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In sports, while we are in awe of incredible physical talent, it is often the “little guys” that we find ourselves rooting for. The NHL is no different and has had its share of undersized stars throughout its history, from Ted Lindsay in the 1950s and 1960s to Henri Richard in the 1960s and 1970s to Marcel Dionne in the 1970s and 1980s, and so on. In more recent history, two of the more dominant diminutive players have been 5’10’’ Paul Kariya and 5’8’’ Martin St. Louis, who were known for both their electrifying skill and gentlemanly conduct on the ice (both won the Lady Byng Award on multiple occasions). Between these two Hall of Fame mighty mites, the question is:
Who was better – Paul Kariya or Martin St. Louis?
The Beginning
Though their careers would both result in Hockey Hall of Fame inductions, Kariya and St. Louis came into the NHL with vastly different expectations and got off to divergent starts.
Following a standout junior career with the Penticton Panthers of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCJHL), Kariya joined the University of Maine Black Bears of the Hockey East Association to play NCAA hockey. As a rookie, he took the college world by storm, garnering Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year, Hockey East First All-Star Team honors, and the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA’s top player (the first freshman to ever win the award), while also leading Maine to an NCAA title. As a result of his stellar play, Kariya was selected fourth overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by the expansion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, thus becoming the first draft pick in the team’s history. Kariya returned briefly to Maine and also played for Team Canada at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway before joining Anaheim for the strike-shortened 1994-1995 season – as an NHL rookie, he compiled 18 goals and 21 assists for 39 points in 47 games played with a -17 +/- rating to finish third in the Calder Trophy race for top rookie.
Similar to Kariya’s amateur path, St. Louis played his junior hockey with the Hawkesbury Hawks of the Central Junior Hockey League (CJHL) before joining the University of Vermont Catamounts. While with Vermont, he racked up scoring totals and awards/accolades, including All-Rookie Team, East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) First Team All-Star (3x), ECAC Player of the Year, NCAA All-American (3x), and Hobey Baker finalist (2x). Nevertheless, St. Louis went undrafted by the NHL and joined the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International Hockey League (IHL); following an output of 50 points in 56 games played, he was signed by the Calgary Flames and joined their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Saint John Flames. Eventually, St. Louis made his NHL debut for the 1998-1999 season, but in two seasons with Calgary, only played in 69 games with 20 total points. He would thus become a free agent and sign with the Tampa Bay Lightning ahead of the 2000-2001 season, which is where his career would soon flourish.
Career Comparison
From their beginnings in the NHL, Kariya and St. Louis would also have very different career trajectories – Kariya was a superstar at a young age before injuries began to take their toll, while St. Louis worked his way from journeyman into superstar and got better with age.
After showing flashes during the shortened 1994-1995 season, Kariya broke out in a big way the next season, scoring a career-high 50 goals with 58 assists for a career-high 108 points and a +9 +/- rating, thus earning his first career All-Star selection, finishing ninth in the Hart Trophy voting, and winning the first of two straight Lady Byngs for “sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability”; moreover, midway through the season, Anaheim acquired Teemu Selanne in a blockbuster trade with the Winnipeg Jets, and he would team with Kariya to form one of the highest-scoring duos in the NHL over the next few seasons.
Another great season followed in 1996-1997 – despite playing in only 69 games, Kariya compiled 44 goals and 55 assists for 99 points (third in the NHL behind Mario Lemieux and Selanne) with a franchise-best +36 +/- rating, finishing second in the Hart Trophy voting to goalie Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres; at the same time, he was selected as the third captain in Anaheim history. While a salary holdout and injury limited him to only 22 games the next year, Kariya bounced back in 1998-1999 with 39 goals and a career-high 62 assists for 101 points and a +17 +/- rating, once again earning All-Star honors and finishing top-10 for the Hart Trophy. However, from these peak years, his production would gradually decline each year (86 points in 1999-2000, 67 points in 2000-2001, 57 points in 2001-2002), and his longtime teammate Selanne was also traded to the San Jose Sharks. In his last season with Anaheim in 2002-2003, Kariya put up 25 goals and 56 assists for 81 points, and was an All-Star for the final time in his career; at the end of his time with the Mighty Ducks, he was the franchise leader in most career categories, though was later surpassed (fittingly) by Selanne in the latter’s second go-ahead with the team.
As an unrestricted free agent in 2003, Kariya, together with Selanne, signed with the Colorado Avalanche on a one-year deal to chase a Stanley Cup (perhaps hoping to replicate Ray Bourque’s magical run from a few years prior). Despite the recent retirement of legendary goalie Patrick Roy, the Avalanche were still a loaded team, led by Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg (who had beaten out Kariya for the Calder Trophy as a rookie) – however, it was a disappointing season with only 11 goals and 25 assists for 36 points and a -5 +/- rating in 51 games played. After the 2004-2005 lockout, Kariya signed with the Nashville Predators and led the team in scoring for both of his seasons there (85 points in 2005-2006 and 76 points in 2006-2007), while surprisingly playing a full 82 games both years. He subsequently joined the St. Louis Blues – despite a good first year (16 goals and 49 assists for 65 points in 82 games, the only three-year stretch of his career not missing a game), Kariya was limited to only 11 games the next year; after posting 43 points in 75 games in 2009-2010, numerous concussions finally took their toll and he retired from the NHL at age 35.
In contrast to Kariya’s immediate stardom, St. Louis gradually got better with Tampa Bay – 18 goals and 22 assists for 40 points in his first year with the Lightning, then 16 goals and 19 assists for 35 points (though in only 53 games), and then, a career-high 70 points (on 33 goals and 37 assists) in 2002-2003 to earn the first of six career All-Star selections. His breakout season came in 2003-2004, when St. Louis compiled 38 goals and a league-high 56 assists for 94 points and a league-best +35 +/- rating to earn another All-Star selection, the Ross Trophy for top point scorer, the Hart Trophy for league MVP, and the Pearson Award (now known as the Lindsay Award) for most outstanding player in the regular season; additionally, he also finished third for the Lady Byng Award and fourth for the Selke Trophy.
Following the NHL lockout (during which he played with HC Lausanne of Switzerland’s National League A), St. Louis experienced a regression in his NHL return (31 goals and 30 assists for 61 points), but quickly bounced back with another All-Star season in 2006-2007 and his only career 100-point season on career-bests of 43 goals and 59 assists for 102 points. This would start the best stretch of his career and was followed by consecutive 80+ points seasons; then, in 2009-2010 and 20010-2011, St. Louis would win consecutive Lady Byngs while putting up 90+ points each year (29 goals/65 assists/94 points in 2009-2010 and 31 goals/68 assists/99 points in 2010-2011, good for third in the Hart Trophy voting). During the strike-shortened 2012-2013 season, he would score 17 goals with a league-best 43 assists for a league-leading 60 points to earn his second career Ross Trophy and his third Lady Byng in four years, though only finished ninth for MVP (Hart).
However, in 2013-2014, due in large part to not being included on Team Canada for the 2014 Winter Olympics by his Lightning GM Steve Yzerman (though he was later an injury replacement for Tampa Bay teammate Steve Stamkos), St. Louis requested a trade and was shipped to the New York Rangers along with a conditional 2015 second-round draft pick for Ryan Callahan, a 2015 first-round pick, a conditional 2014 second-round pick (which became a first-rounder), and a conditional 2015 seventh-round pick; across the season with Tampa Bay and New York, St. Louis still managed 69 points (30 goals and 39 assists) with a +13 +/- rating and finished second for the Lady Byng. In his final season with the Rangers in 2014-2015, he put up 21 goals and 31 assists for 52 points with a +12 +/- rating before retiring after the season at age 39.
On the whole, St. Louis played one more season (16 vs. 15), but nearly two more seasons worth of games than Kariya due to better durability. Over that time, Kariya has the slight edge in goals scored, while St. Louis holds the lead in assists, points, and +/-, all by a small margin. Looking a bit deeper into those numbers, both players had seven 30-goal seasons (including two 40-goal and one 50-goal season for Kariya vs. one 40-goal season for St. Louis), but Kariya has the slight edge in 100+ point seasons (2 to 1) and a higher point-per-game average (1.00 vs. 0.91). From an awards perspective, Kariya has more All-Star selections (7 vs. 6), but other than that, St. Louis has one Hart Trophy, two Ross Trophies, one Pearson Trophy, and three Lady Byngs to Kariya’s two Lady Byngs. Both players were honored for their “outsized” performance with recent Hall of Fame inductions, Kariya in 2017 followed by St. Louis in 2018.
