Russell Jones

Russell Jones first began playing ice hockey in Melbourne following the end of World War II. Between 1946 and 1964 Jones played in almost 150 matches for the Melbourne Demons, in addition to representing Victoria at state level. With the latter team he won the Goodall Cup in 1947 and went on to win it on seven further occasions (1949, 1951–52, 1954–55, 1961–62).

In 1960 Jones was named the vice-captain of the Australian team that played in the ice hockey tournament at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics. He played in all six of Australia’s matches at the Games and scored two goals. Two years later Australia competed at the 1962 World Ice Hockey Championships in the United States where they finished 13th out of the 14 teams that competed. The tournament saw the team win their first ever international match when they beat Denmark 6–2. Jones was named as the captain of the team for their qualification campaign for the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics but lost to Japan in a play-off that took place in late 1963.

Jones later became the coach of Victoria, with the team winning the Goodall Cup four consecutive times from 1965 to 1968. The Russell Jones Premiership Cup has been presented each year to the winner of the IHV Premier A League Champions.