CrashingTheGoalie

by Ron Spence

With Vancouver’s selection of Jordan Schroeder, people have been remembering the names of Cliff Ronning, Brandon Reid and Steve Kariya.

They were the Canucks’ Lilliputians.

Most nucks fans will remember Kariya, who played very well in the pre-season, but faltered as the campaign went on.

I’ve been following Stevie over the past couple of seasons – from the time that he left the elite Finnish league, went to Sweden for a couple of winters, and returned to Finland again.

His HPK team finished in 3rd place – in the 14 team league – this past season. SM-liiga is the top league in Finland and one of the better circuits in Europe.

Steve finished 8th in the league, with 54 points:

Steve also finished 8th in assists, and was one goal short of tying for 10th in goals scored.

Kariya had signed with HPK for one season, and should be back in September. Finnish salaries range for $63,000 – for average players – to $360,000 for the stars.

courtesy of eurohockey.net

People who followed college hockey in the 1990s thought that Steve Kariya would become – at least – an average NHL player.  He spent four years at the University of Maine, and led his team – with 27 goals and 38 assists – as it won its second NCAA tournament title.

Steve was signed as a free agent by the Canucks in April, 1999. He played 65 games for Vancouver, over three seasons.

I will always remember the 5′6″ 150 pound Canuck trying to go around Derian Hatcher’s – 6′5″, 235 pounds – at a time when Dmen were permitted to take liberties..

Knowing that Steve wasn’t going to make it to the NHL, Vancouver traded him for Dman Mikko Jokela (Mikko played one game for the ‘nucks, two seasons in Manitoba and is now playing with Jokerit, Helsinki, the team that finished one point behind Steve’s squad.).

New Jersey had lots of D at the time, and needed some scoring in Albany, so Steve was sentenced to two seasons with the River Rats.

In 2003-04, Kariya crossed over to the Finnish SM-liiga, playing for Ilves Tampere, and the next year for Blues Espoo. He led the league in scoring and won the Veli-Pekka Ketola Trophy one season.

Next, Steve moved to Sweden and played with Frolunda HC of the Swedish Elitserien.

His play fell off dramatically his second year in Sweden, and he returned to Finland for the 2008-09 season.

Steve Kariya would never have made it in the NHL, regardless of which era he played in.

Scout Steven Brown wrote last summer:

“A smallish forward with very good hockey sense and creativity. Kariya is an extremely good skater and has also fine technical skills and soft hands. Good scorer, but has some problems with the physical aspect of the game.”

There are a number of smaller players in the NHL, but they know how to play a little mean, and not back away from “the physical aspect of the game.”

The Canucks believe that Jordan Schroeder won’t have Steve’s problem.

courtesy of ilves.com

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Interview with Steve Kariya when he was playing in Sweden – written by Annelie Ivarsson.

On YouTube: Steve Kariya’s hat trick.