Steve Kariya
Steven Tetsuo Kariya ( born December 22, 1977 in North Vancouver, British Columbia ) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player.
Career
Steve Kariya played college hockey for the Maine Black Bears, the sports team of the University of Maine, with whom he won the championship of the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the 1998 /99. After the season, the ungedraftete FreeAgent completed his first professional contract with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League. He is thus one of the few players who do not have the NHL Entry Draft, the leap into the top tier managed but were committed directly by a team.
His career with the Canucks was very bumpy, in nearly four years, he came to only 65 appearances in the NHL, the rest of the time he played mostly in the various farm teams of franchises. Was criticized especially his inconstant defensive behavior. On 24 January 2003, the attacker was transferred in exchange for Mikko Jokela to the New York Islanders. He denied, however, not a single game, but ran to the farm team for the Islanders, the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League.
With the expiry of his contract and even then androhenden lockout of NHL Season 2004/ 05 Kariya his career in Europe decided to continue. In his first year with Ilves Tampere in the Finnish SM- liiga, he showed the same very good performance and received at the end of the season the Veli -Pekka Ketola - trophy, which is awarded to the top scorer in the league. After another year in Finland, with the Espoo Blues, joined the fast wing players in the Swedish Elitserien for Frölunda HC. The club from Gothenburg was the reigning champion at the time and was hoping Kariya with them finally win his first professional title.
The success remained, however, and so he moved after just two seasons back in the Finnish League and signed a contract with HPK Hämeenlinna, where he played for one season and moved to the beginning of the new season within the league to JYP Jyväskylä. With his new club Kariya finished at the end of the SM - liiga play -offs in 2010 to third place.
Awards and achievements
Career Stats
( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )
Family
Kariya comes from a sports-loving family. His two brothers, Paul and Martin are also professional hockey players. Paul, the oldest of the three, was between the late 1990s and early 2000s, one of the best wingers of the National Hockey League. The youngest, Martin, came only in the American Hockey League and top European leagues used. Her sister Noriko is a professional boxer.