Aaron Keller

Aaron Keller (アーロン・キャラー) (born March 1, 1975) is a Canadian-born, Japanese former professional ice hockey defenceman.

Career Born in Kamloops, British Columbia, Keller played junior hockey with his hometown team the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League and played with them for four seasons from 1992 to 1996. He then played his first professional season in 1996–97 with the Peoria Rivermen of the East Coast Hockey League, the Chicago Wolves of the International Hockey League and the Baltimore Bandits of the American Hockey League.

The next season, he moved to Sapporo, Japan, where he played three seasons for the (now defunct) team Sapporo Snow Brand, and the next season with the Sapporo Polaris (the team who replace the Sapporo Snow Brand, but they also folded after only one season). After the Sapporo Polaris was dissolved in 2002, he signed with the Oji Eagles and remained with the team for the remainder of his career until his retirement in 2014.

Keller is of Japanese descent through his maternal grandparents. He was also a regular member of the Japan national team, debuting for them in 2004.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1992–93 Kamloops Blazers WHL 70 4 34 38 34 11 2 5 7 4 1993–94 Kamloops Blazers WHL 58 6 38 44 8 19 3 12 15 6 1993–94 Kamloops Blazers WHL 71 18 62 80 34 15 3 13 16 6 1995–96 Kamloops Blazers WHL 70 21 66 87 26 16 5 11 16 8 1996–97 Peoria Rivermen ECHL 22 0 8 8 24 — — — — — 1996–97 Chicago Wolves IHL 23 1 3 4 4 — — — — — 1996–97 Baltimore Bandits AHL 11 3 2 5 2 1 0 0 0 0 1997–98 Snow Brand Sapporo JIHL 40 5 25 30 20 — — — — — 1998–99 Snow Brand Sapporo JIHL 40 8 22 30 36 — — — — — 1999–00 Snow Brand Sapporo JIHL 30 7 11 18 63 — — — — — 2000–01 Snow Brand Sapporo JIHL 40 4 18 22 — 8 3 4 7 — 2001–02 Sapporo Polaris JIHL 25 0 9 9 — — — — — — 2002–03 Oji Seishi Hockey JIHL 31 3 17 20 — — — — — — 2003–04 Oji Eagles Asia League 10 0 4 4 12 — — — — — 2003–04 Oji Eagles JIHL 24 4 16 20 34 — — — — — 2004–05 Oji Eagles Asia League 38 6 23 29 39 4 0 2 2 14 2005–06 Oji Eagles Asia League 38 12 25 37 49 7 1 4 5 14 2006–07 Oji Eagles Asia League 34 10 31 41 20 4 0 2 2 4 2007–08 Oji Eagles Asia League 29 3 15 18 47 8 2 2 4 2 2008–08 Oji Eagles Asia League 36 5 19 24 24 4 1 0 1 14 2009–10 Oji Eagles Asia League 36 6 13 19 24 4 0 1 1 2 2010–11 Oji Eagles Asia League 36 10 17 27 14 4 0 0 0 0 2011–12 Oji Eagles Asia League 35 4 17 21 16 7 5 4 9 0 2012–13 Oji Eagles Asia League 40 10 26 36 14 7 1 4 5 6 2013–14 Oji Eagles Asia League 42 4 31 35 40 7 3 4 7 4 JIHL totals 230 31 118 149 153 8 3 4 7 — Asia League totals 374 70 221 291 299 56 13 23 36 60

Awards WHL West Second All-Star Team – 1995 Best Defenseman (Asian Winter Games Top Division 2011)