Position Right Wing Role Ice hockey player Spouse Sofia Ruutu Parents Enni Ruutu, Harri Ruutu | Shot Left Name Jarkko Ruutu Height 1.88 m Children Greta Ruutu Siblings Tuomo Ruutu, Mikko Ruutu | |
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Weight 204 lb (93 kg; 14 st 8 lb) Played for HIFKVancouver CanucksPittsburgh PenguinsOttawa SenatorsAnaheim DucksJokerit NHL Draft 68th overall, 1998Vancouver Canucks Similar People Teemu Selanne, Tuomo Ruutu, Ville Nieminen, Saku Koivu, Ville Peltonen | ||
2009 ice hockey world championships can fin penalty shootout 4 5 2009 jarkko ruutu show
Jarkko Samuli Ruutu (pronounced Yar-ko Roo-to (IPA: /ˈjvrk.ko ˈruː.tu/); born August 23, 1975) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. His younger brother, Tuomo Ruutu, currently plays for the New Jersey Devils in NHL - his other brother, retired player Mikko Ruutu, currently scouts for NHL team Ottawa Senators. He is also a second cousin of Hanno Mottola, who became the first Finnish basketball player to play in the NBA. Ruutu's cousin, Raul Ruutu, plays bass in Finnish pop rock band Sunrise Avenue.
Contents
- 2009 ice hockey world championships can fin penalty shootout 4 5 2009 jarkko ruutu show
- Jarkko ruutu highlights
- Playing career
- International play
- Transactions
- Personal life
- References
Jarkko ruutu highlights
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).
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.
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.
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.
On February 17, 2011, Ruutu was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for a sixth-round 2011 draft pick.
After his NHL career, Ruutu went back to SM-Liiga to play for Jokerit on a three-year contract. His contract was not renewed after Jokerit left SM-Liiga to join KHL in 2014.
International play
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.
Transactions
Personal life
Ruutu is married to Sofia Ruutu (nee Morelius), a Finnish model & blogger. The couple has one child, daughter named Greta, born in 2013 and live in Toolo, Helsinki.