Steve Kariya Explained

Birth Date:December 22, 1977
Birth Place:North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Height Ft:5
Height In:6
Weight Lb:170
Position:Right wing
Shoots:Right
Played For:NHL
Vancouver Canucks
SML
Ilves Tampere
Espoo Blues
HPK Hämeenlinna
JYP Jyväskylä

SEL
Frölunda Indians
Ntl Team:Canada
Draft:Undrafted
Career Start:1999
Career End:2010

Steven Tetsuo Kariya (born December 22, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger and younger brother of former National Hockey League player Paul Kariya. Kariya was born in North Vancouver, British Columbia.

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 Finland, 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.

On March 1, 2013, Kariya joined the Portland Winterhawks coaching staff

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. Steve is the brother of Paul Kariya.

Awards and honors

AwardYear
All-Hockey East Rookie Team1995–96
Hockey East All-Tournament Team1998[1]
All-Hockey East First Team1998–99
AHCA East First-Team All-American1998–99

Career statistics

  Regular season Playoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
1994–95Nanaimo ClippersBCHL603960998
1995–96University of MaineHE39715228
1996–97University of MaineHE3519315010
1997–98University of MaineHE3525255022
1998–99University of MaineHE4127396524
1999–2000Syracuse CrunchAHL291823412242130
1999–2000Vancouver CanucksNHL458111922
2000–01Kansas City BladesIHL4315294451
2000–01Vancouver CanucksNHL171678
2001–02Manitoba MooseAHL672537624871232
2001–02Vancouver CanucksNHL30112
2002–03Manitoba MooseAHL3814142818
2002–03Albany River RatsAHL3112193120
2003–04Albany River RatsAHL5717314828
2004–05IlvesLiiga552435593273254
2005–06Espoo BluesLiiga5622274961933610
2006–07Frölunda HCSEL5523163934
2007–08Frölunda HCSEL411171818
2008–09HPKLiiga582133542661234
2009–10JYPLiiga46161228201311210
NHL totals659182732
Liiga totals2158310719013935881628
SEL totals9624335752

Notes and References

  1. News: 2013–14 Hockey East Media Guide. Hockey East. 2014-05-19.