Steven Tetsuo Kariya (born December 22, 1977) is a Canadian former professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
winger and younger brother of former
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
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 Might ...
. Kariya was born in
North Vancouver,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
.
Playing career
After playing
Junior A with the
Nanaimo Clippers
The Nanaimo Clippers are a Junior "A" 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 ...
, 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 g ...
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 student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
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. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...
and played three-and-a-half years within the organization. During the
2004–05 NHL lockout, Kariya went overseas to play for
Ilves Tampere
Ilves (; Finnish for " Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena.
The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was then the coat of arms of the cit ...
of the
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
SM-liiga
The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...
and won the
Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy
The Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy () is a Finnish ice hockey trophy awarded by the Liiga to the player who scores the most points during regular season play. It was first awarded to Henry Saleva of Kärpät in the 1977–78 SM-liiga season. The tro ...
as the league's top point-scorer. Remaining in Finland, he played one-season stints with the
Espoo Blues
The Espoo Blues were an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They played in Espoo, Finland, at the Espoo Metro Areena. The club went bankrupt at the end of the 2015–16 Liiga season.
History
The club was established in February 1984 as Kiekko-Espoo ...
,
HPK
Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK) is a professional ice hockey team in the Liiga, the top men's ice hockey league in Finland. Their home ice is the Ritari-areena in Hämeenlinna. HPK was established in 1929. The parent club of the team is HPK Edu ...
, 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
The Portland Winterhawks are a junior ice hockey team based in Portland, Oregon, playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL), one of three leagues making up the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Prior to the 2021-22 season, the Winterhawks split thei ...
coaching staff
Personal
Kariya's sister
Noriko is a professional
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
* Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
*Boxer (dog), a breed of dog
Boxer or boxers may also refer to:
Animal kingdom
* Boxer crab
* Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans
* Boxer snipe ee ...
and his brother
Martin Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austr ...
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
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 Might ...
.
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 or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifie ...
in 1999.
* Awarded the
Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy
The Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy () is a Finnish ice hockey trophy awarded by the Liiga to the player who scores the most points during regular season play. It was first awarded to Henry Saleva of Kärpät in the 1977–78 SM-liiga season. The tro ...
(Most points in
SM-liiga
The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...
) in 2005.
Career statistics
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kariya, Steve
1977 births
Albany River Rats players
Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland
Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden
Canadian ice hockey left wingers
Canadian people of Scottish descent
Canadian sportspeople of Japanese descent
Espoo Blues players
Frölunda HC players
Ice hockey people from British Columbia
Ilves players
Kansas City Blades players
Living people
Maine Black Bears men's ice hockey players
Manitoba Moose players
New Jersey Devils scouts
Sportspeople 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