Heaney was born on 1 October in 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.
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).
While studying recreation facilities management at Seneca College in Toronto, Heaney was recruited to play volleyball, but immediately switched to hockey upon learning the school operated a women's team. In 1987, she led Seneca to an Ontario Colleges Athletic Association championship and was named to both her league and the provincial championship all-star teams.
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. Heaney scored the gold medal winning goal in dramatic fashion as she deked around two American defencemen before sliding the puck into the net as she tripped over the goaltender and flew through the air in a fashion reminiscent of Bobby Orr's Stanley Cup winning goal in 1969. The goal, coupled with her skills as an offensive defenceman led to Heaney becoming known as the "Bobby Orr of women's hockey".
The 1990 tournament marked the first of seven consecutive gold medal victories for Heaney, and she was the only player to appear in the first seven World Championships for Canada. She received the Directorate Award as the tournament's best defenceman at the 1992 and 1994 tournaments, and was named a tournament all-star in 1992.
Women's hockey was added as a full-medal sport for the first time at the 1998 Nagano Games, and Heaney was named to the Canadian Olympic team. 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, however Canada lost the final to the United States, 3–1, and settled for the silver medal.
Heaney planned on the 2002 Salt Lake Games being her final tournament. She ended her international career with an Olympic gold medal after Canada defeated the United States 3–2 in the final. 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.
Heaney left Waterloo in 2012 to coach her daughter's novice team.
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.
Heaney also played in two World Ball Hockey Championships. She won a gold medal in 1992 and silver in 1994.
She is a two-time Olympian, winning silver at the inaugural tournament in 1998 tournament, and gold in 2002.
She became the coach of the University of Waterloo Warriors following her retirement as a player.
Heaney was recognized as a sporting hero in Northern Ireland.
An offensive defenceman, Heaney appeared in 125 games with the Canadian National Team, scored 27 goals and recorded 66 assists. In World Championship play, she holds Canadian records for most games (35), goals (8), assists (28) and points (36) for a defenceman.
A pioneer of modern women's hockey, Heaney has been recognized by numerous institutions. She has been inducted into the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association and Canadian Ball Hockey Halls of Fame.
In 2008, Heaney joined countrywoman Angela James and American Cammi Granato as the first women inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame. 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.
Geraldine married to John. They have two children: Shannon and Patrick .
