Another Kariya faces tough decision

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ORONO – As he leaned over the balcony railing in section EE of Alfond Arena, straining to get a closer look at yet another University of Maine rush on the St. Cloud State net during Saturday night’s hockey game, the skinny, dark-haired kid didn’t look like a teenager in the process of making a major life decision.

But that’s exactly what Steve Kariya was doing while watching from the crowd as Maine carved out a 4-3 win. Thinking between faceoffs. Weighing after every whistle. Considering all the angles. Just like his older…

Yep. Same family. Steve Kariya is the kid brother of The Legend, Paul Kariya of Maine’s 1993 NCAA title team and, currently, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

Now in the midst of his Grade 12 scholastic year back in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Steve Kariya is deciding in which direction to take his life beginning next year.

He is wrestling with some serious questions for a 16-year-old.

Should he stay put and continue playing left wing for Nanaimo in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League?

Should he move up to Major Junior, Canadian hockey’s minor league system?

Or should he follow in his brother’s skate tracks and try college hockey in the U.S., maybe even right here at Maine where his family name is already as recognized as the governor’s?

“It is going to be a tough decision,” admitted Kariya, talking politely during the intermission following the first period.

He was on his official NCAA recruiting visit to Maine. It is the first college visit he has made. He wouldn’t say if or where there will be other trips.

Yes, he is impressed by the atmosphere on the UM campus.

“This definitely would be a great place to play,” he said, familiar eyes staring out over the ice. “The fans are great. The team plays very good hockey…”

And…?

And that was it. The words stopped. There would be no verbal commitment. Not yet.

Snap decisions won’t do in any recruiting situation. The brother thing only complicates matters.

Steve Kariya knows what expectations have become attached to his last name in these parts.

Make no mistake. Kariya the younger is a very good college hockey prospect. He ranks among the top seven scorers in the BCJHL with 55 points in 36 games. He is fast and smart with the puck.

But he knows he is not Paul II.

“We have some similarities, but we have some differences, too,” assessed the younger Kariya, who is at least two inches and 15 pounds smaller than his 5-foot-11, 175-pound sibling.

On the ice, Steve Kariya describes his game as follows:

“I like to get involved in the corners. I don’t mind going into traffic. But I also like to pass the puck.”

Would Paul Kariya have described his game in that order, contact and gouging for the puck first, passing second?

No, Steve Kariya is his own player. Look at the track record. Paul played junior hockey for Penticton, not Nanaimo.

All this makes following Paul, if not an obstacle, at least a consideration. To embrace Maine would be to walk an already blazed trail in addition to inviting the mother of all brother comparisons.

True, UMaine hockey has had more successful brother acts over the years than the Grand Ole Opry. Tortorellas… Capuanos… Weinrichs… Ferraros. All proved two brothers could play and thrive at Maine.

There’s so much history it can seem automatic. If one brother excells, he must want his younger brother to follow him.

It won’t work that way with the Brothers Kariya.

“I talked to Paul for a couple of hours before I came out here,” Steve Kariya related. “He told me to look around and keep an open mind. He said I should make my own decision.”

Such advice makes sense. Not one of those older brothers in Maine’s past left the kind of monster legacy that Paul Kariya left in his one season.

Hobey Baker winner… 100 points… National title… Then, on to the NHL for a zillion bucks.

What kid brother would want to risk following that act, especially on the same stage?

Then again, what could be more challenging?

Steve Kariya is an “A” student. He is too bright to be dazzled by Maine’s recruiting rush. He is also too bright to base a decision simply on trying to be like his brother or different than his brother. He said he will weigh all the factors. Don’t forget, there’s an NCAA investigation of Maine pending.

He expects to make a decision in April.

“There are plusses and minuses to coming here,” said Steve Kariya, before climbing the balcony to continue working on the math of his life.