Regular Season Statistics
| Paul Kariya | Player | Martin St. Louis |
| 15 (1994-2010) | Seasons | 16 (1998-2015) |
| 989 | Games Played | 1,134 |
| 402 | Goals | 391 |
| 587 | Assists | 642 |
| 989 | Points | 1,033 |
| +31 | +/- | +37 |
| 7x | All-Star Games | 6x |
| – | Hart Trophies | 1x |
| – | Ross Trophies | 2x |
| – | Stanley Cups | 1x |
| – | Conn Smythes | – |
| 2x Lady Byng | Other Awards | 1x Pearson, 3x Lady Byng |
| 2017 | Hall of Fame Induction | 2018 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
Though neither Kariya nor St. Louis played for franchises historically known for their postseason success, each made his fair share of playoff appearances and competed in the Stanley Cup Finals, with St. Louis ultimately prevailing with the Lightning.
During his career, Kariya made six playoff appearances, though only made it out of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs twice. Individually, his best postseason came in 1996-1997,when Anaheim defeated the Phoenix Coyotes in seven games before being swept by Nicklas Lidstrom and the Detroit Red Wings in the second round (though each game went to overtime); across 11 games, Kariya led the team with 13 points (7 goals and 6 assists), though a -2 +/- rating. Then, in 2002-2003, the Ducks would beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings in the first round en route to making the Finals for the first time in franchise history – despite falling in seven games to Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils, Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere won the Conn Smythe in a losing effort; Kariya had a relatively uneven playoffs, putting up 6 goals and 6 assists in 21 games with an even +/- rating.
Similarly, St. Louis made seven playoff trips during his career spanning his Tampa Bay and New York days. Without a doubt, the highlight was during his Hart Trophy-winning 2003-2004 season, when he led Tampa Bay to the Stanley Cup Finals vs. the Calgary Flames. After St. Louis scored the overtime goal-winning goal in Game 6 to force a decisive Game 7, the Lightning would prevail to win their first-ever (and to this day, only) championship; though he did not win the Conn Smythe (the honors went to teammate Brad Richards), St. Louis had 9 goals and led the playoffs with 15 assists for 24 points with a +6 +/- rating. Later on, in his first season with the Rangers, he would lead the team with 8 goals, along with 7 assists, for 15 points and a +5 +/- rating, and help them reach the Stanley Cup Finals once again, but New York would lose to the Los Angeles Kings in five games.
Both Kariya and St. Louis also achieved significant success on the international stage for their native Team Canada. In addition to winning a silver medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Kariya was also part of the gold medal-winning team at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City; additionally he won gold at the 1994 World Championships and silver at the 1996 World Championships. Meanwhile, St. Louis was part of the aforementioned gold medal-winning team at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi as an injury replacement for Lightning teammate Steve Stamkos, and also took home silver medals at the 2008 and 2009 World Championships.
Playoff Statistics
| Paul Kariya | Player | Martin St. Louis |
| 46 | Games Played | 107 |
| 16 | Goals | 42 |
| 23 | Assists | 48 |
| 39 | Points | 90 |
| -7 | +/- | +1 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; in opposing respects, this is highlighted by both Kariya’s brilliant rise and later injury struggles and St. Louis’ slow ascent into a superstar. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Paul Kariya | Player | Martin St. Louis |
| 1995-1997, 1998-2003, 2005-2008 | Decade of Dominance | 2002-2004, 2006-2014 |
| 783 | Games Played | 780 |
| 336 | Goals | 301 |
| 489 | Assists | 524 |
| 825 | Points | 825 |
| +47 | +/- | +35 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
Interestingly, taking each player’s best decade results in essentially identical numbers – separated by three games played, each player accumulated exactly 825 points, with Kariya being more of a goal-scorer vs. St. Louis as a playmaker.
My Thoughts
It is interesting how Paul Kariya and Martin St. Louis have very similar final career numbers, yet entirely different career trajectories. Kariya came into the NHL as a heralded prospect and did not disappoint early on, quickly establishing himself as an elite player in the late 1990s; however, injuries took their toll and his star had waned by his early 30s. On the other hand, St. Louis scratched and clawed his way from irrelevance to becoming a Hart Trophy winner. While St. Louis pretty much maximized his career potential and squeezed out every ounce of his talent and ability, there is a lot of “what could have been” with Kariya’s career – had he stayed healthy, would he have won the Hart Trophy, would he have had more 100+ point seasons, would he have finished his career with closer to 1,500 points? Even with all that being said, Kariya managed to put together a Hall of Fame career, which speaks to his supreme talent and the brilliance he flashed in his 20s.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Paul Kariya
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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