Eric Heffler is an American former ice hockey

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 ...

who was an All-American for

St. Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roma ...

Career

After playing junior hockey in

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 ...

, Heffler returned to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to play college hockey at

. He started his career as the team's third goaltender and then progressively earned more playing time in net. He became the primary netminder as a junior and then backstopped the team to a massive improvement as a senior. St. Lawrence won more than twice as many games in Heffler's final season and he was one of the top goaltenders in the nation in both

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

and

save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...

. St. Lawrence finished second in the

ECAC Hockey ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I ice hockey. The conference used to be affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United States. This relati ...

standings and was ranked #10 in the country while Hellfer was named an All-American and the ECAC Hockey Player of the Year. He helped the team earn an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time in seven years but, unfortunately, couldn't help them win the match. Though undrafted, Heffler embarked on a professional career after graduating and quickly found himself in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. The next year, when Edmonton's primary netminder,

Bill Ranford William Edward Ranford (born December 14, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and current goaltending coach for the Los Angeles Kings. He was selected in the third round of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, 52nd overall, by the Bo ...

, contracted an

ear infection Otitis is a general term for inflammation or infection, inner ear infection, middle ear infection of the ear, in both humans and other animals. When infection is present, it may be viral or bacterial. When inflammation is present due to fluid buil ...

, Heffler was called up to serve as a backup behind

Tommy Salo Tommy Mikael Salo (born February 1, 1971) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey goaltender and the current general manager of Leksands IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Ne ...

. He sat on the bench for two games in late-November before Ranford returned to action. Heffler would later joke about the situation:

“I was hoping to get home for Thanksgiving, but this is a good reason not too.”

In the AHL, Heffler was the co-starter for the

Hamilton Bulldogs The Hamilton Bulldogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League that began to play in the 2015–16 OHL season, 2015–16 season. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the Bulldogs play their home games at FirstOntario Cent ...

and had a mediocre season. While his numbers weren't any worse than any other of the team's goaltenders, he was relegated to being the team's third goaltender during their playoff run. In his second full season of pro hockey, Heffler's performance declined, but he still earned a second call-up to the Oilers, this time for one game. Afterwards he slid down the depth chart and was eventually demoted to 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 E ...

. In the second half of the season he didn't appear to be improving, so Heffler ended up playing single-A hockey the year after. He split time between two teams and retired after the year. Heffler was inducted into the St. Lawrence Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heffler, Eric 1976 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American men's ice hockey goaltenders Ice hockey people from New York (state) People from Geneva, New York St. Lawrence Saints men's ice hockey players Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players Greensboro Generals players New Haven Knights players B.C. Icemen players