Paul Kariya
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Paul Tetsuhiko Kariya (born October 16, 1974 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), is a professional ice hockey player who plays for the Nashville Predators.
Playing career
An outstanding amateur, Paul Kariya scored 91 goals and 153 assists for 244 points in 94 games for the Penticton Panthers of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League. He was the first freshman to win the Hobey Baker Award, notching 25 goals and 75 assists for 100 points in 39 games, helping the University of Maine to a 42-1-2 record, and the 1993 NCAA and Hockey East titles in his only full season. His brother, Steve, captained Maine to the 1999 NCAA title. Their brother, Martin, helped Maine get to the 2002 "Frozen Four" finals. Paul's sister, Noriko, is a professional boxer.
His miss in a shootout with Sweden cost Canada the 1994 Olympic gold medal, but he helped Canada win gold in the 2002 Winter Olympics. He was picked by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 4th overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft and plays left wing.
He had a career year in 1995-96, scoring 50 goals and 58 assists for 108 points, but the Ducks did not make the playoffs.
Paul missed the 1998 Winter Olympics due to a concussion suffered from an on-ice crosscheck by Gary Suter. That was the first time that professional players could compete in the Olympics and many saw Suter's hit as the worst of a series of alleged attempts by US Olympic players to injure their Canadian rivals. Suter's 4-game suspension and being allowed to compete in Nagano outraged many Canadian fans (although Team USA fared poorly in the tournament and became infamous for wrecking their hotel room before leaving). Kariya was widely considered the best player on Team Canada. This greatly disappointed Japanese fans who were hoping for a vicarious thrill and medal chance. Ironically, Kariya would later become a teammate of Suter's nephew, Ryan.
In 2003, he led the Ducks to their first Stanley Cup finals. During the second period in Game 6, Kariya took an incredibly hard check from the New Jersey Devils' Scott Stevens and laid on the ice for several minutes. He went to the locker room, but returned and 11 minutes later scored an emotionally-charged goal to give the Ducks a 4-1 lead. Anaheim would win the game 5-2, but lose the series in 7 games. Many felt Kariya's equipment changes following his first concussion may have saved him from being rendered unconscious from the Stevens hit. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs2003/story?id=1564873 Kariya shows character in Game 6
In a move that sent shock waves through the NHL, Kariya and ex-teammate Teemu Selänne signed with the Colorado Avalanche on July 3, 2003 for much less than their value. This pairing was supposed to make Colorado instant contenders for the Stanley Cup after the retirement of Patrick Roy. However, Kariya and Selänne did not live up to expectations, due to Kariya's injury problems and Selänne's underachievement. Colorado did not re-sign them.
Kariya signed a two year contract with the Nashville Predators on August 5, 2005, as an unrestricted free agent.
Kariya rebounded in the 2005-2006 NHL Season, tallying 31 goals and 54 assists, accumulating his most points since the 1999-2000 campaign. Paul played in all 82 games, joining Dan Hamhuis as the only Predators to do so. He quickly gained notoriety among Predators fans as a sharpshooter and accurate passer. In only the second game of the year, in front of his new home crowd, Kariya tallied the winning shootout goal against his former team, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. On April 18, 2006 , the last day of the regular season, Kariya scored a hat trick against the Detroit Red Wings in a 6-3 win. Kariya finished the year 4th in the NHL in shootout shot percentage, converting on 5 of 7 attempts.
Awards
- World Junior Championships All-Star Team - 1992
- NCAA Hockey East First All-Star Team - 1993
- Hobey Baker Memorial Award - 1993
- World Championships All-Star Team - 1994, 1996
- Lady Byng Memorial Trophy - 1996, 1997
- NHL All-Star Roster - 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000
- NHL First All-Star Team - 1996, 1997, 1999
- NHL Second All-Star Team - 2000, 2003
Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1992-93 | University of Maine | NCAA | 39 | 25 | 75 | 100 | 12 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1993-94 | University of Maine | NCAA | 12 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994-95 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 47 | 18 | 21 | 39 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1995-96 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 82 | 50 | 58 | 108 | 20 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1996-97 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 69 | 44 | 55 | 99 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 4 | ||
| 1997-98 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 22 | 17 | 14 | 31 | 23 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1998-99 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 82 | 39 | 62 | 101 | 40 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 1999-00 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 74 | 42 | 44 | 86 | 24 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2000-01 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 66 | 33 | 34 | 67 | 20 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2001-02 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 82 | 32 | 25 | 57 | 28 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002-03 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 82 | 25 | 56 | 81 | 48 | 21 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 6 | ||
| 2003-04 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 51 | 11 | 25 | 36 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2005-06 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 82 | 31 | 54 | 85 | 40 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0 | ||
| NHL Totals | 739 | 342 | 448 | 790 | 275 | 41 | 16 | 21 | 37 | 10 | ||||
International play
Played for Canada in:
- 1991 World Junior Championships
- 1992 World Junior Championships (gold medal)
- 1994 Winter Olympics (silver medal)
- 1994 World Championships (gold medal)
- 1996 World Championships
- 2002 Winter Olympics (gold medal)
See also
References
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''Note: Teemu Selänne, served as captain during most of the 1997-98 season. Kariya was injured and out of the line-up.
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