Martin Tetsuya Kariya (born October 5, 1981 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a professional ice hockey right winger for the Dinamo Riga in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

[edit] Playing career

Kariya had a standout NCAA college hockey career at the University of Maine from 1999 to 2003 while earning a degree in Mathematics. During his four years at the University of Maine, the men's ice hockey team made 3 frozen four appearances. In Martin's final college season the Black Bears reached the 2002-03 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship final game where they suffered a devastating 4-3 OT loss to the University of Minnesota. Martin was the captain of the team in his senior year and was also the top scorer with 50 points in 39 games.^[1] Kariya's outstanding college hockey career caught the attention of the Portland Pirates of the AHL, who offered him a contract to join their team for the 2002-03 season playoffs. Martin then signed with the New York Islanders and played on their farm team, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for the 2003-04 season. The NHL lockout of the 2004-2005 season was a bump in the road for Kariya. Rather than waiting for the NHL season to resume, Martin headed to Japan to play for the Nikko IceBucks in the Asian Hockey League where he was a favorite with Japanese hockey fans. Next he played in Fredrikstad Norway for Stjernen HC and recorded 52 points in 39 games. This caught the attention of hockey scouts from Europe's top leagues and led to Martin signing with the Espoo Blues of the Finnish SM-liiga for the 2006-2007 season. Martin's speed and skill helped him to dominate the Finnish league. He was the top scorer with 61 points in 51 games and was considered arguably the best forward in the league. Having had so much success in Europe, Martin then signed an NHL contract with the St. Louis Blues for the 2007-08 season. For the 2008-09 season he returned to Europe to play in the lucrative Swiss National A League where he finished 5th in the league's scoring standings and was a key player for the SCL Tigers, on July 15th 2009, Kariya signed with the Dinamo Riga of the KHL.

[edit] International Career

Kariya has had several opportunities to represent Canada in international ice hockey competition. These include the 2005 Loto Cup, the 2005 and 2008 Spengler Cup, the 2006 Deutschland Cup and the 2007 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships in Moscow.^[2]

[edit] Personal life

Martin is the younger brother of Steve and Noriko and the famous Paul Kariya. He is of Japanese and Scottish descent.

[edit] Awards

The Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy for most points scored in the Finnish SM-liiga, Eurohockey.net Player of the Month December 2006, Academic NCAA All-American

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Martin Kariya's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database