Jarkko Ruutu

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Position	Right Wing
Shoots	Left
Nickname(s)	Roots, The Finnish Crash
Height Weight	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg/14 st 4 lb)
NHL Team F. teams	Pittsburgh Penguins Vancouver Canucks
Nationality	Finland
Born	August 23, 1975 (1975-08-23) (age 32), Vantaa, FIN
NHL Draft	68th overall, 1998 Vancouver Canucks
Pro career	1999 – present

Olympic medal record
Men's Ice hockey
Silver	2006 Turin	Ice hockey

Jarkko Ruutu (born August 23, 1975 in Vantaa, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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

[edit] Playing career

Ruutu started his pro hockey career with HIFK in the Finnish SM-liiga in the 1996–97 season.

He was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks as their third round pick, #68 overall, in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Ruutu played for his hometown team HIFK, and set a new SM-liiga record for penalty minutes during the regular season, since broken by Matt Nickerson.

Ruutu earned a reputation for being one of the Pens' and even one of the NHL's biggest "pests" or "agitators", which also made him one of the most penalized. He had his best NHL season to date in the 2005–2006 season, scoring 10 goals and 7 assists for 17 points in 82 games, while amassing 142 penalty minutes.

He won a Silver Medal as part of the Finnish national team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy During the Olympic tournament Ruutu gained notoriety when he checked Czech Republic winger Jaromir Jagr to the boards while Jagr was crouching. Ruutu received a double minor for boarding from the incident.

In July 2006, Ruutu signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he has become a fan favorite. He notched his first three point game in the NHL on March 27, 2008 against the New York Islanders^[1].

He is the older brother of Mikko and Tuomo Ruutu.

In an interview on May 15, 2008, he claimed that he served in the Finnish Army. He said he was stationed at Helsinki Airport as part of an anti-aircraft unit.

[edit] Career statistics

				Regular Season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1995--96	Michigan Tech	NCAA		38	12	10	22	96		--	--	--	--	--
1996--97	HIFK	SM-liiga		48	11	10	21	155		--	--	--	--	--
1997--98	HIFK	SM-liiga		37	10	10	20	166		9	7	4	11	10
1998--99	HIFK	SM-liiga		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-liiga		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
NHL Totals				419	36	47	83	716		49	3	4	7	68

[edit] International play

• Played for Team Finland in several Ice Hockey World Championships
• Played for Team Finland at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey
• Won a silver medal with Team Finland at the 2006 Winter Olympics

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	Olympics	8	0	0	0	31

[edit] See also

• Notable families in the NHL

[edit] References

1. ^ Crosby returns; Penguins handle Islanders, take over first in East - NHL - CBSSports.com

[edit] External links

• Jarkko Ruutu on nhlfinns.com
• Jarkko Canuck Fan Page