Rangers give in to the Ruut of all evil
The primary influences in the slump-busting victory were a stellar defensive effort and the return to form of the Pizza Line.
Jarkko Ruutu was also instrumental in the Blackshirts' 4-1 victory over the Blueshirts yesterday at Scotiabank Place.
A defining image of the Senators' first win since Nov. 6 was the pain-in-the-ass winger sitting on the boards, smiling, while New York Rangers tough guy Colton Orr was being shown the door.
Orr had just taken a double minor (plus misconduct) for dropping his gloves and trying to wipe the grin off Ruutu's face. He didn't mean to make it bigger.
"What else?" Ruutu said later when asked if it was a satisfying moment. "We got a power play out of it. Four minutes with five minutes left in the game.
"It made it a lot easier to finish."
The way the last meeting between these teams finished -- a shootout victory by the Rangers in New York Tuesday -- worked to Ottawa's benefit.
The Rangers were still ticked at Ruutu taking a shot when they believed his shootout chance had ended.
Defenceman Paul Mara went after Ruutu at the five-minute mark of the first period, but his attempt to start a fight only got him a minor penalty. Jason Spezza scored on the ensuing power play.
"Ruutu took liberties on our goalie in the shootout last game," said Mara.
"He doesn't have any respect for the game out there. I dropped the gloves, squared on him, didn't jump him from behind, went right at him. That's that.
"It's over. He had his chance. We can go on from there.
"He had a chance in the third with Colton," added Mara. "Obviously he didn't want any part of him, either. I don't think he did much as a player out there. He got us a little frustrated, but after the first period we got in here and talked about it as a team. We let him alone for the last two periods, and he didn't do too much. That's the way you have to play with him. Next time we play Ottawa, I guess we'll leave him alone."
Mara was dead wrong in his assessment that Ruutu had no other effect on the outcome. Ruutu distracted New York goalie Steve Valiquette on Daniel Alfredsson's goal ("I was pretty tired," he explained. "I was out there for a minute. I had no juice left. I tried to actually go in front of the net, but I stumbled a bit. I don't think I barely touched him.").
He also took the shot from the boards that bounced in off Nick Foligno's leg to give the Senators a three-goal cushion with a little more than nine minutes to go and he bounced off Rangers all day.
Ruutu was named the game's second star but he deserved to be the first.
Nobody performed his role any better.
"I was really surprised, but I like the result of it," Ruutu said when asked about Mara's interest in evening the score with him. "I don't care what it's for. It just doesn't matter. We needed the penalty to get something going.
"It was great that the guys scored on it.
"It was emotional game, and I like when the games are emotional."
Said Alfredsson: "I thought he played it smart. Honestly I don't know why they were upset, because he shot the puck on a penalty shot. Obviously it was to our advantage tonight."
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM...: It wasn't just Rangers that Ruttu had to deal with. He was knocked off-stride twice by the linesmen. "I don't think they were too happy with me," he said.
By Brennan - Columnist
CANOE -- SLAM! Sports
November 23, 2008
Ruutu puts Rangers off their game as Sens win
By Steve Zipay
Newsday.com
November 23, 2008
OTTAWA - For a player who was on the ice less than 14 minutes, had four hits, one shot and a third-period assist on an insurance goal, Jarkko Ruutu certainly had an impact.
And when you combine Ruutu's ability to antagonize -- much like the departed Sean Avery -- with the Rangers' moribund starts, the results aren't pretty: A season-low 19 shots on net, an unwillingness to compete hard and a second consecutive three-goal loss.
"We didn't deserve at all to be in that game," said Markus Naslund, whose third-period goal that trickled between Senators goaltender Alex Auld's pads averted a shutout in the 4-1 defeat to the team that is 14th in the Eastern Conference. "We had a chance here to come in and make a statement, play a strong game, and we didn't, we came out flat. No excuses."
The once high-flying Rangers (14-7-2) have dropped two in a row, are 4-5-1 in the last 10 - the last five without injured center Scott Gomez - and are stumbling badly. They had just 12 shots through two periods to the Senators 28 and were down 3-0. It could have been worse.
At the 4:59 mark of the first period, Paul Mara roughed up Ruutu, who the Rangers felt took an illegal shot after missing his try at Henrik Lundqvist in a shootout six days ago, and challenged him to a fight. Ruutu backed away and Mara went off. Jason Spezza scored 44 seconds later on the power play. The Rangers didn't respond, not even mustering their first shot until Ryan Callahan's with 7:05 to play in the period.
"Ruutu took liberties on our goalie in the shootout," said Mara. "He doesn't have any respect for the game out there. I took it upon myself for what he did and he didn't have the courage to back it up, I dropped the gloves, square on, and went right at him and that's it, he had his chance, now we go on. He had his chance in the third with Colton [Orr] and obviously he didn't want any part of that either."
Mara's was the second of three penalties in the first 6:02, and took away any starch the Rangers may have had. "He's an aggravator, agitator and all I saw was a white jersey going to the penalty box," said coach Tom Renney, who described his mood as "not very good ... Not the type of play you want to make early in the hockey game, especially by a veteran player, but we can't hang this on one guy. It was a team effort in terms of what we did tonight."
The game turned dramatically late in the second. With the Sens up 1-0, Jesse Winchester poked the puck around Dan Girardi at the Ottawa blue line and raced toward goaltender Steve Valiquette in a 2-on-1 with ex-Senator Wade Redden in the middle. Winchester banked the puck off the right post and in with 2:08 left.
Then, with 45 seconds remaining, Ruutu shouldered Valiquette off the stick-side post as Daniel Alfredsson's shot arrived. The puck went in and the goal stood.
"It was interference," said Valiquette, who made his fifth start of the season. "I'll never dive, I'll never embellish anything ... I don't know why it wasn't called. I got jammed down didn't have time to get back to my feet. I think it was just missed. It'd be a lot easier to come back from two goals, so it was a turning point."
But Ruutu wasn't finished. His shot from the left boards caromed off his skate of Nick Foligno at 10:48 to restore the three-goal edge.
Renney found many reasons to be angry. "The bottom line for us is we needed to compete harder than we did," he said. "We needed to put pucks in the locations that allowed us to make some type of physical statement and generate more offense going to the net, We were tweeners tonight. We were in between any type of job that needed to be done."
Let them come
By Ken Warren
The Ottawa Citizen
November 19, 2008
Jarkko Ruutu knows he's unlikely to win any popularity contests, but says that's fine with him. He feels he plays his best when the other team is after him, reports Ken Warren.
There's no truth to the rumour that "Jarkko Ruutu," translated from his native Finnish, means, "I hate his guts."
It is, however, how the players on 29 NHL teams -- every player on every team, except for the one he's playing for -- might respond in a game of word association. There would also be some other choice words, inappropriate for a family newspaper, thrown in for good measure.
Ruutu wouldn't have it any other way.
"I love it, it makes it even more fun," Ruutu said yesterday when asked about being a target for the Ottawa Senators' next two opponents at Scotiabank Place -- the Montreal Canadiens tomorrow night and the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon. "It's nothing new. Every game is like that for me. That hasn't changed me at all. I love those kinds of games where people think there are more things going on than there actually is, but I love the emotional games. I'm happy if they're trying to come after me. That's how I play my best."
It has been quite the wild stretch, even by Ruutu's standards. The Senators' agitator, who normally plays on the club's third or fourth lines, has two goals and three assists in 16 games, and is averaging 13 minutes 13 seconds of ice time per game. And he typically makes every second count, one way or another.
A week ago Monday, with the Senators at the start of their current tailspin, Ruutu took matters into his own hands (or elbows) during the Senators' 4-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, elbowing Maxim Lapierre early in the third period. Later in the period, he fought and received a 10-minute misconduct, with the Bell Centre crowd letting him know exactly how it felt about him as he left the ice. Ruutu played along, smiling and waving back as he departed.
The following day, Ruutu was suspended two games for the elbow, missing the Senators' back-to-back losses to the New York Islanders, but he vowed that the suspension wouldn't change his style.
True to his word, he was back in the middle of things when he returned for the Senators' 2-1 shootout loss to the New York Rangers on Monday, delivering and receiving his share of trash talk, hits and face washes after the whistle.
The game finished with several Rangers anxious to go after Ruutu -- he says a player swung his stick at him -- following a controversial play during the shootout. Ruutu attempted a deke on his opportunity, but lost control of the puck in front of Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. The puck slipped harmlessly to the side, toward the goal line. Technically, the play was still live because the puck had not to cross the goal line, and Ruutu chased it down and took a shot from an impossible angle. Lundqvist made an easy save on the play.
"I didn't shoot (originally), I shot from the corner, so I guess that says it all," said Ruutu.
The Rangers were outraged, believing that Lundqvist had already stopped the puck once, and that it was an unnecessary cheap shot from Ruutu.
Ruutu says he's not pressing the NHL to look into the stick incident, claiming that's not his role.
"I think it might have been (Colton) Orr, but I'm not sure," Ruutu, said, when pressed on who may have swung a stick at him. "Ice chips were flying all over the place, but if it's on tape, it's on tape. If it's not, it's not."
As the Rangers stepped on the ice to congratulate Lundqvist for the victory, several players approached Ruutu to say they weren't pleased with his antics. Ruutu, in turn, talked to the officials.
"I just asked (the referees) that I think I'm allowed to be on my side (of the ice) and (why are) they coming right at me? I didn't know what the ruling is. I didn't know if that was the case, but I guess there wasn't much to say."
With Ruutu, there's always plenty to say.
Shooting off at Ruutu
By Bob McKenzie
TSN.ca
November 18, 2008
It was interesting to see the New York Rangers get all bent out of shape when Ottawa Senator Jarkko Ruutu fired the puck at goalie Henrik Lundqvist from a bad angle after initially losing control of it on a shootout attempt last night.
The Rangers were so incensed at what seemed like Ruutu being Ruutu that a few of them even tried to get at the abrasive Finn when the shootout was complete and they had to be restrained by the on-ice officials.
Well, guess what?
If Ruutu had scored on that bad-angle and seemingly late shootout shot, it would have counted.
According to NHL rule 25.2 on penalty shots, or shootouts if you will, that was still a live puck and Ruutu was within his rights to shoot it at Lundqvist.
"The original loss of the puck was not on a shot,” NHL director of officiating Stephen Walkon told TSN. "Therefore, the puck is live until it comes to a complete stop or the puck completely crosses the goal line."
Sure enough, in this case, the puck was still moving when Ruutu got to it and it had not crossed the goal line. The play was alive even though most of us, including the Rangers, thought it was dead.
Now, if Ruutu had tried to corral that puck on his stick and take it back towards the net for another try, there is reason to believe he may have violated the part of the rule where a player must maintain forward progress on the penalty shot/shootout attempt, but even that has become a bit of a gray area with some inventive shootout techniques and imaginative moves by the players.
But make no mistake, the shot he took was a valid shot and had he scored on it, it would have counted.
More meetings for struggling Sens
Canadian Press
November 18, 2008
Against the Rangers, Ottawa pest Jarkko Ruutu was involved in a bit of controversy during the shootout when he fanned on his shot attempt against Henrik Lundqvist. After the play appeared to be dead, he fired a shot at the Rangers' goaltender, which drew extra attention from the New York bench afterward.
On Tuesday, Ruutu insisted he made a legitimate play and claimed an unnamed Rangers player swung a stick at his head, but wouldn't pursue the matter with the league.
With the Senators and Rangers meeting again Saturday, he'd prefer Ottawa just turn its game around in time to get some revenge on the scoreboard.
"It's no secret. We just have to play a simple game -- shoot the puck a lot -- and when things start turning around and start going our way, things will be a lot easier," he said. "Right now, it's a little frustrating, but there's nobody else that can change it around except us.
"We're not happy with the way we've started the season, but it's not time to panic or do something stupid."
Skating Around
The New York Times
November 18, 2008
Lots of eyebrows were raised when the Senators inserted Jarkko Ruutu as their second shooter in the post-game skills competition against the Rangers Monday night, but Pierre McGuire speaking on Ottawa radio Team 1200 this morning said Ruutu is actually pretty good in that role and was used there frequently last season by Pittsburgh. Ruutu gave a clinic in agitating Monday night at the Garden. The Sens have now lost five straight, but at least got a point out of it.
Memo sent by NHL Hockey Operations to players on Monday, November 17, 2008
"Recently, we have had two (2) supplemental discipline incidents involving direct elbow blows to the head. This is a play that we have been trying to remove from our game for a number of years. In one case there was no injury and in the other incident the elbowed Player received a concussion. Both Players delivering the elbows had never before been involved in supplemental discipline.
"We cannot and will not tolerate blows to the head that are deliberate, avoidable and illegal. Furthermore, both the history and status of the offender (first time versus repeat) and the nature of the injury caused (if any) will be taken into consideration as they have been in the past. The length of suspensions for illegal blows to the head will be increased if these incidents persist across the League. Taking steps to maintain the safest on-ice environment possible for the Players remains our most important priority."
Ruutu says he won't change
Ken Warren, Ottawa Citizen
November 14, 2008
If the National Hockey League deemed it fit to suspend Jarkko Ruutu two games for elbowing MontrealCanadiens forward Maxim Lapierre in Tuesday's game, that's fine with him.
If the other teams hate him and the media wants to paint him as a villain, that's fine, too.
However, Ruutu says none of that will affect how he plays when he returns to the lineup for Monday's game against the New York Rangers.
"I'll be the same player when I come out again," he said. "I just have to get some rest and come out with more energy. I don't care who is on the other side. I know how I play. The more you play, the more you understand the psyche of players. That's the way I play. I don't think these guys (the Senators) liked me too much when I was playing in Pittsburgh and Vancouver, but that's my strength and I have to be good at it."
Ruutu says he has no issue with anyone who wants to compare him to Dallas Stars agitator Sean Avery, but he doesn't believe he's as controversial off the ice.
"The stuff that happens on the ice stays on the ice, but I don't know if that's the case with him, but he does whatever he wants."
Ruutu doesn't see the elbow
Senator suspended two games for hit on Lapierre
Ken Warren - The Ottawa Citizen
November 13, 2008
Jarkko Ruutu insists there was nothing malicious behind his elbow to the head of Maxime Lapierre of the Montreal Canadiens during the Ottawa Senators' 4-0 loss Tuesday.
After watching the hit, frame by frame, yesterday morning, he also believed his elbow didn't hit Lapierre.
"In some cases, it looks worse than it is," Ruutu said, following the Senators' practice. "It wasn't a head hunt or anything else ... . Actually, I don't think I hit him with an elbow, either. I looked at the tape afterwards and it was a little high, but it wasn't on purpose."
But as much as Ruutu pleaded his case during a conference call yesterday, Colin Campbell, the NHL's senior executive vice-president and director of hockey operations, didn't let the Senators' agitator skate away free.
While Ruutu originally received a two-minute minor penalty for charging, Campbell added a two-game suspension yesterday. That means he'll miss both ends of the Senators' home-and-away series with the New York Islanders. The suspension prompted the Senators to recall Ryan Shannon from Binghamton of the American Hockey League to take Ruutu's place.
"Obviously it is what it is, and I have to live with it," said Ruutu, who has no previous history of suspensions in the NHL. "Like I said, I had no intention to do it, but accidents will happen and I'll have to deal with the consequences."
Senators general manager Bryan Murray also grudgingly accepted Campbell's ruling.
"We're disappointed that it's two games, but obviously the NHL has set a very high standard for a hit like this, that I felt deflected off the shoulder to the head," he said. "Especially for a player with no history of suspensions, no history of even being called in front of the league. But we do have to abide by what is called. And obviously going forward we know now that this is the standard for anybody that gets hit in the head area."
Goonery: et tu, Ruutu?
Former Canuck the latest to face discipline over a hit to the head
Pat Hickey - Canwest News Service
November 13, 2008
BOSTON -- At first glance, the bespectacled Jarkko Ruutu looks like a mild-mannered school teacher.
And Montreal Canadiens Saku Koivu, who has played alongside Ruutu on the Finnish national team, said yesterday that Ruutu is a "really, really nice guy off the ice.'
Be that as it may, Ruutu is the latest National Hockey League player to be caught up in the headhunting epidemic that is spreading through the league.
Colin Campbell, the NHL's vice-president in charge of slapping wrists, handed Ruutu a two-game suspension yesterday for delivering an elbow to the head of Canadiens' forward Maxim Lapierre during Montreal's 4-0 win over the Senators on Tuesday night.
The reaction to the Ruutu incident and Tom Kostopoulos's hit on Toronto's Mike Van Ryn on Saturday night illustrates a basic problem in the league's attempt to eliminate dangerous hits to the head.
The victimized team feels no punishment can be too severe, while the transgressors feel they are as innocent as O.J. Simpson.
After Kostopoulos was suspended three games for leaving Van Ryn on the ice with a concussion, broken teeth, a broken nose and a broken hand, he insisted that he was merely trying to finish his check.
And, in what has become a sad trend in these incidents, there was a strong suggestion that Van Ryn contributed to his injuries by turning toward the boards.
While Koivu described Ruutu, a former Vancouver Canuck, as a good guy, he also noted Ruutu's role is that of an agitator whose "emotions might get involved too much and things like what happened last night, happen. But that's the way he's always played and it's an effective style."
Ruutu insists there was nothing malicious behind his elbow to Lapierre head. In fact, after watching the hit, frame by frame, yesterday morning, he also believed his elbow didn't hit Lapierre.
"In some cases, it looks worse than it is," Ruutu said, following the Senators' practice.
"It wasn't a head hunt or anything else. Actually, I don't think I hit him with an elbow, either. I looked at the tape afterward and it was a little high, but it wasn't on purpose."
Ruutu and Ottawa general manager Bryan Murray both made a point of noting Ruutu has never been suspended before in his career.
"Obviously, it is what it is, and I have to live with it," Ruutu said. "Like I said, I had no intention to do it, but accidents will happen and I'll have to deal with the consequences."
"We're disappointed that it's two games, but obviously the NHL has set a very high standard for a hit like this, that I felt deflected off the shoulder to the head," Murray said.
"Especially for a player with no history of suspensions, no history of even being called in front of the league. But we do have to abide by what is called. And, obviously, going forward we know now that this is the standard for anybody that gets hit in the head area."
It's true that Ruutu has never been suspended, but he hasn't received any good-conduct medals, either. In each of his past four NHL seasons, he has accumulated more than 100 penalty minutes.
And when he went back to Finland during the lockout, he accumulated 215 penalty minutes in a 50-game season with Helsinki.
Ruutu, who waved to the crowd after he was tossed from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct in the third period, will miss back-to-back games against the Islanders. He will be back in the lineup next Thursday when the Canadiens are in Ottawa.
Elbow smash earns Ruutu two-game ban
By Sean Gordon - globeandmail.com
November 13, 2008
League continues crackdown on blows to head; Sens forward says hit on Habs' Lapierre accidental
MONTREAL -- Pesky Ottawa Senators forward Jarkko Ruutu provoked the Bell Centre's full vocal fury when he left the ice waving and smiling to booing fans after earning a misconduct penalty in the third period of a loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.
But Habs fans will rejoice in the knowledge Ruutu must sit out the next two games as punishment for elbowing Montreal's Maxim Lapierre in the head.
The NHL levied the suspension against Ruutu after a teleconference with league disciplinarian Colin Campbell. It will cost the Ottawa winger $13,000 (U.S.) in salary.
The sanction is the latest in a string of suspensions as part of the league's continuing effort to crack down on head shots.
Senators general manager Bryan Murray was dismayed by the verdict, which will deprive his team of much-needed grit in a home-and-home series against the New York Islanders later this week.
"[We're] disappointed that it is two games, but obviously the NHL have set a very high standard for a hit like this, that I felt deflected off the shoulder to the head," Murray said. "Especially for a player with no history of suspensions, no history of even being called in front of the league. But we do have to abide by what is called. And obviously going forward we know now that this is the standard for anybody that gets hit in the head area."
As for Ruutu, who is as personable off the ice as he is detestable to opponents on it, the suspension "is what it is."
His intent was to hit Lapierre cleanly, he said, not to elbow him, and certainly not to injure him.
"I have to live with it. Like I said, I had no intention to do it, but accidents will happen and I'll have to deal with the consequences," he said.
Lapierre shrugged off the hit after the game, saying he wasn't injured or feeling woozy, and that "what matters is we won."
But others in the Canadiens room were feeling less charitable toward the Senators' Finnish pest - who was jawing with Lapierre at the Canadiens bench when he was slapped with the misconduct penalty.
"I thought it was a deliberate blow to the head. We all know what kind of player he is, so I think I'll just leave it at that," Montreal head coach Guy Carbonneau said before Campbell's decision was announced.
Carbonneau has been a vocal critic of blows to the head and reckless play this season, and has called on the league to do more to protect its players.
The incident happened in the early part of the third period. As Lapierre gathered a puck near the boards in the neutral zone, Ruutu flew in for a check and caught the gritty Canadiens centre on the side of the face with an elbow. Ruutu was assessed a two-minute penalty for charging.
The hit sparked a brief melee during which Ruutu dropped the gloves with defenceman Francis Bouillon.
Campbell's been busy dealing with Northeast Division miscreants this week: on Monday he also suspended Montreal's Tom Kostopoulos for a hit from behind on Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Mike Van Ryn, who suffered a concussion, broken teeth and a smashed nose.
A real shift disturber
CANOE -- SLAM! Sports
November 13, 2008
Jarkko Ruutu got a two-game suspension after catching Hab Maxim Lapierre with an elbow. Is it a fair punishment?
BRUCE GARRIOCH: This team has bigger worries than Jarkko Ruutu being suspended. I really don't think he should be. This is just one pest elbowing another pest. These are both players who get under an opponent's skin.
DON BRENNAN: What's the suspension for? He elbowed a guy right in front of the ref and he already got what he deserved. Two minutes. The ref should be penalized too. For not giving him at least a major.
TIM BAINES: For years we've been moaning about not having that agitator, that we were too passive ... a team full of Jacques Martin's androids. Ruutu's going to do his thing and he's going to get in trouble with opponents and occasionally the NHL. It's all part of the game. And it certainly adds entertainment value.
BRENNAN: Lapierre also should have been penalized for diving. He really sold it.
CHRIS STEVENSON: Looking at that play, it sure looks like Ruutu is going for Lapierre's head. They keep saying they want to get headshots out of the game, so it shouldn't be a surprise given the play and who's involved that there would be a suspension. It's interesting to me that he wasn't penalized for elbowing, but for charging. The refs didn't see it as a headshot.
GARRIOCH: I think what's happening right now is we all agree. Ruutu didn't elbow anybody of any consequence to the head. Lapierre lives by the sword and it shouldn't be any surprise that this took place.
BRENNAN: Bruce, you're stuck on the identity of the victim. That shouldn't have anything to do with it. If he elbowed anybody to the head, he deserves punishment. And if he gets suspended, the ref deserves punishment. There's two of them, right? And neither saw it as an elbow to the head. It was charging.
GARRIOCH: No. I now think you should have one set of rules for the star players and another set for the rest. If the rules were the same for everybody, then we'd see stars suspended more often.
STEVENSON: We know there are different rules for different players, Bruce. Ruutu's got a reputation.
GARRIOCH: That's why he shouldn't be suspended. He went after another guy with a reputation. End of story.
BAINES: If Alfie does the same thing, there's not another word said?
GARRIOCH: I bet you he doesn't get suspended if he does the same thing.
BRENNAN: Only one way to find out Bruce. Get Alfie to take a run at Doug Weight tonight. The Sutter clan wouldn't call for a suspension.
STEVENSON: If Alfredsson took the same run at Lapierre, I don't think there's a hearing.
GARRIOCH: I don't think you can condone guys running around with their elbows held high. I just think this is a guy who brings it on himself. Lapierre told Ruutu with seven minutes to go in the game he was going to "rip his face off."
BRENNAN: At least Ruutu did something. That's more than you can say about 18 of his teammates. Imagine, one Senator actually was pissed about the way things were going and he showed it. You know, the Montreal radio guys are saying the Senators should be embarrassed at the way Ruutu waved to the crowd as he was ushered out of a game in which his team was getting schooled. I thought it was a classic move. And I think the Senators should be embarrassed at the way they played in a game against a rival and division leader.
GARRIOCH: That's a little rich in Montreal. Weren't they the same fans that threw a banana at Kevin Weekes?
STEVENSON: For years the Senators were too nice a team. Now they've finally got some edge and apparently it's a little much for some faint-hearted fans. Ruutu waved mockingly at the fans. It's not like he shot them the finger.
BAINES: Yeah, Habs fans have class. Nothing worse than hearing those nasally voices pumping out Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey, Hey ... Goodbye. If they didn't have that Stanley Cup tradition behind them, they'd be as bad as Leaf fans (geez, I almost forgot ... I am a Leaf fan).
STEVENSON: Ruutu became the lightning rod in that game which tells you how much the Senators had going on. I was reading some of the posts on Off The Posts and a couple of blogs and people opining that Ruutu was an embarrassment and his waving to the crowd at the end somehow brought dishonour to the team. I don't think so. His team was getting schooled and he was still out there running around, stirring things up. I thought waving to the crowd was funny, not some huge embarrassment. He looked like one of the few Senators who didn't go through the motions in Montreal.
GARRIOCH: He got two games. That's the way it goes. I don't agree with it, but I don't agree with elbows to the head either.
BRENNAN: It wasn't an elbow to the freakin' head okay? If anything, it was a charge to the head. Check the game sheet. What did Dan Marouelli and Greg Kimmerly get? By the way, Carey Price didn't stop "Dominant" Dany Heatley on that breakaway, despite what everybody seems to think. The Dominant One hit the post.
BAINES: Don, you're not still driving and responding to these questions, are you? If so, you're agitating the Quebec drivers. You should be suspended.
BRENNAN: And I don't have snow tires. You're gonna have to come bail me out if I get penalized, Bainsie.
Senators’ Ruutu suspended two games
Canwest News Service
November 12, 2008
The NHL has suspended Ottawa Senators agitator Jarkko Ruutu for two games for elbowing the Montreal Canadiens' Maxim Lapierre during a game Tuesday night.
Ruutu was assessed a two-minute minor penalty for charging Lapierre at the 2:05 of the third period of Montreal's 4-0 win at the Bell Centre.
Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Ruutu will forfeit $13,978.50. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.
Ruutu will miss the Senators' home-and-home series against the New York Islanders on Thursday and Saturday. He will be eligible to return Nov. 17 for the Senators' game at New York against the Rangers.
Jarkko Ruutu of the Ottawa Senator acknowledges the crowds cheers as he is led off the ice during the 3rd period hockey against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell centre in Montreal on Tuesday, November 11, 2008. - Photograph by Montreal Gazette
NHL suspends Senators' Ruutu for elbow on Lapierre
Ottawa Senators forward Jarkko Ruutu has been suspended two games without pay by the NHL.
The NHL had a disciplinary hearing for Ruutu on Wednesday morning. The incident in question occurred during the third period of Tuesday's game against the Montreal Canadiens. Ruutu delivered an elbow to the head of Maxim Lapierre.
"(We're) disappointed that it is two games, but obviously the NHL have set a very high standard for a hit like this, that I felt deflected off the shoulder to the head. Especially for a player with no history of suspensions, no history of even being called in front of the league. But we do have to abide by what is called. And obviously going forward we know now that this is the standard for anybody that gets hit in the head area," said general manager Bryan Murray in a release on Wednesday afternoon.
"Well obviously, it is what it is, and I have to live with it," said Ruutu in a release. "Like I said, I had no intention to do it, but accidents will happen and I'll have to deal with the consequences."
Canadiens' head coach Guy Carbonneau had a different opinion on the matter.
"I think it was a deliberate head shot," Carbonneau told the Canadian Press Wednesday after team practice. "We all know what kind of player (Ruutu) is, so I'll leave it at that."
"I don't know if the number of games should be influenced (by a player's reputation)," Carbonneau added. "But I definitely think if it's the kind of player where these things happen a lot, it should definitely enter into the equation."
Lapierre did not appear to suffer any injury on the play and Ruutu was assessed a two-minute minor for charging, but the infraction did violate at least two tenets of the NHL's policy on hits to the head. One, Ruutu appeared to target Lapierre's head and only made contact with the head. Two, the hit was delivered with an elbow.
TSN.ca Staff
November 12, 2008
Jarkko Ruutu (Photo: Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)
NHL suspends Senators forward Jarkko Ruutu two games for elbow
The Canadian Press
November 12, 2008
TORONTO - Jarkko Ruutu is the latest NHLer to be disciplined for a dangerous hit.
The Ottawa Senators forward received a two-game suspension Wednesday after catching Montreal's Maxim Lapierre with an elbow early in the third period of a game on Tuesday night.
"I think it was a deliberate head shot," Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said Wednesday after his team's practice. "We all know what kind of player he is, so I'll leave it at that."
Earlier this week, the NHL suspended Habs forward Tom Kostopoulos three games for hitting Maple Leafs defenseman Mike Van Ryn from behind.
Ruutu was given a two-minute penalty for charging on the play.
"I don't know if the number of games should be influenced (by a player's reputation)," Carbonneau said. "But I definitely think if it's the kind of player where these things happen a lot, it should definitely enter into the equation."
Ruutu will forfeit almost US $14,000 in salary and will sit out a home-and-home series against the New York Islanders.
Lapierre wasn't available for comment. He practiced and was expected to play Thursday night in Boston.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 - Canadiens 4, Senators 0
The Gazette (Montreal)
November 12, 2008
Bouillon shows his heart: Jarkko Ruutu has at least six inches and 10 pounds on Francis Bouillon, but the Canadiens' defenceman wrestled the pesky Finn to the ice during a third-period fight. Bouillon took on Ruutu after the Ottawa player decked Maxim Lapierre with an elbow.
Ottawa Citizen - November 12, 2008
No Senator really distinguished himself, though Jarkko Ruutu tried. He had two minors, a fighting major and a misconduct that got him kicked out in the third period. All the agitating did was make him disliked in Montreal. He capped the night with a sarcastic wave to a full house that was vigorously booing him.
"They were cheering for me, so why not thank them?" he said. "It's not that serious, you know. I'm sure they don't like me too much here, but I appreciate ... the support they gave me.
"It's not the first time, but that's the way I play."
The Canadian Press
November 12, 2008
Ottawa's Jarkko Ruutu had the sellout crowd of 21,273 seething early in the third when he nailed Maxime Lapierre with an elbow to the jaw along the boards, drawing a charging call, and then fought to a draw with Francis Bouillon.
Ruutu was later sent to the dressing room with a 10-minute misconduct for yapping at Lapierre on the bench, and waved to the braying crowd as he left the ice.
"They cheered for me, so why not thank them," said Ruttu. "I want to be black or white - love me or hate me. I don't want to be a gray area."'
Jarkko Ruutu:
"I'd like it more physical," the Senators winger said before Ottawa took the ice at RBC Center. "There hasn't been much going on. Maybe it's because it's early in the year, and there's been real tight games. There haven't been too many incidents where guys are getting tired and frustrated, and the emotions are boiling over. I'm looking forward to those type of games. That's what I like the most. Get in physically and emotionally to the game, and things will start rolling."
Been there, heard that
The Ottawa Citizen
November 8, 2008
RALEIGH, North Carolina- Jarkko Ruutu has a well-earned reputation around the National Hockey League for getting under his opponents' skin, but there's one guy he doesn't bother chirping at anymore.
That would be brother Tuomo, the Carolina Hurricanes forward he faced last night for the first time since joining the Ottawa Senators.
"I don't think he'll fall for my tricks," Jarkko, 33, joked prior to the contest.
He isn't in a rush to drop the gloves with his younger sibling, either.
"He punches hard," the Senators' resident pest explained. "I remember I was 15 and we were just boxing a little bit, and then he hammered me a couple times in the arm and it was like, 'Oh, no more.'"
So there's no possibility they might drop the gloves one day in the heat of battle?
"I don't know if I could do it, you know?" he said. "Like I say, I'm really protective of my younger brothers, and I guess all older brothers are like that. But it doesn't matter in a game. He'll try and hit me as hard as he can and I'll try and do the same thing. That's the way it goes. You try to win the game and get the two points."
By Jarkko's count, the last time the brothers faced off in the NHL was about two years ago. He said he keeps an eye on how Tuomo is playing, and he's glad the 25-year-old is finding success this season after struggling with injuries earlier in his career. Tuomo entered last night's game with a three-game scoring streak and nine points in 10 games thus far this campaign.
Jarkko may be happy for the individual success his brother is enjoying, but his passion for beating his sibling in competition hasn't waned over the years.
Competition wasn't confined to the hockey rink in Finland, where Jarkko and Tuomo grew up with third brother Mikko (now a scout for the Senators).
What fun is playing catch unless you can dock points from your brothers if they drop the baseball?
"Everything we do is pretty much competitive," Jarkko said with a laugh. "We play as long as I want. The other games didn't count -- it didn't count if I lost.
"Even nowadays, whatever we do, it's always competitive. The three of us, it usually ends (when) somebody's so mad that we can't finish the game."
When Scott Niedermayer had the opportunity to leave the New Jersey Devils as an unrestricted free agent following the 2003-04 season, he chose to go to Anaheim to play with his brother, Rob.
While the brothers Ruutu have had the opportunity for that kind of reunion in the past, they chose not to force it in the wrong situation.
"Yeah, we've talked about it, I've thought it through, but in the end it's two separate careers," he said. "I've played with him on the national team a few times. I think you have to do what's best for you as individuals."
Ottawa Senators - Features: Brotherly love takes back seat
Rob Brodie - OttawaSenators.com
November 7, 2008
Blood, it's often been said, is thicker than water.
But brotherly love will take a bit of a back seat for Jarkko Ruutu tonight when the Ottawa Senators face off against the Carolina Hurricanes at RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C. (7 p.m., Rogers Sportsnet East, Team 1200).
The Hurricanes' roster includes Tuomo Ruutu, Jarkko's younger (by eight years) brother. Tonight's contest provides another matchup between the Finnish siblings, who share a similar, rugged style of play on the ice.
"It's always exciting. It's a little different," Ruutu said on an off-day for the Senators after their 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night at Scotiabank Place. "I'm getting more used to it than the first few years (we faced each other). You always look at what he's doing and hope he's doing well but at the same time, you want to win."
Ruutu said it's always been "real competitive" between the two, though he admits some of his usual agitating tactics might not work nearly as well against such a familiar foe.
"I don't think (Tuomo) will fall for my tricks," said Ruutu. "He knows me way too well. We don't really play against each other that much. It's a different matchup. We'll see how it goes tonight."
They've represented Finland together at world championships and the Olympics. Ruutu admitted "the best choice for both (of us is to play) is the same team, but it hasn't worked out that way so far." Therefore, they'll be friendly rivals one more time tonight.
