Jarkko Ruutu

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Born	August 23, 1975 (1975-08-23) (age 34), Vantaa, FIN
Height Weight	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 207 lb (94 kg; 14 st 11 lb)
Position	Right wing
Shoots	Left
NHL team F. teams	Ottawa Senators Vancouver Canucks Pittsburgh Penguins SM-liiga HIFK
Ntl. team	Finland
NHL Draft	68th overall, 1998 Vancouver Canucks
Pro career	1996 – present

Jarkko Ruutu (pronounced Yar-ko Roo-too; born August 23, 1975 in Vantaa, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the brother of Tuomo Ruutu, also currently playing in the NHL, and retired player Mikko Ruutu.

Contents 1 Playing career 2 International play 3 Career statistics 3.1 International statistics 4 Transactions 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Playing career

Ruutu initially moved to North America to play college hockey with Michigan Tech of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). After his first year, however, he returned to Finland and turned professional with HIFK of SM-liiga in 1996–97. In his draft year, he recorded 20 points in 37 games and was then drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the third round, 68th overall, in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. He played one more season with HIFK before moving back to North America to play for the Canucks' minor league affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Ruutu played his first full season with the Canucks in 2001–02 and earned himself a reputation as one of the league's most effective "pests" or "agitators". During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Ruutu played once more for HIFK and set a SM-liiga record for penalty minutes in a single season with 215 (since broken by Matt Nickerson).^[1]

He had his best NHL season to date statistically in the 2005–2006 season, scoring 10 goals and 7 assists for 17 points in 82 games, while amassing 142 penalty minutes with the Canucks. In the off-season, Ruutu became a free agent on July 1, 2006 and signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He recorded his first three-point game in NHL during his second season with the Penguins on March 27, 2008, against the New York Islanders.^[2]

In July 2008, Ruutu signed with the Ottawa Senators to a 3-year, $3.9 million contract. On November 13, 2008, Ruutu was suspended for 2 games for elbowing Maxim Lapierre in the head two days earlier in a game against the Montreal Canadiens.^[3]

In a game on January 6, 2009, Ruutu allegedly bit the gloved thumb of Buffalo Sabres' enforcer Andrew Peters during a first-period altercation, although he denied this in a post-game interview and claimed that Peters had actually gouged his eye and stuck his fingers into Ruutu's mouth. The next day, he was suspended for two games and fined $31,700 by the NHL for the incident.^[4]

[edit] International play

Medal record
Competitor for  Finland
Ice hockey
World Championships
Silver	2007	Russia
Bronze	2006	Latvia
Silver	2001	Germany
Silver	1998	Switzerland
Winter Olympics
Silver	2006	Turin

Ruutu has appeared in six World Championships with Finland and has won silver medals in 1998, 2001 and 2007 and a bronze medal in 2006.

At the 2004 World Cup, Ruutu helped Finland to a second-place finish, losing the championship game to Team Canada.

Ruutu also won a silver medal with Finland at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. He gained notoriety during the tournament when he checked Czech winger Jaromir Jagr to the boards while Jagr was crouching.

[edit] Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1995–96	Michigan Tech	WCHA		38	12	10	22	96		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	HIFK	SM-l		48	11	10	21	155		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	HIFK	SM-l		37	10	10	20	166		9	7	4	11	10
1998–99	HIFK	SM-l		25	10	4	14	136		9	0	2	2	43
1999–00	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		65	26	32	58	164		4	3	1	4	8
1999–00	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		8	0	1	1	6		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Kansas City Blades	IHL		46	11	18	29	111		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		21	3	3	6	32		4	0	1	1	8
2001–02	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		49	2	7	9	74		1	0	0	0	0
2002–03	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		36	2	2	4	66		13	0	2	2	14
2003–04	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		71	6	8	14	133		6	1	0	1	41
2004–05	HIFK	SM-l		50	10	18	28	215		3	0	0	0	41
2005–06	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		82	10	7	17	142		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		81	7	9	16	125		5	0	0	0	10
2007–08	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		71	6	10	16	138		20	2	1	3	26
2008–09	Ottawa Senators	NHL		78	7	14	21	144		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				497	43	61	104	860		49	3	4	7	68

[edit] International statistics

Year	Team	Event	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2001	Finland	WC	9	1	0	1	10
2004	Finland	WC	6	0	0	0	20
2004	Finland	WCH	4	0	0	0	6
2005	Finland	WC	7	1	0	1	4
2006	Finland	Oly	8	0	0	0	31
Int'l totals			34	2	0	2	71

[edit] Transactions

• Signed as a free agent by HIFK Helsinki (Finland), September 23, 2004.
• Signed as a free agent by Pittsburgh Penguins, July 4, 2006.
• Signed as a free agent by Ottawa Senators, July 2, 2008.

[edit] See also

• Notable families in the NHL

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Jarkko Ruutu's NHL player profile
• Jarkko Ruutu on nhlfinns.com
• Jarkko Ruutu's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database