The veteran forward clocked more than 200 games in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League, and 173 of them were for the Thunder.
The 33-year-old started out with the Southern Stampede in 2006 and had three seasons with the Canterbury Red Devils.
He joined the Thunder in 2010 and played 11 seasons for the side before retiring in 2021.
But he returned in 2023 to help out and clocked another half a dozen games.
Heyd holds all the important club records. He has played the most games, scored the most goals and made the most assists, and the 38 points he posted during the 2015 season is a Thunder record as well.
He captained the team for four seasons, he was the manager of the Dunedin Ice Stadium for six years until he accepted a role as the general manager of New Zealand Ice Hockey earlier this year, and he has been the face of the Thunder for more than a decade.
His playing number will be removed from circulation tomorrow night when the Thunder host the West Auckland Admirals in game two of a double-dealer.
"I’m pretty humbled," he said.
Heyd was informed of the plans to retire his jersey, but he is being kept in the dark as to what the team has planned.
"I haven’t actually been given that many details. I know there will be a puck drop and it sounds likes something will be raised, but I’m not entirely sure.
"I’ve just been told I need to turn up," he said, laughing.
Some players have a good story around the number they chose to play in. Heyd actually wanted to play in No 19 like Joe Sakic or Steve Yzerman, two of his favourite players.
"Someone probably had that number, so I just turned the nine upside down and that became my number."
Heyd won a national title with the Stampede in his debut season, collected another with the Canterbury Red Devils in 2009 and appeared in back-to-back finals with the Thunder in 2013 and 2014.
Those were highlights but he is also grateful to have been part of the Thunder’s journey.
"When I came down I think Dunedin had won two games in their first two years and they were very much the new kid on the block. I think the highlight is now seeing three or four hundred people on average turn out for a game, there is a good youth club there and they’ve got a presence in Dunedin.
"I think that is probably the highlight if you look back over the whole 12 years."
Heyd was a part of that success and now he wants to be part of that kind of success on a wider scale in his role with New Zealand Ice Hockey.
"It is nice to be involved in the business side of the sport and to look for ways to continue to grow the sport," he said.
The biggest obstacle to growth is a lack of facilities and he is keen to generate some more exposure for the sport as well.
"Having more ice rinks, especially throughout the North Island, would be a massive boost. But we are reliant on communities and councils for that, so honestly the biggest challenge will be increasing participation.
"If we can get more kids into the sport, that is where the real magic happens."
