Ewan Heeles
Another product of the Fife Junior set up, the Heeles brothers (Ewan and Duncan) were thorns in my side growing up. However, we put all those days behind us when Ewan joined the Eagles in the first full cup run. Straight away, Ewan was a class act on the ice, as one of the refs in our first game turned to me and said ‘that’ll be Jock’s boy,’ referring to Jock Hay’s SNL team that Ewan played for. Ewan had a spell coaching the Eagles and most recently the Phoenix. Despite any jokes about his flagrant use of the F bomb, his knowledge was obvious and beneficial to the team.
Ewan was an instrumental player and produced many highlights with the Eagles. As a result, he was selected to the GB University National team for his strong play with the Eagles. However, the most memorable highlight for me was his performance against London Dragons in Dundee. Due to our goalies being unavailable, I had to shake the rust off and return to the position I played for most of junior. Having been a bit rusty, the team was at an immediate disadvantage. However the game was essentially, Ewan Heeles show, or put another way as the score finished 8-8 - with Ewan registering 5 goals and 3 assists. The most impressive goal was scored with just seconds remaining. I was to be pulled for the extra skater, but we were stuck in our zone. Ewan got hold of the puck and shouted to me as he skated round the back of my net, "Rambo, go to the bench". I did and by the time I got to the door - he had tied the game.
Ewan is now currently retired* from the game of hockey and is enjoying his down time with his young family.
*Editor's note: nth return from retirement currently pending