Swiss League

Due to the injury-caused absence of American forward William Rapuzzi, EHC Visp's team manager Alexei Kovalev, 43, will step in and scratch the ice again for Visp in tonight's game against EVZ Academy.

The Russian ex-NHL superstar, who has been practicing with the team since the start of the season, originally decided to retire at the end of the 2013-14 season due to injury reasons. Two years later, over the course of this summer, he was then named EHC Visp's new team manager.

Visp had scored a coup with the signing of Alexei Kovalev to a one-year contract (plus option for another season) in October 2013. With 29 goals and 37 assists in 59 games, Kovalev led the team to the win of the NLB Championship in 2014.

Last Update: 18 October 2016, 07:04 PM | rlu
Photo: PHOTOPRESS / Jean-Christophe Bott