Eric Healey Explained

Position:Left wing
Shoots:Left
Height Ft:5
Height In:11
Weight Lb:201
Played For:Boston Bruins
Adler Mannheim
SCL Tigers
Graz 99ers
EHC Black Wings Linz
Birth Date:January 20, 1975
Birth Place:Hull, Massachusetts, U.S.
Career Start:1998
Career End:2010
Draft:Undrafted

Eric M. Healey (born January 20, 1975, in Hull, Massachusetts) is an American retired professional ice hockey player. He most last played with EHC Black Wings Linz of the Austrian EBEL and had formerly played in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins, appearing in 2 games during the 2005–06 season.

Playing career

Undrafted, Healey was a product of the ECAC's R.P.I. Engineers. He spent four successful years with the Engineers, capturing All-Conference and All-American Honours before signing with the Calgary Flames on September 22, 1998.

Healey split his first pro year with the Flames AHL affiliate the Saint John Flames, and their IHL affiliate the Orlando Solar Bears. In the following summer on July 26, 1999, Healey signed with the Phoenix Coyotes and played for their affiliate, the Springfield Falcons for two seasons. On September 4, 2002, Healey then signed with the Los Angeles Kings, making his mark with the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL with 73 points in 75 games in the 2002–03 season.

Eric then signed with the Atlanta Thrashers to a one-year deal on August 12, 2003.[1] He was however again unable to break into the NHL, playing with farm team the Chicago Wolves. He spent the 2004–05 season abroad with German side the Adler Mannheim.

Healey then returned to North America in the following 2005–06 season and signed with the Boston Bruins on August 15, 2005. He again played primarily in the AHL with the Providence Bruins impressing enough to finally debut in the NHL with the Bruins on November 25, 2005. Healey was also selected as Captain to play for PlanetUSA in the AHL All-Star game.[2]

Considered a career minor-league player, Healey was signed as a free agent on July 15, 2006, by the Tampa Bay Lightning to play for their affiliate, and previous team, the Springfield Falcons.[3] Healey enjoyed his most productive season to date scoring 75 points for the Falcons. The following 2007–08 season, Healey was signed on July 13, 2007, to the Colorado Avalanche. He was assigned to captain the inaugural team of the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL. Healey led the team in assists (36) and points (58) at the conclusion of the season.

On August 5, 2008, Healey signed with Swedish team Mora IK of the HockeyAllsvenskan.[4] After leading the team with 25 points in just 20 games, Healey was unexpectedly released from his contract on November 25, 2008.[5] On November 28, 2008, Healey signed with Swiss team the SCL Tigers of the NLA,[6] on 1 February 2009 joined to EHC Olten on loan from SCL Tigers.

On September 8, 2009, Healey signed a one-year contract with Austrian team, Graz 99ers of the EBEL for the 2009–10 season.[7] Establishing himself as a top-line center with Graz, Healey led the team and the League in scoring with 67 points while also recording a league best Plus/minus (+31). His standout performance helped the 99ers to a first-place finish in the regular season before suffering a shock first round defeat.

On April 28, 2010, Healey agreed to join rival, EHC Black Wings Linz, as a free agent on a one-year contract to remain in Austria for the 2010–11 season.[8] Despite scoring 13 points in 19 games for the Black Wings, Healey was released from the team to make room in the foreign quota for Jason Ward on November 15, 2010.[9]

Career statistics

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGP PIMGP G A Pts PIM
1993–94New England SelectsNEJHL37 61 76 137
1994–95Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteECAC37 13 11 24 35
1995–96Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteECAC35 18 22 40 57
1996–97Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteECAC36 30 26 56 63
1997–98Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteECAC35 21 27 48 42
1998–99Saint John FlamesAHL64 14 24 38 77
1998–99Orlando Solar BearsIHL13 5 4 9 138 1 0 1 12
1999–00Springfield FalconsAHL32 14 15 29 511 0 0 0 2
2000–01Springfield FalconsAHL66 16 17 33 53
2001–02Jackson BanditsECHL2 1 1 2 0
2001–02Manchester MonarchsAHL65 24 34 58 455 2 2 4 8
2002–03Manchester MonarchsAHL75 42 31 73 473 1 0 1 2
2003–04Chicago WolvesAHL71 31 20 51 5210 3 6 9 10
2004–05Adler MannheimDEL50 16 13 29 5413 2 4 6 12
2005–06Providence BruinsAHL66 29 42 71 495 2 3 5 0
2005–06Boston BruinsNHL2 0 0 0 2
2006–07Springfield FalconsAHL80 27 48 75 51
2007–08Lake Erie MonstersAHL74 22 36 58 48
2008–09Mora IKAllsv20 10 15 25 36
2008–09SCL TigersNLA13 5 7 12 6
2009–10Graz 99ersEBEL53 27 40 67 186 1 4 5 2
2010–11EHC Black Wings LinzEBEL19 4 9 13 18
AHL totals593 219 267 486 47324 8 11 19 22
NHL totals2 0 0 0 2

Awards and honours

AwardYear
College
All-ECAC Hockey Rookie Team1994–95
All-ECAC Hockey Second team1996–97
AHCA East Second-Team All-American1996–97, 1997–98
All-ECAC Hockey First Team1997–98
AHL
Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award2002–03[10]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Atlanta snares two unrestricted free agents. ESPN . 2003-08-12 . 2009-03-13.
  2. Web site: Captain Eric. hockeyjournal.com. 2006-01-31. 2008-11-25. dead. https://archive.today/20070815204351/http://www.hockeyjournal.com/Article.php?ArtID=272. 2007-08-15.
  3. Web site: Lightning sign Eric Healey. boltprospect.com. 2006-07-15. 2008-11-25. 2006-07-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20060719014748/http://www.boltprospects.com/node/1213. dead.
  4. Web site: Mora sign Healey. (in Swedish) morahockey.se. 2008-08-05. 2008-11-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20110718121930/http://www.morahockey.se/Admin/system/readnew2.asp?id=1086. 2011-07-18. dead.
  5. Web site: Mora releases best pointscorer. https://archive.today/20120731023433/http://www.dt.se/sport/ishockey/article375641.ece. dead. 2012-07-31. (in Swedish) DalarnasTidningar.se. 2008-11-25. 2008-11-25.
  6. Web site: Healey finds home in Switzerland. ecachockey.com. 2008-11-28. 2008-11-29. 2016-08-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20160801001355/http://ecachockey.com/men/members/rensselaer/20082811_HealeySwitzerland. dead.
  7. Web site: Graz 99ers strengthen with American Eric Healey . . 2009-09-08 . 2010-04-07.
  8. Web site: Leading scorer goes to Linz . . 2010-04-28 . 2010-09-14 . German.
  9. Web site: Ex-NHLer storms for the Black Wings . German . . 2010-11-15 . 2010-12-13.
  10. Web site: Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award . . 2010-09-14 . 2010-09-14 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100917062746/http://ahlhalloffame.com/fred-t-hunt-memorial-award-p139054 . 2010-09-17 .