Aaron Keller (ice hockey player)

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Flag of Canada and Japan.svg  Aaron Keller Ice hockey player
Date of birth March 1, 1975
place of birth Kamloops , British Columbia , Canada
size 182 cm
Weight 84 kg
position defender
Shot hand Right
Career stations
1992-1996 Kamloops Blazers
1996-1997 Peoria Rivermen
1996-1997 Chicago Wolves
1996-1997 Baltimore Bandits
1999-2001 Snow Brand Sapporo
2001-2002 Sapporo Polaris
2002-2014 Ōji Eagles

Aaron Keller ( Japanese ア ー ロ ン ・ キ ャ ラ ー , Āron Kyarā ; born March 1, 1975 in Kamloops , British Columbia ) is a former Japanese - Canadian ice hockey player who was under contract with the Ōji Eagles in the Asia League Ice Hockey from 2002 to 2014 .

Career

Keller began his career as a hockey player with the Kamloops Blazers from his hometown, who play in the Western Hockey League , a youth league. With the Blazers he won the WHL title in 1994 and 1995. In 1996 the defender moved to the East Coast Hockey League for the Peoria Rivermen , which he soon left and ran on the ice that same season with the Chicago Wolves in the International Hockey League and with the Baltimore Bandits in the American Hockey League . He couldn't really assert himself with any of the three teams and so he went to Japan in the Japan Ice Hockey League in 1999 , where he was under contract with Snow Brand Sapporo for two years and then with Sapporo Polaris for one year . In 2002 he was drawn to the Japanese record champions Ōji Eagles in Tomakomai . With the Eagles he was Japanese champion in 2005. Since the multinational Asia League Ice Hockey with teams from China, Japan and South Korea was founded in 2003 , Keller played with his team in this competition and won the title in 2008 and 2012. In 2014 he ended his playing career at the age of 39.

International

After taking on the Japanese citizenship, Keller played for the first time in February 2005 in the Olympic qualification for the games in Turin 2006 in the Japanese national team, but his team lost all three games and was bottom of the group at the tournament in Kloten behind Gastger Switzerland , Norway and Denmark . Keller was also present at the qualifying tournaments for the 2010 Games in Vancouver and 2014 in Sochi , but with the Japanese he again missed participation in the Olympic tournament .

Keller took part in the World Championships in Division I in 2005 , 2006 , 2008 , 2009 , 2010 , 2012 , 2013 and 2014 . In the competitions in 2008, 2009 and 2013 he was honored as the best defensive player of the tournament and in 2009 and 2013 as a member of the All-Star Team.

In 2011, Keller took part in the Asian Winter Games for the first time and won the silver medal with the Japanese team behind Kazakhstan . Here, too, he was named the best defender of the tournament.

Achievements and Awards

League statistics

Seasons Games Gates Assists Points Penalty minutes
AHL regular season 1 11 3 2 5 2
AHL playoffs 1 1 0 0 0 0
Japan League Regular Season 5 150 18th 71 89 34
ALIH Regular Season 11 374 70 221 291 299
ALIH playoffs 6th 33 10 13 23 26th

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Keller, Aaron
ALTERNATIVE NAMES ア ー ロ ン ・ キ ャ ラ ー (Japanese script); Āron Kyarā
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese ice hockey player of Canadian origin
DATE OF BIRTH March 1, 1975
PLACE OF BIRTH Kamloops , British Columbia , Canada