SPORTS

 

Where afe they Mow scsi scscsan, sponses

 

 

Martin Kariya

Martin Kariya, 27, has always tried to
follow in his older brother’s footsteps.
He went to the University of Maine, just
like Paul and Steve, and when he tired of
the American Hockey League, (just like
Steve) he departed to Finland.

He played for the Finnish League
Blues a year after Steve left them and
again, like Steve, led the entire league
in scoring with 43 points in 51 games.
After that, Martin accepted a tryout offer
from the St. Louis Blues, where his oldest
brother Paul plays, but he was cut and
demoted to the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen.
After a solid season of 53 points in
71 games, Martin returned to Europe,
this time to Switzerland to play for the
prestigious Luagano club.

So far in Swiss A League, which
is considered to be one of the most
financially lucrative outside the NHL,
Martin has been among the league’s
top scorers. Martin has also represented
Canada several times, including at the
2007 ITHF World Hockey Championships,
where Canada won gold.

 

 

Noriko Kariya

The sister of Paul, Steve and Marin Kariya,

Noriko Kariya, 24, is also a professional
athlete—a professional boxer, actually.
Like her brothers, she attended the
University of Maine, only she played field
hockey before discovering boxing. As an
amateur, she had an impressive record of
9-1 before turning pro.

Noriko has been fighting
professionally since 2005 and since that
time she has fought 13 times, fighting in
the bantamweight division and amassing a
record of 9-3-1 with two knockout wins.

Noriko has also helped manage
Paul’s business ventures in the past, and
helped represent him when he was with
the Anaheim Ducks. While Noriko will
probably never attain the same level of
fame and fortune that her brothers have,
she is clearly on her way to a distinguished
fighting career. She has already fought in
such legendary places as Madison Square
Garden, The Grand Ballroom and The
Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

 

 

   

Paul Kariya

Paul Kariya is still around and is still one
of the league’s better players, but at 34, his
numbers have dwindled recently.

After a potential Hall of Fame-
deserving nine seasons with the Anaheim
Ducks, including a run to the Stanley Cup
finals in 2002, Kariya signed with Colorado
for one year and just $1.2 million for the
season (he had made $10 million the year
before). Kariya took the massive pay cut
to reunite with buddy Teemu Selanne, but
injuries limited him to just 51 games and
11 goals and he didn’t come back.

After that, Kariya signed and fulfilled
a two-year pact with the Nashville
Predators, which is a good team to go to if
you want to be forgotten. Indeed, Kariya
scored 31 and 24 goals and fell out of
the league’s elite. In 2007, he signed a
massive three-year, $18 million deal with
the St. Louis Blues. So far this season, he
seems to be re-establishing himself as he is
producing at nearly a point-per-game clip.
Kariya has also been one of the NHL’s
most durable players. He hasn’t missed a
game in three years and has played the full
schedule seven times.

 

 

 

Steve Kariya

The younger brother of Paul, Steve Kariya,
30, hasn’t exactly had the same successes
as his older brother. Standing just 5’6,
Steve hasn’t played in the NHL for years,
but he has established himself as one of the
top European league players.

After leaving North America behind
in 2004, Steve Kariya finally achieved
star status when he led the Finnish Elite
League in scoring in 2005 with 59 points
in 55 games with Ilves Tampere. There
was a flurry of talk after this that he would
return to North America, but nothing
panned out. He would score 49 points
the following season before departing to
Sweden and suiting up for Vastra Frolunda
HC Goteborg, which is where he was for
the last two years.

Kariya, who once played briefly for
the Vancouver Canucks, put up decent
numbers in Sweden before returning to
the Finnish league, this time with HPK
Hameenlinna, where he has 10 goals and
five assists in 18 games.

 

 

Jagminder Gill named CCAA Men's Soccer All-
CANAMIAN 5, cesses reno

A: the 2008 CCAA Soccer Nationals Award Banquet, Douglas College Royals forward,
Jag Gill, added one more piece of hardware to his collection stemming from his impressive
year, when he was named as one of 10 All-Canadians for this season.

As well as being chosen to the first team, this distinction will be added to the BCCAA
Men’s Player of the Year, all-star Jag received at the end of the regular season. As BCCAA
Player of the year, Jag was the BC candidate for National Player of the Year, but lost out to
winner, Will Beauge, from Algonquin College in Ottawa.

Jag finished the season on a tear, netting 10 goals in his final seven games to lead the

Royals to a second place finish in B.C.

   

Royals forward Jag Gill l 5