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

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

executive, coach and former professional

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

. He was granted Swiss citizenship in 2002. He became sport director at Swiss side

Lausanne HC , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

in 2011.

Playing career

A native of Granby, Alston skated at the QMAAA and

QMJHL The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The le ...

level in his home province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the 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 one of the thirtee ...

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 h ...

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

and HC La Chaux-de-Fonds, Alston headed to Germany, joining the Berlin Capitals of the country's top-tier division, Deutsche Eishockey Liga (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 The Zürcher Schlittschuh Club Lions (ZSC Lions) are a professional ice hockey team located in Zürich, Switzerland, playing in the National League (NL). Their home arena is the 12,000-seat Swiss Life Arena. The team was founded in 1930 and play ...

. 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 The Champions Hockey League is a European first-level ice hockey tournament. Launched in the 2014–15 season by 26 clubs, 6 leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament features top teams across Europe. Backgrou ...

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

, while also serving as playing assistant to head coach

John Van Boxmeer John Martin Van Boxmeer (born November 20, 1952) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He has also served extensively as a hockey coach with various teams from 1984 to the present. Bio John Van Boxmeer was considered a top prospec ...

Managing career

In November 2011, Alston put pen to paper on a five-year deal as sport director at

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