Jan Alston (born April 14, 1969) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

executive, coach and former professional

centre. He was granted Swiss citizenship in 2002. He became sport director at Swiss side Lausanne HC in 2011.

Playing career

A native of Granby, Alston skated at the QMAAA and QMJHL level in his home province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

and then spent his entire pro career in Europe, suiting up in Italy, Germany and Switzerland. He launched his professional career in Italy in 1990 at third-division side Eppan. Over the years, he would gradually work his way up the ladder and spend 12 years in one of the most competitive leagues in Europe, the Swiss

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league ha ...

(NLA). Until 1994, Alston mostly played in Italy and signed with

EHC Biel EHC Biel-Bienne is a professional ice hockey club based in the bilingual city of Biel/Bienne, Switzerland and plays in the National League (NL). Since the city of Biel is completely bilingual, alongside the German name EHC Biel (Abbr: EHCB) the tea ...

of the NLA for the 1994-95 campaign. He quickly made his scoring presence felt in the Swiss top-flight, tallying 28 goals and 23 assists (36 games) for Biel. After one year each at fellow NLA teams

HC Davos Hockey Club Davos is a professional Swiss ice hockey club based in Davos, Switzerland. Davos plays in the National League (NL). The team is usually a strong force in the league and often bolster their roster with Swiss national team players a ...

and

HC La Chaux-de-Fonds HC La Chaux-de-Fonds is a Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various g ...

, Alston headed to Germany, joining the

Berlin Capitals BSC Preussen was an ice hockey team in Berlin, Germany that existed between 1983 and 2005. They played in the highest German league from 1987 to 2001, reaching the playoff semifinals on seven occasions. History BSC Preussen was founded in 1983 in ...

of the country's top-tier division,

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in ...

(DEL), for the 1997-98 season. He transferred from Berlin to Adler Mannheim after one year and helped the team win the German championship in his first season (1998–99). Alston led the DEL in scoring (55 games: 31 goals, 43 assists) the following year, en route to being named DEL Player of the Year. After winning a second German championship with Mannheim in 2000-01, he returned to Switzerland, signing with NLA team ZSC Lions. In nine years with the Lions, Alston played a crucial role in their run to the 2008 Swiss championship and in winning the Champions Hockey League in 2009. He had two more appearances in the NLA finals with ZSC and also served as an assistant captain for several years. Alston spent the last season (2010–11) of his playing career at NLB side Lausanne HC, while also serving as playing assistant to head coach John Van Boxmeer.

Managing career

In November 2011, Alston put pen to paper on a five-year deal as sport director at Lausanne HC of Switzerland. He signed a five-year contract extension in December 2015.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alston, Jan 1969 births Adler Mannheim players Berlin Capitals players Brown Bears men's ice hockey players Brunico SG players Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Italy Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland EHC Biel players GCK Lions players HC Davos players HC Eppan Pirates players HC La Chaux-de-Fonds players HC Varese players Ice hockey people from Quebec Lausanne HC players Living people People from Granby, Quebec Sportspeople from Montérégie Saint-Jean Castors players Saint-Jean Lynx players Wipptal Broncos players ZSC Lions players