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

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

(Most points in

) 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