Aleksandrs Kerčs Explained

Position:Left wing
Played For:USSR
Dinamo Riga
NHL
Edmonton Oilers
Nationalliga A
EHC Biel
SM-liiga
Tappara
DEL
Revierlöwen Oberhausen
Shoots:Right
Height Ft:5
Height In:10
Weight Lb:190
Birth Date:16 March 1967
Birth Place:Arkhangelsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Draft:60th overall
Draft Year:1993
Draft Team:Edmonton Oilers
Ntl Team:LAT
Career Start:1984
Career End:2013

Aleksandrs Kerčs (sometimes anglicised as Alexander Kerch,[1] Russian: Александр Ярославович Керч, 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
SeasonTeamLeagueGP PIMGP G A Pts PIM
1984–85Dinamo RīgaUSSR8 0 0 0 6
1984–85Latvijas BerzsUSSR-318
1985–86Dinamo RīgaUSSR23 5 2 7 16
1986–87Dinamo RīgaUSSR26 5 4 9 10
1987–88Dinamo RīgaUSSR50 14 4 18 28
1988–89Dinamo RīgaUSSR39 6 7 13 41
1989–90Dinamo RīgaUSSR46 9 11 20 22
1990–91Dinamo RīgaUSSR46 16 17 33 46
1991–92Stars RīgaCIS27 7 9 16 20
1992–93Pārdaugava RīgaIHL42 23 14 37 282 1 2 3 2
1992–93Pārdaugava–2 Rīga LAT7 4 5 9 6
1993–94Edmonton OilersNHL5 0 0 0 2
1993–94Cape Breton OilersAHL57 24 38 62 18
1994–95Pārdaugava RīgaIHL11 4 0 4 4
1994–95EHC BielNDA2 0 1 1 4
1994–95Providence BruinsAHL1 0 0 0 154 0 2 2 0
1995–96Allianse RīgaLAT29 28 21 49 42
1996–97EV LandsbergGER-247 39 52 91 524 3 2 5 0
1997–98TapparaSM-l46 14 17 31 574 1 0 1 2
1998–99Revierlöwen OberhausenDEL38 10 23 33 18
1999–2000Revierlöwen OberhausenDEL55 14 27 41 62
2000–01Revierlöwen OberhausenDEL57 10 16 26 483 0 3 3 0
2001–02Berlin CapitalsDEL56 15 19 34 527 3 1 4 4
2002–03HK Rīga 2000EEHL8 3 4 7 8
2002–03SKA Saint PetersburgRSL17 2 4 6 10
2003–04HK Rīga 2000EEHL4 1 1 2 8
2003–04Vilki OPLAT10 11 5 16 35
Molot-Prikamye PermRUS-26 0 4 4 2
2003–04Nyköpings HockeySWE-25 2 0 2 41 0 0 0 0
HK GomelBEL4 0 0 0 2
2004–05Vilki OPLAT9 10 11 21 20
2004–05Fischtown PinguinsGER-212 1 5 6 221 0 0 0 0
Khimik VoskresenskRUS-214 2 4 6 10
2005–06Vilki OPLAT10 7 17 44
2006–07ASK/OgreLAT40 23 34 57 6410 11 7 18 18
2007–08ASK/OgreLAT41 26 47 73 686 1 7 8 10
ASK/OgreBEL38 10 32 42 36
2008–09ASK/OgreLAT9 4 10 14 10
2010–11DHK LatgaleLAT34 16 37 53 165 4 3 7 6
2011–12HK SMScreditLAT14 5 12 17 66 3 2 5 10
2012–13HK Ozolnieki/MonarhsLAT12 1 6 7 23 0 1 1 4
USSR/CIS totals265 62 54 116 189
LAT totals196 124 178 302 25939 23 30 53 58
NHL totals5 0 0 0 2

International

YearTeamEventGP G A Pts PIM
1987Soviet UnionWJC6 6 2 8 20
1993LatviaWC C7 8 13 21 4
1994LatviaOGQ4 7 2 9 2
1996LatviaWC B7 3 6 9 20
1996LatviaOGQ4 1 8 9
1997LatviaWC8 4 4 8 6
1998LatviaWC6 3 1 4 2
1999LatviaWC6 2 1 3 12
1999LatviaWC Q3 0 0 0 2
2000LatviaWC7 1 2 3 0
2001LatviaOGQ3 1 4 5 6
2001LatviaWC6 1 0 1 4
2002LatviaOG4 0 3 3 2
2002LatviaWC6 1 0 1 2
2003LatviaWC6 2 1 3 0
2004LatviaWC7 1 1 2 12
Junior totals6 6 2 8 20
Senior totals84 35 46 81 74

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alexander Kerch . hockeydb.com.