Jones, Howard Peter

BORN JANUARY 6TH, 1966, in St Paul, Minnesota, USA, he played centre for the Warringah Bombers in the New South Wales Super League. In 1983, at the age of 17, he was alternate captain of the first men's junior team which toured West Germany, Austria and Switzerland for two weeks before going to Bucharest, Romania, for the Junior Worlds.

Jones played his first international on March 3rd 1983 against Romania which Australia lost, 10-2, and remained winless in five other games against Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. He had led the nation's first Juniors onto the world stage with captain John Jugum and alternate John Rice, both of Victoria. Their coaches were former Canadian players Glen Williamson (Sydney) and Scott Davidson (Melbourne).

The Centre won Goodall Cups in 1983, 1985 and 1988, and debuted as a defenseman with the National Senior Team at the 1986 C-Pool Men's Worlds where he was voted his team's Best Player. He was 180cm tall, weighing in at 85kg, and still only 20 years-old. He played for Australia at the Bicentennial Tournament in Canberra in 1988 against teams from Canada and the United States, and thrived in defense with Arte Malste in the 1989 Worlds in Sydney. He represented Australia in seven more Worlds — 1990 and from 1992 to 1997 inclusive — for a total of nine senior Worlds appearances. All up, he played a dozen tournaments in the green and gold, including Canberra.

In 1995 and 1997, he scored a little under a point a game and he was Captain of Australia in 1996, the only occasion that Glen Foll did not hold the position during his 16-year term. He won a Silver and a Bronze medal from 46 games for Australia; held the record for the most games up until 1997; and still today has played the seventh-most international ice hockey games of all-time for his country. He still plays hockey for the Bombers in a New South Wales recreational league.