Last Updated: Sunday 30 January 2000
 
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 Iain MacIntyre:
Steve Kariya off to Syracuse for some Crunch time
 
The Vancouver Sun
 
Iain MacIntyre Vancouver Sun
After an unexpected detour straight into the National Hockey League from
college, North Vancouver dynamo Steve Kariya veered belatedly to the minors.
 
Kariya, who at 5'6" was one of the NHL's biggest surprises last fall, was
reassigned Friday by the Vancouver Canucks to make room on their 23-man
roster for the return from injury of winger Alex Mogilny.
 
Kariya's exit from the Canucks was far less surprising than his arrival, when
he led the team in pre-season scoring and made the roster after signing last
spring as a free agent from the University of Maine Black Bears.
 
But Canuck coach Marc Crawford steadily reduced Kariya's role the last two
months, scratching him from the lineup in four of the last five games.
 
And since Kariya, as a rookie, does not need to clear waivers to report to
the minors, he was the obvious choice to be sent to the Syracuse Crunch.
 
Still, as recently as Friday morning's post-skate media scrum, Crawford said
he hadn't decided who would be sent to Syracuse. When asked last week about
the possibility of Kariya going to the minors to find playing time, Crawford
said there was "not even a question of that."
 
Even Kariya, however, had a feeling he'd be going to the minors.
 
"I haven't been playing in games, and the ones I did I've played five or
seven minutes," Kariya said Friday. "They think it's better for my
development to go down; that's fine with me. To be honest, it doesn't matter
what I think. It's their decision. I'll just go down there and try to work
hard.
 
"Pouting is something you do when you're six years old. We're all pretty much
grown men here. This is our job. Whatever the coaching staff asks from us,
it's what we're going to do. You've got to keep your head up, work hard and
do what you can for the team."
 
After leading the Canucks with 10 points in six pre-season games, Kariya
collected six points in the first seven regular-season games but began to
taper off in November.
 
Although he leads the Canucks with a plus-nine rating and is 13th in the NHL
in rookie scoring with 19 points from 43 games, he has been held off the
scoresheet in 13 of 14 games since Dec. 8.
 
"Most people thought that Steve wouldn't play a game in the NHL this year,"
assistant general manager Dave Nonis said. "We thought he'd spend the whole
year in Syracuse and we'd see how he does. By playing one game in the NHL, he
exceeded expectations. We're extremely happy with him. I think he's going to
have a long, prosperous career."