Steven Tetsuo Kariya (born December 22, 1977) 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 ...

winger and younger brother of former

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

player

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 ...

. Kariya was born in North Vancouver,

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Playing career

After playing Junior A with the

Nanaimo Clippers The Nanaimo Clippers are a junior ice hockey team based in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Island Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at Frank Crane Arena. Franchise his ...

, he joined the

college hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the go ...

ranks with the University of Maine Black Bears. In his senior year, he captained the Black Bears and led them to an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

title in 1999. Having not been drafted by an NHL team, he was signed as a free agent by the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

and played three-and-a-half years within the organization. During the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

, Kariya went overseas to play for Ilves Tampere 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 ...

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 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 ...

, HPK, and JYP, with whom he last played during the 2009–10 season. He also played for

Frölunda HC Frölunda Hockey Club, previously known as the Frölunda Indians, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Gothenburg. They currently play in the highest Swedish league, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), formerly the Elitserien, where th ...

of the Swedish Elitserien for two seasons. On March 1, 2013, Kariya joined the

Portland Winterhawks The Portland Winterhawks are a junior ice hockey team based in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1950 as the Edmonton Oil Kings, the team relocated to Portland in 1976 and was known as the Winter Hawks until 2009. The team plays in the U.S. Divisio ...

coaching staff

Personal

Kariya's sister Noriko is a professional boxer and his brother

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

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

Awards and honors

* Awarded the NCAA Hockey East Sportsmanship Award in 1997, 1998 and 1999. * NCAA Champion with

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 ...

in 1999. * Awarded the Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy (Most points in

) in 2005.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kariya, Steve 1977 births Albany River Rats players Canadian ice hockey left wingers Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian sportspeople of Japanese descent Espoo Blues players Frölunda HC players Ilves players Kansas City Blades players Living people Maine Black Bears men's ice hockey players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Manitoba Moose players New Jersey Devils scouts Ice hockey people from North Vancouver Syracuse Crunch players Undrafted National Hockey League players Vancouver Canucks players AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans NCAA men's ice hockey national champions Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland