Paul Heavey, born 19th November 1962 in Glasgow, Scotland began playing hockey at the age of 15. He was quickly introduced to the senior Glasgow side before moving to Murrayfield playing in three consecutive Wembley finals winning the last in 1986. His playing career as a no-nonsense defenceman saw him move from Scotland to Solihull, then Peterborough and in 1990 to Cardiff where he went on to enjoy his greatest successes.

After recovering from a cruciate knee injury (sustained 91-92) he was made Devils captain by John Lawless and then led the Devils to five major trophies over the next two seasons (92-93, 93-94). The following season he skippered Cardiff into Europe where they overcame two former Soviet elite sides in winning their Europa Cup quarterfinal group and becoming the first British side to qualify for the semi-final round. Ironically it was during that glorious weekend that Heavey collected the injury that spelled the end of his playing career and at the tender age of 32, Heavey was immediately integrated into the Devils coaching staff being made assistant to Lawless and charged with looking after the junior programme to the end of the season.

The summer of 1995 saw the formation of Manchester Storm and with it the departure of John Lawless to Manchester. Lawless' departure meant a change of plans for Heavey who had been courted by other top flight clubs but suddenly found himself offered the top spot at Cardiff - and therein commenced his senior coaching career.

Heavey immediately stamped his authority on Cardiff's methods as they became more ruthless but no less entertaining. As ice hockey moved into the Superleague era Heavey - who for many years was the only British coach in the league - put together the formidable Devils side that scooped the first Superleague league title (96-97). Heavey also coached Cardiff to the 97-98 play-off final where they lost 3-2 in OT to Ayr. Heavey was still at the helm the following season when Devils repeated their playoff final appearance and lifted the title in the MEN Arena, beating league champions Storm 5-0 in the semi's and overcoming Nottingham in the final.

In 2000 Heavey returned to his native Scotland to take up the coaching reins of the Scottish Eagles outfit. Despite enduring a turbulent time, Heavey masterminded Eagles Challenge Cup success when he engineered a 5-0 final win Belfast in Northern Ireland, ironically smack in the middle of a sequence of league games between the two, which Belfast dominated throughout. In the modern era of British ice hockey, (ISL period and later) Paul Heavey’s success as a coach is bettered only by Mike Blaisdell.

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