"(Being brothers) doesn't matter in a game," he said. "He'll try to hit me as hard as he can and I'll try to do the same and that's the way it goes. You try to win the game and get the two points. That's pretty much what's on the line."
Regarding Buffalo Sabres' Adam Mair
The Ottawa Citizen
October 29, 2008
In the dressing room, Ruutu heard pounding on the door and went out to see what was happening.
"I think it was Mair who came to the room and he was calling for Neil, so I went to see who was there," said Ruutu.
"I asked what he wanted, and I told him to beat it. Then he grabbed me and (Phil Legault, the Senators' vice-president of communications) jumped in, and that was the end of the story. Nothing really happened.
"I don't know what he was doing there. I don't think there was a reason for it, but I was surprised to see him there. I had never seen that before."
Jim Kelley - Sportsnet.ca
October 28, 2008
That wasn’t the only interesting event in the HSBC Arena Monday. Caught on tape was a hallway altercation between Sabres forward Adam Mair and Ottawa forward Jarkko Ruutu, which may draw the attention of the commissioner’s prefect of discipline, Colin Campbell.
Mair, ejected after an on-ice melee involving several members of both teams, took a walk, in full gear, down the hallway to the entrance of the Senators locker room. He was reportedly looking for Chris Neil but instead got into a verbal altercation with Ruutu, who chose to answer Mair’s call at the locker room door in Neil’s place. At one point Mair grabbed the Finn by his undershirt but a quick-thinking member of the Senators PR staff stepped between the two and separated them.
There didn’t appear to be enough of an altercation to warrant any major discipline, but then the league doesn’t seem to like this sort of thing when it shows up on tape, especially when the commissioner is in the house, so stay tuned.
Oh and did we mention there was a hockey game in which the Sens knocked the Sabres from the ranks of the unbeaten -- engaging in a physical battle in which Mair, Neil, Ruutu and Sabre Patrick Kaleta all were ejected -- and beat the Sabes 5-2, ending a four-game losing streak of their own.
My colleague in this space, Mike Brophy, reports there’s an uptick in fighting in the NHL these days. Must be true if the Sens are getting physical.
"Scoring goals is fun," ... "You want to chip in whenever you can" - Jarkko Ruutu
Spezza, Ruutu score 2 goals each in Senators' win
Jarkko Ruutu - 2nd Star Player of the game
Associated Press
October 17, 2008
OTTAWA - Jason Spezza had two goals and two assists, Jarkko also scored twice and the Ottawa Senators beat the Phoenix Coyotes 6-3 on Friday night at Scotiabank Place.
Dany Heatley and Anton Volchenkov also scored for the Senators (2-1-1). Daniel Alfredsson returned to Ottawa's lineup one week after having knee surgery and assisted on two of the three first-period goals.
Alfredsson set up goals by linemates Spezza and Heatley 3:08 apart late in the first to put Ottawa up 3-0. The Senators captain missed one game - Saturday's 3-2 loss to Detroit - after having arthroscopic surgery one week earlier to remove a bone chip from his right knee.
Shane Doan, Enver Lisin and Mikkel Boedker scored in the third for Phoenix (2-2-0).
Martin Gerber stopped 34 shots, taking a shutout bid into the third period when Doan scored his third goal in four games at 2:02 to draw Phoenix to 4-1.
Ilya Bryzgalov made 20 saves for the Coyotes.
Ruutu, who signed with Ottawa as a free agent on July 2, drove the left side and put a shot over Bryzgalov into the top left corner of the net 8:31 in for his first goal with the Senators.
Alfredsson set up Spezza at 15:10 for his 850th career point before adding his 851st at 18:18 on Heatley's fourth goal of the season.
Spezza got his third straight point when he combined with Nick Foligno to set up Volchenkov's first goal 7:05 into the second, which put Ottawa up 4-0 .
Ruutu's second score put the Senators up 5-1 at 4:09 of the third period.
Lisin, who made his season debut, cut Ottawa's lead to three again when he put a one-timer past Gerber from short range at 9:00. Boedker, Phoenix's 18-year-old first-round pick in June, drew the Coyotes within 5-3 with his second goal at 14:39.
Spezza scored his third goal of the season, his second of the game, on a power play with 1:43 left.
Notes: Coyotes RW Brian McGrattan and D Ryan Lannon did not dress. McGrattan, acquired from Ottawa on June 25, has yet to play for Phoenix ... Senators D Luke Richardson and LW Christoph Schubert were healthy scratches ... A crowd of 20,179 watched the game, Ottawa's 38th straight sellout at Scotiabank Place ... The Senators are home again Saturday night to face the Boston Bruins (7 p.m., CBC, Team 1200)
OTTAWA - OCTOBER 17: Ottawa Senators' Jarkko Ruutu, left, puts the puck past Phoenix Coyotes' Ilya Bryzgalov, right, as Coyotes' Ed Jovanovski tries to defend during first-period NHL hockey action at the Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Ontario, on Friday, Oct. 17, 2008. (Photo by Sean Kilpatrick - AP Photo)
OTTAWA - OCTOBER 17: Jarkko Ruutu #73 of the Ottawa Senators celebrates his go ahead goal against the Phoenix Coyotes with his teammates on the bench during the first period of the game on October 17, 2008 at the Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Canada. (Photo by Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images)
NHL.com:
Super pest Jarkko Ruutu had a nice comeback when reporters asked him what it felt like to be replacing injured captain Daniel Alfredsson on Ottawa's No. 1 line with Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza.
Said Ruutu, "I think they should be excited. They don't get to play with a player like me too often."
Sens' Ruutu has praise for fans in Pittsburgh
By Red Fisher
The Gazette (Montreal)
Published: Saturday, October 11, 2008
I watched part of Ottawa's 3-1 victory over Pittsburgh last Sunday in Stockholm, and if former Penguins winger Jarkko Ruutu wasn't the best player on the ice for the Senators, he was close to it.
He's someone every team needs. He targets the opposition's best player and gets under his skin. He brings his best to the table. He's also a guy who appreciates where he came from, as Post-Gazette writer Shelly Anderson reports.
Unlike some players, Ruutu doesn't burn his bridges. He remains high on the state of hockey in Pittsburgh after signing with Ottawa over the summer.
"You can't compare Canada and the U.S.," he told the Post-Gazette. "In Canada, everything is about hockey. But I'll say this: I think Pittsburgh is the best market in the U.S. I think it's as close as you get to Canada for hockey. People are really excited ... sold out every night. Not in many cities in the U.S. do you have people recognize you on the street, but it happens in Pittsburgh a lot. I think that says a lot how much interest there is in hockey.
"I feel the Penguins are getting pretty close to the Steelers," Ruutu added. "With the young guys they have ... the attention they're getting all over the world, they're getting there pretty soon."
It's refreshing to hear that from a player whose team traded him during the off-season. No regrets. No whining. It says a lot about what he brings to his new team.
With captain Daniel Alfredsson sidelined, Jarkko Ruutu (left) will move up to the Senators' No. 1 line alongside Dany Heatley (right) and Jason Spezza. The Sens play their home-opener against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night at Scotiabank Place.
