Liam Heelis, a native of Georgetown, Ont., was elevated to interim head coach of the McGill men's hockey program after the unexpected death of
Kelly Nobes in September 2019. He.subsequently signed a contract extension in 2020 to continue serving in an interim role until April 30, 2021.
In 2020-21, he guided McGill to a 16-10-2 fourth-place record in the 10-team OUA East division during the team's 144th season. McGill did not play any games during the 2021-21 campaign due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.
Heelis had previously served two years as an associate coach at McGill under the guidance of Nobes.
A dual citizen of Canada and Ireland, Heelis received his master's degree in sports psychology from McGill in 2017 after graduating from Acadia University -- where he starred for four seasons – and earned a science degree, majoring in psychology.
Heelis played one season at McGill in 2015-16 after transferring from Acadia and served as an alternate captain. He spent the 2016-17 season playing pro with Fife of the Elite Ice Hockey League in the UK before returning to McGill to complete his thesis while coaching.
Prior to McGill, he was named the Canadian university hockey player of the year in 2012-13 and served two years as team captain of the Acadia Axemen. In 2014, Heelis was a national finalist for the BLG Award, which goes to the male athlete of the year, across all university sports in Canada.
He played junior with the OHL's Erie Otters and was invited to the NHL's Florida Panthers rookie camp in both 2014 and 2015.
McGill Men's Hockey Coaches (since 1909-10)
| SEASON COACH OVERALL RECORD (W - L - T) |
| 1909-10 *Harry Trihey (4-3-0) |
| 1910-11 Art Ross (4-2-1) |
| 1911-14 Laurie Roberts (17-14-2) |
| 1914-16 (no head coach) (5-18-3) |
| 1916-17 F.L. Poulin (6-6-1) |
| 1917-18 *Vincent P. Heney (see overall record listed in 1929-20) |
| 1918-19 *Harry Hyland (7-4-1) |
| 1919-27 Frank Shaughnessy (61-56-2) |
| 1927-28 Wallace Whitehead (8-7-0) |
| 1928-29 *Vincent P. Heney (see overall record listed in 1929-20) |
| 1929-30 *Vincent P. Heney (17-24-4) & Walter Smaill (4-8-1) |
| 1929-37 *Dr. Bobby Bell (see overall record listed in 1944-45) |
| 1937-42 *Hugh Farquharson (46-18-3) |
| 1942-43 *Dr. Bobby Bell (see overall record listed in 1944-45) |
| 1943-44 Lorne White (3-11-3) |
| 1944-45 *Dr. Bobby Bell (137-58-25) |
| 1945-51 Dave Campbell (62-40-4) |
| 1951-58 *Rocky Robillard (54-64-5) |
| 1958-61 Ken Murray (12-37-4) |
| 1961-64 Kelly Burnett (22-29-6) |
| 1964-68 Dave Copp (28-62-6) |
| 1968-71 Brian Gilmour (29-41-6) |
| 1971-72 Dave Dies (3-28-0) |
| 1972-79 *Herb Madill (47-92-16) |
| 1979-88 Ken Tyler (130-200-27) |
| 1988-90 Al Grazys (46-24-6) & Jean Pronovost (see overall record listed below) |
| 1990-94 Jean Pronovost (76-77-11) |
| 1994-95 *Jamie Kompon (16-9-0) & *Martin Raymond (see overall record listed below) |
| 1995-96 Terry Bangen (19-16-2) |
| 1996-09 *Martin Raymond (293-192-35) |
| 2009-10 *Jim Webster (34-14-1) |
| 2010-19 *Kelly Nobes (399-287-14) |
| 2019-21 *Liam Heelis (20-17-0) |
