Clarence Kparghai

Clarence Kparghai
Date of birth	May 13, 1985
place of birth	Monrovia , Liberia
Size	183 cm
Weight	76 kg
position	defender
number	# 96
Shot hand	Left
Career stations
until 2004	SC Bern
2004-2005	SC Langenthal
2005-2006	HC Davos
2006-2007	HC Thurgau
2007	EHC Biel
2007-2008	EHC Olten
2008-2013	EHC Biel
2013-2017	HC Lugano
2017-2019	HCB Ticino Rockets
2018	EHC Kloten
2019	EHC Olten

Clarence Kparghai (born May 13, 1985 in Monrovia , Liberia ) is a Swiss - Liberian ice hockey player who was most recently under contract with HC Lugano in the National League and was loaned to various Swiss clubs.

Career

Clarence Kparghai was born in Liberia in 1985 and fled to Switzerland via the Ivory Coast in 1990 due to the civil war there . Kparghai grew up in Ostermundigen and began his career as an ice hockey player at SC Bern , in whose junior division he was active until 2004. The defender then made his professional ice hockey debut for SC Langenthal from the National League B in the 2004/05 season . For this he gave a template in 24 games. He was then signed by HC Davos from the National League A , but played at the same time for the EHC Chur . In the following season, the native Liberian with a Swiss passport played in two games for HC Davos in the NLA and spent the rest of the season again in the NLB at HC Thurgau and EHC Biel, with which he became NLB champion. The 2007/08 season began Kparghai at EHC Olten , but moved in the playoffs to his ex-club EHC Biel, with whom he rose as NLB champion in the National League A. In the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons , the former Swiss junior international with Biel did not get relegation until he was relegated.

In December 2012, Kparghai signed a three-year contract with HC Lugano , valid from the 2013/14 season . There he was a permanent member of the professional team before he suffered a serious knee injury in April 2016, so that he missed the entire 2016/17 season.

In the 2017/18 season he played 20 games for HC Lugano, but was unable to build on his performance before the injury. Therefore, Kparghai was mainly used in the HCB Ticino Rockets in the second division. When the Ticino Rockets ended the season in February 2018 with no playoff chances, Lugano loaned him to EHC Kloten , who were in the middle of a relegation battle. In his last year of contract with HC Lugano, the 2018/19 season, Kparghai tried to prove himself again at HC Lugano, but was reassigned to the Ticino Rockets squad at the beginning of the season. In February he helped out at short notice at HC Davos and also played for them at the 2018 Spengler Cup .

At the end of January 2019, it was awarded again, this time to EHC Olten from the Swiss League , in order to play the play-offs with them.

International

For the Swiss junior team , Kparghai took part exclusively in the U20 World Junior Championship in 2005 , where he finished eighth with his team. In November 2012 he made his debut for the Swiss senior team at the Deutschland Cup . Between 2013 and 2015, he completed other international matches for the national team, but was never used in a major tournament.

Achievements and Awards

• 2007 master of the NLB with the EHC Biel
• 2008 master of the NLB and promotion to the NLA with the EHC Biel

Career statistics

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; ¹  play-downs / relegation )

Club competitions

				Regular season						Play-offs
season	team	league		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
2001/02	SC Bern	Elite Jr. A		9	0	0	0	0		6th	0	2	2	8th
2002/03	SC Bern	Elite Jr. A		36	4th	4th	8th	18th
2003/04	SC Bern	Elite Jr. A		34	5	9	14th	30th
2004/05	SC Langenthal	NLB		24	0	1	1	2
2005/06	HC Davos	NLA		24	0	0	0	8th		-	-	-	-	-
2005/06	EHC Chur	NLB		18th	2	4th	6th	32		5	0	1	1	8th
2006/07	HC Davos	NLA		2	0	0	0	2		-	-	-	-	-
2006/07	HC Thurgau	NLB		30th	3	11	14th	32		-	-	-	-	-
2006/07	EHC Biel	NLB		2	0	1	1	0		16	0	1	1	12
2007/08	EHC Olten	NLB		39	9	9	18th	42		-	-	-	-	-
2007/08	EHC Biel	NLB		-	-	-	-	-		5	0	0	0	4th
2008/09	EHC Biel	NLA		50	0	1	1	28		20th	0	0	0	24
2009/10	EHC Biel	NLA		41	0	3	3	14th		17 1	0	0	0	8th
2010/11	EHC Biel	NLA		43	1	6th	7th	26th		6 1	1	0	1	2
2011/12	EHC Biel	NLA		49	7th	6th	13	22nd		3	0	0	0	6th
2012/13	EHC Biel	NLA		37	0	6th	6th	16		1	0	0	0	0
2013/14	HC Lugano	NLA		39	2	5	7th	14th		5	0	0	0	6th
2014/15	HC Lugano	NLA		34	1	1	2	24		6th	0	1	1	0
2015/16	HC Lugano	NLA		50	2	5	7th	16		14th	0	0	0	2
2016/17	HC Lugano	NLA		not played because of injury
2017/18	HC Lugano	NLA		20th	1	4th	5	2	-	-	-	-	-
2017/18	HCB Ticino Rockets	Swiss League		17th	0	2	2	16	-	-	-	-	-
2017/18	EHC Kloten	National League		7th	0	1	1	2	17 1	0	2	2	10
2018/19	HCB Ticino Rockets	Swiss League		23	3	4th	7th	24	-	-	-	-	-
2018/19	HC Davos	National League		5	1	0	1	2	-	-	-	-	-
2018/19	EHC Olten	Swiss League							9	1	0	1	10

International

year	team	event	result		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM	+/-
2005	Switzerland	U20 World Cup	8th place		6th	0	1	1	10	-1

Web links

• Clarence Kparghai at eurohockey.com
• Clarence Kparghai at eliteprospects.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Marcel Allemann: fled the war in 1990, now the debut in the national team. In: 20min.ch . November 8, 2012, accessed May 10, 2019 . 
2. ↑ End of season for Lugano defender Kparghai. In: bernerzeitung.ch. April 11, 2016, accessed May 10, 2019 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Silvan Hartmann: The returnee: EHCO newcomer Clarence Kparghai between siding and playoff reinforcement. In: solothurnerzeitung.ch. September 29, 2018, accessed May 10, 2019 . 
4. ↑ HC Lugano's Clarence Kparghai helps out in Davos this weekend. Retrieved May 10, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Silvan Hartmann: EHC Olten is strengthening itself with Clarence Kparghai until the end of the season - Simon Barbero is leaving with immediate effect. In: solothurnerzeitung.ch. January 31, 2019, accessed May 10, 2019 .