Ottawa Senators - Features: Surgery sidelines Sens captain
Arthroscopic procedure to remove bone chip from Alfredsson's right knee:
The Ottawa Senators must face the Stanley Cup champs without their leader.
On the eve of their home-opener against the Detroit Red Wings at Scotiabank Place (7 p.m., CBC, Team 1200), the Senators learned captain Daniel Alfredsson would undergo arthroscopic surgery today to remove a bone chip in his right knee. It was dislodged when he took a hit during the Sens' 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday in Stockholm.
Though it's too soon yet to determine an exact prognosis for his recovery time, Alfredsson isn't expected to miss any more than about two weeks of action.
"It's not a long-term thing," said Senators general manager Bryan Murray. "We were told that he could probably go forward with it for a little while but at some point, (the bone chip) should be removed. We thought and he thought that this was the time (to do the surgery). He will miss the season-opener here but we're hoping it won't be much more than that.
"You try to suggest a time frame but to fair to him and the rest of the players, we felt we would take it as we were told and as he feels comfortable. We're assured it's not more than a couple of weeks type of thing."
With the Senators in the middle of a light stretch of schedule, with only five games (all at home) in the next two weeks, Alfredsson and the Senators staff felt now was the time to take care of the problem. Head coach Craig Hartsburg said the team's training staff indicated the bone chip was related to a previous injury, but not the one that required surgery at the end of last season.
"He tried this week to skate and it felt all right, but he still felt it," said Hartsburg. "Between the doctor and himself and us, we decided this was the best time to get it over with, so we can have a healthy Daniel Alfredsson for ther rest of the year."
On the good news side, centre Mike Fisher (groin) declared himself ready to rejoin the lineup against the Red Wings. Murray said that means no callups will be necessary at the moment from the Senators' American Hockey League farm team in Binghamton, N.Y.
"I did some good things (in practice) today," said Fisher. "I feel like I'm ready to get going."
The Senators earned three of a possible four points in Stockholm on the weekend against the Pittsburgh Penguins by playing what forward Dany Heatley called "two good team games." More of that all-for-one spirit will allow the Senators to move forward without their captain, added Hartsburg.
"Every team in the league is going to go through (injuries)," he said. "The thing we've been talking about since the start of training camp is that we need to be a team. Certainly, we're going to miss Alfie -- we're a better team when he's in there -- but it's a great opportunity for us to prove that we're different this year.
"This is a group that wants to take pride in being a team and doing whatever it takes. It's an opportunity for some people to step up and an opportunity to do more."
Count agitating winger Jarkko Ruutu, who's been moved up into the captain's spot on the No. 1 line alongside Heatley and centre Jason Spezza, among the first in line to welcome that chance.
"It's going to be fun. I'm just going to play my game," said Ruutu, one of the Senators top forwards against the Penguins in Sweden. "I don't change my game. I know my limits and I know my strengths and weaknesses. You just have to play to them."
Added Murray: "(Ruutu) is a bright player, he adapts, he can play hard and I think he has great vision on the ice. His positioning and willingness to go to the net is really going to benefit us long term."
Heatley, meanwhile, will wear the captain's "C" in Alfredsson's absence, something the high-scoring forward called "an honour." Hartsburg deems it a necessity.
"It's important that your team has a captain every night," he said. "I think it gives not just Dany, but other people, the thought that, you know what, we've got to get this done. It doesn't matter whether (Alfredsson) is here or not, we all have to do our thing."
Rob Brodie OttawaSenators.com
October 10, 2008
Ruutu 'better than I thought'
By Wayne Scanlan
The Ottawa Citizen
October 8, 2008
First time he was seen walking down the hallway toward the Senators' offices, bespectacled, serious, we figured an accountant was in to check the books.
Upon closer inspection, the man was Jarkko Ruutu, NHL superpest, agitator, renowned trash talker and newly acquired Senators winger.
Around the world, stocks are crashing, but in the commodity of edgy wingers, Ruutu's stock is on the rise. Last season, he was a 10-minutes-per game spark for the Pittsburgh Penguins, with six goals and 10 assists to go with 138 minutes in penalties, second on the club to Georges Laraque.
Don't be surprised if those numbers grow in Ruutu's expanded role with the Senators. Against his old Pittsburgh teammates on the weekend, Ruutu averaged nearly 15 minutes in the two games, was a plus one and caused no end of havoc. If Ruutu wanted to impress his bosses, general manager Bryan Murray and head coach Craig Hartsburg, he delivered.
"He's better than I thought he was when I got him," Murray said yesterday, overlooking the first practice since the team's return from Europe. "He kills penalties, he's smart with the puck, goes to the net aggressively. He may be one of those net presence guys on the power play occasionally. I haven't talked to Craig about that, but I could see that being the case."
Let's not forget the man's special talent. To get under people's skin. In Stockholm, Ruutu and Ottawa defenceman Jason Smith manhandled Sidney Crosby, to the point that Sid whacked Smith with his stick in frustration.
"You wonder why you don't like this guy when he's not on your team?" Murray says of Ruutu, while also praising Smith's natural surliness.
Ruutu insists Crosby can't be riled, but is only human.
"He knows better nowadays," Ruutu says, softly, in accountant mode off the ice. "You're not going to get him off his game like that. But you have to play him hard, not let him have the puck and wear him out. Like anybody else, you play him physically and he's going to wear out."
It's the nuances of Ruutu's game that are winning over his coach. His play with and without the puck.
"He's very quickly becoming a big part of our team," Hartsburg says. "I think everybody around the NHL knows about the feistiness, the grittiness, but I think, for me, behind the bench, how he reads the game and how he thinks the game as far as team play has been very impressive.
"He gives us a lot of energy on the bench. Like I say, he has become a very, very important player for us."
Ruutu, 33, has been learning the English language since he was in Finnish grade school. Most of the words were not four letters, though you wouldn't know it by Ruutu's rant featured on YouTube. The recipient was Montreal's Andrei Markov, the diatribe picked up on a TSN microphone between penalty boxes.
Unlike Esa Tikkanen, Ruutu's predecessor as a Finnish pest, Ruutu can be understood in Finnish and English. He is a thoughtful guy who has been around, including a year of American schooling at Michigan Technological University, in 1995-96, as difficult as that was for a 20-year-old from Vantaa, outside Helsinki.
"It was hard," says Ruutu. "Everything is different. Even the first year of professional hockey was hard. You have to do everything on your own and it takes five or six months to get used to it.
"Off-ice adjustment, I think, is underrated, for the European guys when they first come over. It affects your on-ice play, too, because it takes so much energy. The more you can get help, even the smallest things off ice, like using the Internet, it makes it easier."
The first Finnish regular with Ottawa since Sami Salo in 2002, Ruutu found an instant pal in town -- local artist Martti Nieminem, who grew up in Finland and moved to Ottawa as an adult. Martti, friend to Saku Koivu, Teemu Selanne and most every other Finn in the NHL, made a point of introducing himself to Ruutu at the Senators' training camp.
Martti and his family have welcomed many Finnish players into their home for a traditional sauna. After yesterday's jet lag-busting skate, Ruutu was daydreaming about a trip to Martti's.
