Aleksandrs Kerčs

Aleksandrs Kerčs (sometimes anglicised as Alexander Kerch, , Aleksandr Jaroslavovich Kerch; born March 16, 1967) is a retired Soviet and Latvian professional ice hockey left winger who played five games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers. He also appeared in several World Championships and the 2002 Winter Olympics for the Latvian national team. Previously, he represented the Soviet Union at the 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Career Kerčs enjoyed a lengthy career in European professional leagues, interrupted by a brief stint in North America for the 1993–94 season.

The Edmonton Oilers acquired the third-round draft pick of the New York Rangers (60th overall) along with Roman Oksiuta in a trade that saw Kevin Lowe join the Rangers. The Oilers used the pick on Kerčs, a 26-year-old of the Russian Elite League. Kerčs came to North America for the following season, where he spent the majority of the year with the Cape Breton Oilers of the AHL. He scored at a better-than-point-per-game clip in the minors and went pointless in five games with the Oilers. In the following year, Kerčs played one game with the Providence Bruins, before returning to Russia.

International Kerčs played internationally for Latvia between 1993-2005 and was part of the team that won the World Championships B-pool in 1996.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1984–85 Dinamo Rīga USSR 8 0 0 0 6 — — — — — 1984–85 Latvijas Berzs USSR-3 — 18 — — — — — — — — 1985–86 Dinamo Rīga USSR 23 5 2 7 16 — — — — — 1986–87 Dinamo Rīga USSR 26 5 4 9 10 — — — — — 1987–88 Dinamo Rīga USSR 50 14 4 18 28 — — — — — 1988–89 Dinamo Rīga USSR 39 6 7 13 41 — — — — — 1989–90 Dinamo Rīga USSR 46 9 11 20 22 — — — — — 1990–91 Dinamo Rīga USSR 46 16 17 33 46 — — — — — 1991–92 Stars Rīga CIS 27 7 9 16 20 — — — — — 1992–93 Pārdaugava Rīga IHL 42 23 14 37 28 2 1 2 3 2 1992–93 Pārdaugava–2 Rīga LAT 7 4 5 9 6 — — — — — 1993–94 Edmonton Oilers NHL 5 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 1993–94 Cape Breton Oilers AHL 57 24 38 62 18 — — — — — 1994–95 Pārdaugava Rīga IHL 11 4 0 4 4 — — — — — 1994–95 EHC Biel NDA 2 0 1 1 4 — — — — — 1994–95 Providence Bruins AHL 1 0 0 0 15 4 0 2 2 0 1995–96 Allianse Rīga LAT 29 28 21 49 42 — — — — — 1996–97 EV Landsberg GER-2 47 39 52 91 52 4 3 2 5 0 1997–98 Tappara SM-l 46 14 17 31 57 4 1 0 1 2 1998–99 Revierlöwen Oberhausen DEL 38 10 23 33 18 — — — — — 1999–2000 Revierlöwen Oberhausen DEL 55 14 27 41 62 — — — — — 2000–01 Revierlöwen Oberhausen DEL 57 10 16 26 48 3 0 3 3 0 2001–02 Berlin Capitals DEL 56 15 19 34 52 7 3 1 4 4 2002–03 HK Rīga 2000 EEHL 8 3 4 7 8 — — — — — 2002–03 SKA Saint Petersburg RSL 17 2 4 6 10 — — — — — 2003–04 HK Rīga 2000 EEHL 4 1 1 2 8 — — — — — 2003–04 Vilki OP LAT 10 11 5 16 35 — — — — — 2003–04 Molot-Prikamye Perm RUS-2 6 0 4 4 2 — — — — — 2003–04 Nyköpings Hockey SWE-2 5 2 0 2 4 1 0 0 0 0 2004–05 HK Gomel BEL 4 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2004–05 Vilki OP LAT 9 10 11 21 20 — — — — — 2004–05 Fischtown Pinguins GER-2 12 1 5 6 22 1 0 0 0 0 2005–06 Khimik Voskresensk RUS-2 14 2 4 6 10 — — — — — 2005–06 Vilki OP LAT — 10 7 17 44 — — — — — 2006–07 ASK/Ogre LAT 40 23 34 57 64 10 11 7 18 18 2007–08 ASK/Ogre LAT 41 26 47 73 68 6 1 7 8 10 2008–09 ASK/Ogre BEL 38 10 32 42 36 — — — — — 2008–09 ASK/Ogre LAT — — — — — 9 4 10 14 10 2010–11 DHK Latgale LAT 34 16 37 53 16 5 4 3 7 6 2011–12 HK SMScredit LAT 14 5 12 17 6 6 3 2 5 10 2012–13 HK Ozolnieki/Monarhs LAT 12 1 6 7 2 3 0 1 1 4 USSR/CIS totals 265 62 54 116 189 — — — — — LAT totals 196 124 178 302 259 39 23 30 53 58 NHL totals 5 0 0 0 2 — — — — —

LAT totals do not include stats from the 2005–06 season.

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1987 Soviet Union WJC 6 6 2 8 20 1993 Latvia WC C 7 8 13 21 4 1994 Latvia OGQ 4 7 2 9 2 1996 Latvia WC B 7 3 6 9 20 1996 Latvia OGQ 4 1 8 9 1997 Latvia WC 8 4 4 8 6 1998 Latvia WC 6 3 1 4 2 1999 Latvia WC 6 2 1 3 12 1999 Latvia WC Q 3 0 0 0 2 2000 Latvia WC 7 1 2 3 0 2001 Latvia OGQ 3 1 4 5 6 2001 Latvia WC 6 1 0 1 4 2002 Latvia OG 4 0 3 3 2 2002 Latvia WC 6 1 0 1 2 2003 Latvia WC 6 2 1 3 0 2004 Latvia WC 7 1 1 2 12 Junior totals 6 6 2 8 20 Senior totals 84 35 46 81 74