Jarkko Ruutu

Jarkko Ruutu
Born	(1975-08-23) August 23, 1975 Vantaa, Finland
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	204 lb (93 kg; 14 st 8 lb)
Position	Right Wing
Shot	Left
Played for	HIFK Vancouver Canucks Pittsburgh Penguins Ottawa Senators Anaheim Ducks Jokerit EHC Biel
National team	Finland
NHL Draft	68th overall, 1998 Vancouver Canucks
Playing career	1996–2014

Jarkko Samuli Ruutu (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈjɑrk:o 'sɑmuli ˈruːtu]); born August 23, 1975) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks. He is currently serving as a European development coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Playing career

Ruutu playing for the Ottawa Senators

Ruutu initially moved to North America to play college hockey with Michigan Tech of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). However, after his first year, he returned to Finland and turned professional with HIFK of the 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' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate at the time, the Syracuse Crunch.

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

Ruutu had his best NHL season to date statistically in the 2005–06 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 three-year, $3.9 million contract. On November 13, 2008, he was suspended two 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 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 in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick in 2011. In his final season in the NHL, Ruutu played out remainder of his contract with the Ducks, appearing in 23 games for a goal and assist.

After his NHL career, Ruutu returned to the SM-Liiga to play for Jokerit on a three-year contract. His contract was not renewed after Jokerit left SM-Liiga to join the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in 2014. He completed his professional career playing four games with EHC Biel in the Swiss National League A (NLA) during the 2014–15 season before announcing his retirement as a player on December 15, 2014.

International play

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing Finland
Olympic Games
	2006	Turin
	2010	Vancouver
World Championships
	1998	Switzerland
	2001	Germany
	2007	Russia
	2006	Latvia

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 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 Jaromír Jágr to the boards while Jágr was crouching.

Personal

Ruutu is married to Sofia Ruutu (née Morelius), a Finnish model and blogger. The couple have two children and live in Töölö, Helsinki. His younger brother, Tuomo Ruutu, also played in the NHL, appearing in more than 700 games, and was mostly recently active with HC Davos in the Swiss NLA. His other brother, retired player Mikko Ruutu, is currently a scout for the Ottawa Senators. Jarkko Ruutu is also a second cousin of Hanno Möttölä, who became the first Finnish basketball player to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Ruutu's cousin, Raul Ruutu, plays bass in Finnish pop rock band Sunrise Avenue.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1991–92	HIFK	FIN U20		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	HIFK	FIN U18		33	26	21	47	53		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	HIFK	FIN U20		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	HIFK	FIN U20		7	0	1	1	10		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	HIFK	FIN U20		35	26	22	48	117		—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Michigan Tech University	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
1999–2000	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		8	0	1	1	6		—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	Syracuse Crunch	AHL		65	26	32	58	164		4	3	1	4	8
2000–01	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		21	3	3	6	32		4	0	1	1	8
2000–01	Kansas City Blades	IHL		46	11	18	29	111		—	—	—	—	—
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	10
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		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Ottawa Senators	NHL		82	12	14	26	121		6	2	1	3	34
2010–11	Ottawa Senators	NHL		50	2	8	10	59		—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Anaheim Ducks	NHL		23	1	1	2	38		3	0	0	0	12
2011–12	Jokerit	SM-l		59	14	21	35	192		10	1	2	3	33
2012–13	Jokerit	SM-l		48	12	17	29	122		6	0	1	1	14
2013–14	Jokerit	Liiga		51	10	11	21	86		2	0	1	1	0
2014–15	EHC Biel	NLA		4	0	0	0	14		—	—	—	—	—
SM-l/Liiga totals				318	77	91	168	1072		39	8	10	18	141
NHL totals				652	58	84	142	1078		58	5	5	10	114

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1998	Finland	WC			10	1	0	1	16
2001	Finland	WC			9	1	0	1	10
2002	Finland	OG	6th		4	0	0	0	4
2004	Finland	WC	6th		6	0	0	0	20
2004	Finland	WCH			4	0	0	0	6
2005	Finland	WC	7th		7	1	0	1	4
2006	Finland	OG			8	0	0	0	31
2006	Finland	WC			9	0	3	3	34
2007	Finland	WC			9	0	1	1	29
2009	Finland	WC	5th		6	0	2	2	10
2010	Finland	OG			6	2	1	3	14
Senior totals					78	5	7	12	172

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.
• Traded by the Ottawa Senators to the Anaheim Ducks, February 17, 2011
• Signed as a free agent by Jokerit, September 9, 2011

See also

• Notable families in the NHL
• List of Olympic medalist families

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database