Great Britain forward Russ Cowley clutched the World Championship Division 1B trophy on the ice at Belfast and said: “This is an amazing way to end my hockey career.”

The former Coventry Blaze and Cardiff Devils player, who announced last month that this would be his final season as a professional player, signed off as a gold medallist following GB’s 4-0 win over Japan to win the tournament.

“I’ve had so many successes as a player, this ranks up there with the best nights of my career.  Tonight is the icing the cake, it was our best performance of the week by far and to win here with a big home crowd was special.”

Cowley scored in the opening night win over Estonia and signs off after sixteen seasons and over 900 professional games.

Photo credit: Dean Woolley