Paul Kariya - International Career

International Career

In the summer of 1991, Kariya joined the Canadian Under-18 Selects Team at the Phoenix Cup, the inaugural tournament of what would go on to become the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. Kariya led all scorers with 10 points in six games while being named to the Tournament All-Star Team. Canada won the silver medal, losing out to the Soviet Union.

The following year, he moved up to the Canadian Under-20 Team for the 1992 World Junior Championships in Germany. The youngest player on the team, he recorded a goal and an assist over six games as Canada finished in sixth place. Playing in the tournament a second consecutive year in 1993, Kariya improved to two goals and eight points over seven games, ranking second in team-scoring behind Martin Lapointe. Helping Canada to a record of six winsand one loss, they tied Sweden for first overall in the standings, but won the gold medal by way of their 5–4 win against them in their second game. The championship marked Kariya's first international gold medal and began a streak of five consecutive gold medals for Canada at the tournament. He was named to the Tournament All-Star Team, alongside Canadian goaltender Manny Legace and defenceman Brent Tully. Nearly 10 years later, The Sports Network held a fan-voted poll on the internet to select Canada's all-time World Junior team. The poll garnered in excess of 350,000 votes with Kariya chosen as one of 13 forwards on the team.

Four months later, in April 1993, Kariya debuted with the Canadian men's team in the IIHF World Championships, held in Germany. At 18 years and 6 months, he became the youngest player in Canadian history to play at the tournament. He scored nine points in eight games, as Canada finished in fourth place.

Later that year, in December 1993, Kariya left his college team, the Maine Black Bears, to join the Canadian national team in preparation for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. At the start of the tournament, Canada was seeded seventh overall and were not considered favourites to do well. Playing on a line with Chris Kontos and Petr Nedved, Kariya led his team in scoring with 3 goals and 7 points over 8 games, helping Canada to a silver medal. Tied with the Czech Republic 2–2 in the quarterfinal, Kariya scored the game-winning goal after 16 minutes of overtime play to help the Canadians advance. In the gold medal game, Kariya scored the first goal as Canada went on to lose 3–2 in a shootout to Sweden. With a chance to tie the shootout after Swedish forward Peter Forsberg scored, Swedish goaltender Tommy Salo stopped Kariya with a glove save.

Two months later, Kariya joined Team Canada for the 1994 Men's World Championships in Italy. He was the lone player on the team to have continued on from the Olympics, as well as the youngest, while playing on a line with Jason Arnott and Brendan Shanahan. During round-robin play, he netted a hat trick against Austria in a 6–1 win. In the quarterfinal, he added a goal and an assist in a win over the Czech Republic. Canada advanced to the final, where they defeated Finland 2–1 to capture the gold medal. It marked the first championship at the tournament for Canada in 33 years. Kariya finished the tournament with a team-high 5 goals and 12 points over 8 games and received Best Forward and All-Star Team honours (on the latter, he was joined by Canadian goaltender Bill Ranford. With his success at the 1994 Winter Olympics and World Championships, Wayne Gretzky heralded Kariya as the next NHL superstar.

In January 1996, Kariya finished as a runner-up to Wayne Gretzky for the inaugural Jean Beliveau Award, an annual distinction from Hockey Canada for players who have demonstrated "outstanding playing ability and international experience while maintaining the fundamentals of sportsmanship and fair play. Unlike most annual awards, the distinction did not take into account players' performances in the prior year, but their contributions on a career-basis. The initial three nominees were chosen by a selection committee, while the winner was determined by fan vote. Randy Gregg was the other nominee.

Following his second NHL season, Kariya was named to Canada's team for the 1996 World Championships in Vienna, Austria. During the round-robin, he scored a hat trick against the United States, helping Canada to a 5–1 win, qualifying them for the quarterfinals. During their semifinal against Russia, Kariya scored in the shootout to help Canada to a 3–2 win. Advancing to the gold medal game, they lost 4–2 to the Czech Republic. Kariya finished the competition with four goals and seven points over eight games, earning him a spot as Canada's lone representative on the Tournament's First All-Star Team. Over three World Championship appearances, Kariya recorded 28 points (11 goals and 17 assists) over 24 games, which at the time, ranked him at third all-time among Canadian scorers, behind Steve Yzerman's 39 points and Marcel Dionne's 32.

Prior to the World Championships, Canada also named Kariya to their team for the 1996 World Cup, which was held in August and September. However, Kariya was kept from competing due to a groin inflammation. During a news conference, he called his withdrawal the "biggest disappointment of hockey career." The World Cup would have marked his first international appearance in a best-on-best tournament, as the competition did not interfere with the Stanley Cup playoffs as the World Championships did. Kariya was replaced in the lineup by New York Rangers winger Adam Graves. Canada went on to finish as runner-up to the United States in the tournament.

In June 1997, Kariya was again nominated for the Jean Beliveau Award, alongside Gregg, but lost to Bobby Orr.

Four years after his first Olympic appearance as an amateur, the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, were set to become the first Games in which NHL players could compete in ice hockey. While Kariya was involved in a contract dispute with the Mighty Ducks, causing him to miss the start of the 1997–98 NHL season, Hockey Canada contacted Kariya, asking him to provide a training regimen by December 1, 1997, ensuring that he would be physically ready to play in the Olympics, given his inactivity in the NHL. Before agreeing to a contract with the Ducks in December, he joined the Canadian national team in training. On November 29, 1997, Canadian general manager Bobby Clarke announced his roster for the Games, which included Kariya. He was the second-youngest player named to the team, behind defenceman Chris Pronger, who was born six days earlier. Less than a month to go before the start of the tournament, held in February 1998, he suffered a concussion, resulting from an on-ice crosscheck to the head from Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Gary Suter. The hit received much publicity as Suter, a member of the United States' national team, was accused by many in the media, as well as Canadian general manager Bobby Clarke for targeting Kariya specifically in order to sideline him for the Olympics. He again described the missed opportunity as the "biggest disappointment of career," adding that he was looking forward to playing in Japan, having family there.

Leading up to the next Winter Olympics, Kariya was chosen as one of eight initial players to Canada's roster on March 23, 2001. Playing on the top line with Mario Lemieux, Kariya scored three goals and one assist over six games, tying for fourth in Canadian point-scoring. He registered his first goal of the tournament in Canada's second game, a 3–2 win against Germany. His second came against Belarus in the semi-final, qualifying Canada for the gold medal game. Playing the United States in the final, Kariya scored Canada's first goal of the game, tying the score at 1 in the first period. Canada went on to win 5–2, capturing their first Olympic gold medal since 1952. Canada's roster was later inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame under the team category on March 26, 2009, during a ceremony in Vancouver.

Despite Kariya's success with Canada at the 2002 Olympics, he had come off the worst statistical season of his career prior to the national team's summer development camp in preparation for the 2006 Winter Olympics. His omission was singled out by the media; general manager Wayne Gretzky, who selected the camp's participants, explained publicly, "Paul is a great player, but at some point you have to have a cutoff," while also asserting that he had spoken to Kariya personally regarding the situation. After a strong start to the 2005–06 NHL season, Kariya was one of 49 forwards chosen in October 2005 to Canada's preliminary list of players to be selected from for the final roster. When the team was announced in December 2005, however, he was not chosen.

During his career, Kariya became involved with Hockey Canada off the ice, as well. In the late 1990s, he joined the organization as a national spokesperson with women's team forward Jayna Hefford for the Initiation Program, promoting a safe and positive experience for children first becoming involved with hockey.