Slight, swift and skilled, Gerry Heffernan spent two complete seasons with the Canadiens, playing a pivotal role in the team’s Stanley Cup Championship in 1944. A Montreal native and long-time Forum favorite, the 5-foot-9, 160-pound forward first attracted attention as a member of the Junior Royals before moving up to the senior squad in 1936-37.

After spending the 1937-38 campaign overseas playing for the Harringay Greyhounds of the British National League, he returned to the Royals and joined Buddy O’Connor and Pete Morin to form the Razzle-Dazzle Line.

Short on size but long on skill, the trio that dominated the QSHL for several seasons graduated as a group to the Canadiens to begin the 1940-41 schedule. Heffernan, who dressed for more games than his linemates, saw action in 40 games that season, picking up his first five NHL goals and adding 15 assists. He played in a pair of postseason encounters, potting two goals and an assist.

Returned to the Royals for the 1941-42 season, Heffernan was back with the big club in the fall of 1943. A solid second-line forward with the speed and skill to play a two-way game, he found his niche alongside O’Connor and Fern Majeau.

Benefiting in part from O’Connor’s playmaking mastery, Heffernan broke the 20 goal plateau with 28 markers, second only to The Rocket that season. He also recorded his only NHL hat trick that year, posting four goals and an assist in an 8-2 win over Detroit.

Rolling into the playoffs undefeated at home, Heffernan contributed a goal and a pair of assists in seven appearances on the way to earning the Stanley Cup in the spring of 1944.

Back with the Royals the next fall, Heffernan starred in the QSHL for two more seasons before hanging up his skates and embarking on a successful career in the insurance industry.