Teenager William John Hanna continues to break new ice

William John and his Belfast Junior Giants Team lost narrowly 2-1 to a fantastic Lanarkshire team in the Scottish Cup final and then bounced back to beat both Lanarkshire and Fife to lift the Ensign Ewart Scottish Cup.

William John was instrumental in the win, by saving all his sudden death penalties and bringing the first of the coveted trophies back to Dundonald.

William John and the team was then invited to play at the Telford International against some of the top club sides in the UK and Europe.

The Junior Giants lost their first game to the London based English Elite league champions Stratham 5-2 and then went unbeaten for the rest of the tournament against some of top teams in the UK, to make it to the final on the Sunday.

The Junior Giants strode out onto the ice to play Stratham in the final and managed to cause a huge upset by beating them 4-3 and bring the 2nd big tournament cup home to Dundonald in less than 2 weeks.

William John then travelled to Hull to play in the final major UK tournament of the season, with an eye on doing an historic treble.

The team went unbeaten all the way to the final with William John only conceding three goals over two days of hockey.

They went into the final against an Invicta team which was bolstered with seven GB and UK select players, but that would not phase our local Giants.

With the score deadlocked at 0-0 after regulation and sudden death it was up to our local talent William John Hanna to save the winning penalty and snatch the historical treble.

William John said: “It has been an incredible year of ice hockey and to win so many major titles in a short space of time showed just how good of team we have in Belfast.”

He added: “It a massive thrill to be selected to play at the top youth levels , but without my coaches and sponsors who support me on and off the ice, I would not be able to compete and be successful.”

William John was also had other major successes this year when he was drafted into the UK/GB select U16 teams to compete in the Glasgow winter classic and will be one of the senior players to lead Scotland out to the Helsinki Cup in Finland this April.

He took the man of the match award when Scotland played England earlier in the season and also made his U19 debut for Fife.

To top it all off, he will also head to Sheffield in May to compete in a UK showcase event at U16 level, which brings the top players in the UK together to play, train and be put through their paces at the English Institute of Sport.