Tuomo Ruutu

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Tuomo Ruutu bigraphy, stories - Ice hockey player

Tuomo Ruutu : biography

February 16, 1983 –

Tuomo Iisakki Ruutu (born February 16, 1983) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward who plays for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. He is the younger brother of Jarkko Ruutu, a former NHL player currently playing for Jokerit, and retired player Mikko Ruutu.

Playing career

Ruutu started out playing for HIFK in the Finnish SM-liiga in the 1999–00 season, and moved to Jokerit for the next two seasons. In 2002 he returned to HIFK for one more season. He was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, as their first-round pick, #9 overall. He crossed the Atlantic in 2003, playing a full 82 games with the Blackhawks in the 2003–04 NHL season.

He did not play during the NHL lockout, as he was recovering from injuries, but provided commentary on Finnish television during the ice hockey world championships, along with fellow NHL player Ville Nieminen. Ruutu returned to the NHL after the lockout, but his 2005–06 NHL season was cut short, first by a back injury that kept him out of the game for most of the fall, and in January an ankle injury requiring surgery ended his season.

Ruutu represented Finland at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and scored his first goal with Team Finland in the final against Canada.

After an unimpressive showing at the 2006 World Championships Ruutu said he might retire, though that was put to rest when Ruutu signed a two year, $3.75 million contract on September 13.

During the 2007-08 season on February 26, 2008, at the trade deadline, the Chicago Blackhawks traded Tuomo Ruutu to the Carolina Hurricanes for Andrew Ladd. The Hurricanes promptly signed Ruutu to a one-year contract worth $2.25 million.

On July 23, 2009, the Hurricanes signed Ruutu to a three-year contract worth $11.4 million ($3 million in 2009-10, $4 million in 2010-11, $4.4 million in 2011-12).

In the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver Ruutu won the Bronze medal with Team Finland, and in 2011 he added a World Championship Gold medal to his already impressive international resume.

On February 22, 2012, the Hurricanes signed Ruutu to a four-year contract extension worth $19 million. The deal will pay Ruutu $4 million in 2012-13 and $5 million per year in the remaining years, and includes a no-trade clause for the first three years of the contract.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

gerb Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1999–00 HIFK SM-l 1 0 0 0 2
2000–01 Jokerit SM-l 47 11 11 22 94 5 0 0 0 4
2001–02 Jokerit SM-l 51 7 16 23 69 10 0 6 6 29
2002–03 HIFK SM-l 30 12 15 27 24
2003–04 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 82 23 21 44 58
2005–06 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 15 2 3 5 31
2006–07 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 71 17 21 38 95
2007–08 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 60 6 15 21 75
2007–08 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 17 4 7 11 16
2008–09 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 79 26 28 54 79 16 1 3 4 8
2009–10 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 54 14 21 35 50
2010–11 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 82 19 38 57 54
2011–12 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 72 18 16 34 50
2012–13 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 17 4 5 9 8
NHL totals 532 129 170 299 508 16 1 3 4 8

International

Year Team Comp GP G A Pts PIM
2000 Finland WJC18 7 6 2 8 0
2001 Finland WJC 7 1 3 4 4
2002 Finland WJC 7 4 1 5 10
2003 Finland WJC 7 2 8 10 6
2004 Finland WCH 6 1 2 3 4
2006 Finland WC 9 0 0 0 49
2007 Finland WC 8 3 3 6 20
2008 Finland WC 9 4 2 6 8
2010 Finland 2010 6 1 0 1 2
2011 Finland WC 9 6 0 6 8
Junior int’l totals 28 13 14 27 20
Senior int’l totals 47 15 7 22 91