Steve Kariya

Steve Kariya
Kariya with HPK in December 2008
Born	December 22, 1977 (1977-12-22) North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight	170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb)
Position	Right wing
Shoots	Right
Played for	NHL Vancouver Canucks SML Ilves Tampere Espoo Blues HPK Hämeenlinna JYP Jyväskylä SEL Frölunda Indians
NHL Draft	Undrafted
Playing career	1999–present

Steven Tetsuo Kariya (born December 22, 1977) is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger and younger brother of retired National Hockey League player Paul Kariya.

Playing career

After playing Junior A with the Nanaimo Clippers, he joined the college hockey ranks with the University of Maine Black Bears. In his senior year, he captained the Black Bears and led them to an NCAA title in 1999.

Having not been drafted by an NHL team, he was signed as a free agent by the Vancouver Canucks and played three-and-a-half years within the organization. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Kariya went overseas to play for Ilves Tampere of the Finnish SM-liiga and won the Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy as the league's top point-scorer. Remaining in Europe, he played one-season stints with the Espoo Blues, HPK, and JYP, with whom he last played during the 2009–10 season. He also played for Frölunda HC of the Swedish Elitserien for two seasons.

Personal

Kariya's sister Noriko is a professional boxer and his brother Martin is also a professional hockey player. He and Martin are the first and only brothers to have won the Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy.

Awards

• NCAA Hockey East All-Rookie in 1996.
• Awarded the NCAA Hockey East Sportsmanship Award in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
• Named to the NCAA All-America First Team in 1999.
• Named to the NCAA All-Star Team Hockey East in 1999.
• NCAA Champion with University of Maine in 1999.
• Awarded the Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy (Most points in SM-liiga) in 2005.

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1995–96	University of Maine	HE		39	7	15	22	8		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	University of Maine	HE		35	19	31	50	10		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	University of Maine	HE		35	25	25	50	22		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	University of Maine	HE		41	27	39	65	24		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		29	18	23	41	22		4	2	1	3	0
1999–00	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		45	8	11	19	22		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Kansas City Blades	IHL		43	15	29	44	51		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		17	1	6	7	8		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Manitoba Moose	AHL		67	25	37	62	48		7	1	2	3	2
2001–02	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		3	0	1	1	2		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Manitoba Moose	AHL		38	14	14	28	18		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Albany River Rats	AHL		31	12	19	31	20		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Albany River Rats	AHL		57	17	31	48	28		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	Ilves Tampere	SM-liiga		55	24	35	59	32		7	3	2	5	4
2005–06	Espoo Blues	SM-liiga		56	22	27	49	61		9	3	3	6	10
2006–07	Frölunda HC	SEL		55	23	16	39	34		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Frölunda HC	SEL		41	1	17	18	18		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	HPK Hämeenlinna	SM-liiga		58	21	33	54	26		6	1	2	3	4
2009–10	JYP Jyväskylä	SM-liiga		46	16	12	28	20		13	1	1	2	10
NHL totals				65	9	18	27	32		—	—	—	—	—
SM-liiga totals				215	83	107	190	139		35	8	8	16	28
SEL totals				96	24	33	57	52		—	—	—	—	—

External links

• Steve Kariya's career stats at Eliteprospects.com
• Steve Kariya's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Steve Kariya – player profile and career stats at European Hockey.Net
• Kariya United

Preceded by Timo Pärssinen

Winner of the Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy 2004–05

Succeeded by Tony Salmelainen