Martin Tetsuya Kariya (born October 5, 1981) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He is the youngest brother of former NHL players

Paul Kariya Paul Tetsuhiko Kariya (born October 16, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Known as a skilled and fast-skating offensive player, he played in the NHL for the Mig ...

and Steve Kariya.

Playing career

Amateur

Kariya had a standout NCAA college hockey career at the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

from 1999 to 2003 while earning a degree in Mathematics. During his four years at the University of Maine, the team made 2

Frozen Four The annual NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the top men's team in Division I. Like other Division I cham ...

appearances. In Martin's junior college season the Black Bears reached the 2001–02 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship final game where they suffered a disappointing 4-3 OT loss to the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. Martin was the captain of the team in his senior year and was also the top scorer with 50 points in 39 games. Martin was awarded the Len Ceglarski Sportsmanship Award and named to

Hockey East The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for ...

First All-Star Team. He finished his Black Bear career 11th in all-time scoring with 155 points and was subsequently named in Maine's All Decade Team.

Professional

Kariya's outstanding college hockey career caught the attention of the Portland Pirates of the AHL, who offered him a contract to join their team for the 2002–03 playoffs. On July 22, 2003, Martin then signed with the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

affiliate, the

Bridgeport Sound Tigers The Bridgeport Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, who own the franchise. The team started in 200 ...

for the 2003–04 season. The 2004 NHL Lockout was a bump in the road for Kariya. Rather than waiting for the NHL season to resume, Martin headed to Japan to play for the Nikko IceBucks in the Asian Hockey League where he was a favorite with Japanese hockey fans. Next he played in Fredrikstad Norway for Stjernen HC and recorded 52 points in 39 games. This caught the attention of hockey scouts from Europe's top leagues and led to Martin signing with the

Espoo Blues Kiekko-Espoo is a Finnish professional ice hockey club founded in 2018 as a continuation of the Kiekko-Espoo team originally founded in 1984. Kiekko-Espoo men's team plays in the Liiga, where they were promoted for the 2024–25 Liiga season, 20 ...

of the Finnish

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

for the 2006-2007 season. Martin's speed and skill helped him to dominate the Finnish league. He was the top scorer with 61 points in 51 games and was considered the best forward in the league that season. After his great success in Europe, Martin signed his first NHL contract with the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

on June 1, 2007, for the following 2007–08 season. On October 1, 2007, Kariya was among the final cuts as he was assigned to affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen. Kariya enjoyed his most successful season in the AHL recording 53 points in 71 games. For the 2008–09 season he returned to Europe to play in the lucrative

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

League where he finished 5th in the league's scoring standings and was a key player for the

SCL Tigers The SC Langnau Tigers are a professional ice hockey team from Langnau im Emmental, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL). The team plays its home games in the 6,050-seat Emmental Versicherung Arena, which is currently one of the sm ...

. On July 15, 2009, Kariya signed with the

Dinamo Riga Dinamo Riga () is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It most recently was a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. The club is affiliated with HK Zemgale/LBTU. The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of a D ...

of the

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

. In the 2009–10 season, Martin established himself as an integral part of Riga's offense scoring 22 points in 38 games. Kariya was limited to 38 games after suffering a well publicized concussion in which the KHL was criticized over the immediate medical protocol to his condition. Upon his return, Kariya helped Riga past the first round in the playoffs, leading the KHL with 5 points in 4 games against SKA St. Petersburg after the first round. On May 3, 2010, Kariya returned to the NLA, signing a two-year contract with HC Ambri-Piotta.

International play

Kariya has had several opportunities to represent Canada in international ice hockey competition. These include the 2005 Loto Cup, the 2005

Spengler Cup The Spengler Cup is an annual invitational ice hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. First held in 1923, the Spengler Cup is often cited as the oldest invitational ice hockey tournament in the world. The event is hosted by the Swiss team ...

, the 2006 Deutschland Cup, the 2008

and the 2010

Awards and honors

*2002–03 HE Len Ceglarski Sportsmanship Award *2006–07

SM-Liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy

Career statistics

Personal

Martin is the younger brother of

Steve Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form ( hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen. Notable people A–D * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Abel (born 1970), New Zealand politician * Steve Adams (disambiguation) ...

, Noriko, and

. He is of Japanese and Scottish descent.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kariya, Martin 1981 births Living people Bridgeport Sound Tigers players Canadian ice hockey forwards Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian sportspeople of Japanese descent Dinamo Riga players Espoo Blues players HC Ambrì-Piotta players Maine Black Bears men's ice hockey players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Nikkō Ice Bucks players Peoria Rivermen (AHL) players Portland Pirates players Ice hockey people from Vancouver 21st-century Canadian sportsmen