and closed out his senior career with the Caps in 1982-83.
A strong two-way player who was hard on the puck, Heale finished fourth in league scoring in 1977-78 (32-32-64), the year the BlueCaps won the Herder, and fifth in league scoring in both 1978-79 (34-24-58) and 1980-81 (26-22-48).
Heale is 40th in all-time senior league scoring with 163 goals, 146 assists for 309 points in 191 games, and 38th all-time in playoff scoring with 34 goals, 22 assists and 56 points.