Jan Alston

Jan Alston (born April 14, 1969) is a Canadian-Swiss ice hockey executive, coach and former professional ice hockey 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 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 (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 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. 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 Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1986–87 Saint-Jean Castors QMJHL 68 20 32 52 30 8 4 3 7 9 1987–88 Saint-Jean Castors QMJHL 69 39 38 77 46 7 5 0 5 10 1988–89 Saint-Jean Castors QMJHL 69 58 86 144 115 4 6 9 15 0 1989–90 Saint-Jean Lynx QMJHL 65 61 74 135 139 — — — — — 1990–91 HC Eppan Pirates ITA III — 142 — — — — — — — — 1991–92 WSV Sterzing Broncos ITA II 24 47 36 83 28 — — — — — 1991–92 Lausanne HC SUI II 4 8 7 15 2 — — — — — 1992–93 EV MAK Bruneck ITA 16 21 15 36 14 3 4 0 4 8 1992–93 EV MAK Bruneck Alp — 29 27 56 — — — — — — 1993–94 HC Varese ITA 26 27 28 55 26 — — — — — 1993–94 HC Varese Alp — 25 25 50 — — — — — — 1994–95 EHC Biel-Bienne NDA 36 28 23 51 48 — — — — — 1995–96 HC Davos NDA 35 29 21 50 52 5 1 2 3 4 1996–97 HC La Chaux-de-Fonds NDA 20 9 10 19 36 — — — — — 1997–98 Berlin Capitals DEL 38 14 22 36 51 4 2 2 4 0 1998–99 Adler Mannheim DEL 45 33 20 53 32 12 4 7 11 10 1999–2000 Adler Mannheim DEL 55 31 43 74 36 5 2 4 6 4 2000–01 Adler Mannheim DEL 59 26 28 54 32 12 10 15 25 4 2001–02 ZSC Lions NLA 29 8 9 17 20 17 7 2 9 14 2001–02 GCK Lions SUI II 3 3 2 5 16 — — — — — 2002–03 ZSC Lions NLA 43 15 28 43 45 12 5 3 8 16 2003–04 ZSC Lions NLA 45 22 31 53 36 13 5 4 9 8 2004–05 ZSC Lions NLA 37 15 24 39 28 15 11 13 24 10 2005–06 ZSC Lions NLA 37 15 29 44 32 — — — — — 2006–07 ZSC Lions NLA 40 11 15 26 64 7 3 3 6 4 2007–08 ZSC Lions NLA 42 9 19 28 20 17 7 8 15 31 2008–09 ZSC Lions NLA 50 14 20 34 46 4 0 0 0 2 2009–10 ZSC Lions NLA 49 21 24 45 48 7 2 4 6 12 2010–11 Lausanne HC SUI II 45 16 28 44 47 17 1 3 4 4 NDA/NLA totals 463 196 253 449 465 113 45 49 94 139 DEL totals 197 104 113 217 151 33 18 28 46 18