"I have to visit him for a sauna," Ruutu says. "I love saunas. I wish I had one right now."
Ruutu might be the first Finn in the Senators' dressing room in a while, but he's not even the first Ruutu in the organization. Younger brother Mikko was drafted by the Senators in 1999 (seventh round), suffered a knee injury and is now one of the Senators' amateur scouts in Europe. Tuomo Ruutu, 25, was a ninth overall pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, was dealt to Carolina last season and is currently nursing a groin injury. More offensively blessed than his big brother, Tuomo had 17 goals and 38 points as a Chicago rookie in 2006-07.
Jarkko Ruutu says his father, Harri, didn't push his sons into hockey, but gave them every opportunity.
"He just said, 'If you do it, you've got to go all out and try your best,'" Ruutu says. "'Whatever you do, do it 100 per cent.'"
That goes for scoring ... and aggravating.
Opinions mixed on NHL expansion into Europe
TSN.ca
"You just can't go back and forth with the six-to-seven (hour) time difference," said Senators forward Jarkko Ruutu.. "You have to get the right teams and right cities."
Heatley scores 2 more as Senators shine in Sweden
By Stephan Nasstrom - AP Sports Writer
Associated Press
October 5, 2008
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- Dany Heatley scored two more goals and Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson had two assists for the Senators, who beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 to split their NHL opening weekend series on Sunday.
Heatley, who also had a goal in Ottawa's 4-3 overtime loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday, helped the Senators take three of four points during the season-opening European series.
"As a group it was a big weekend for us," Heatley said. "We were hungry for these two games. Even if we only got one point last night we felt we worked hard. We played well and could easily have won that game. We tried really to come on and battle as a group, and we did a good job at that."
Alex Goligoski spoiled Ottawa goalie Alex Auld's shutout bid with a power-play goal just 2 seconds before the final buzzer in front of another sold-out crowd of 13,699 at Globe Arena.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby set up Goligoski's goal.
Heatley gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 13:07 in the second period. Alfredsson started the play with a pass from the left circle to Jason Spezza just beside the goal. Heatley, left unchecked on the other side, took a pass from Spezza and put the puck between goalie Marc-Andre Fleury's legs.
Heatley scored again at 12:17 of the third, with Pittsburgh short-handed again, one-timing a slap shot past Fleury from close range. Alfredsson set up the goal with a nice pass.
Antoine Vermette made it 3-0 with 4:10 left of the game, skating in alone and beating Fleury with a low shot.
In the first period, both teams played well defensively. Pittsburgh's power play continued to fizzle, failing twice. In Saturday's opener, the Penguins squandered five straight man-advantage chances in the first period.
This marked the second straight year the NHL began the season in Europe, building off games in 2007 between Los Angeles and Anaheim in London.
The NHL returned to Europe with regular-season openers in both the Swedish and Czech capitals. In Prague, the New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning by identical 2-1 scores to sweep that two-game series.
This was the first time in league history two teams began the regular season in Sweden, one of Europe's top ice hockey nations.
This marked the second time Pittsburgh played the first two games of the regular season on international ice. The Penguins traveled to Tokyo to begin the 2000-01 season, splitting a two-game series with the Nashville Predators.
It was the fifth time the NHL began its season outside of North America, with the other three openers held in Japan in 1997, 1998 and 2000.
On Saturday, Pittsburgh will host the New Jersey Devils in its first game back in the United States, and Ottawa will welcome the Detroit Red Wings.
Pens take first loss
By Rob Rossi
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
October 5, 2008
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Perhaps coach Michel Therrien should make good on his one-liner and actually decline power-play chances.
The Penguins will return to North America with a 1-1-0 record after a 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators at Globe Arena today to cap the NHL Premiere series.
The Penguins were 1-for-7 on the power play. Rookie defenseman Alex Goligoski scored his first NHL goal, but it came on the Penguins' seventh power-play chance of the game.
Still, they finished the two-game series here 1-for-14 on the power play.
Ottawa left wing Dany Heatley scored twice yesterday -- each goal on the power-play, no less.
His first tally came at 13:07 of the second period. It was the result of another poor foul committed by free-agent acquisition right wing Eric Godard, who was assessed a double-minor for roughing 45 seconds earlier.
It was the second consecutive game in which Godard was assessed a foul and the Senators scored on the ensuing advantage opportunity.
Heatley added his third goal of the season at 12:17 of the third period, converting on an advantage made possible by defenseman Mark Eaton's holding penalty.
Prior to the game, Therrien joked he would "feel more safe" declining penalties "like they do in football." The Penguins were 0-for-7 on the power play in a season-opening 4-3 overtime victory Saturday.
They tried everything yesterday. Therrien constantly shuffled his advantage attack -- at one point moving Evgeni Malkin off the right point and into the forward spot previously occupied by right wing Miroslav Satan. Goligoski played the left point with defenseman Kris Letang replacing Malkin on the right point.
Satan, a free-agent acquisition signed to replace departed left wing Marian Hossa, was removed from the top scoring line, as center Sidney Crosby finished the game with left wing Ruslan Fedotenko and Malkin on the right wing.
Forward Antoine Vermette scored at 5:50 of the third period to ice the Senators' victory.
Penguins edge Senators 4-3 in OT in Stockholm
By Stephan Nasstrom - AP Sports Writer
Associated Press
October 5, 2008
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- Tyler Kennedy scored his second goal with 25 seconds left in overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins past the Ottawa Senators, 4-3 in the first NHL regular-season opener in Sweden on Saturday night.
Kennedy, who also scored 40 seconds into the first period in front of 13,699 at Stockholm's soldout Globe Arena, beat Ottawa goalie Martin Gerber with a wrister from the left circle.
The goal came after Ottawa center Jason Spezza turned over the puck to Kennedy at the blue line. Kennedy skated in all alone and scored.
Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson was held pointless as he returned to his native Sweden for the first time with the Senators.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves for the Penguins. Gerber stopped 26 shots for the Senators.
The teams will meet again on Sunday.
Defenseman Rob Scuderi forced overtime when he beat Gerber with a wrister from the left circle at 3:56 in the third period.
Sidney Crosby, who finished the 2006-07 season as the first teenager in NHL history to win the scoring title, had the assist.
Evgeni Malkin made it 2-1 for Pittsburgh with a short-handed goal 3:18 into the second period. The Russian center stole the puck from Christoph Schubert in mid-ice, skated in all alone and swept a backhand past Gerber.
Dany Heatley, unchecked between the circles, tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal at 12:15. Jason Spezza gave Ottawa the lead for the first time with a short-handed goal at 17:55, beating Fleury with a wrister after a quick 3-on-2 breakaway.
Pittsburgh got off to a strong start when Gerber gave up a goal in the opening minute. Kennedy skated in from behind the net and wristed the puck from a tough angle past Gerber.
Later in the period, Kennedy nearly made it 2-0 when he tipped a pass just wide in front of Gerber.
Shean Donovan tied it at 9:13 when he tipped in a shot by Dean McAmmond past Fleury. Defenseman Filip Kuba, who started the move by quickly skating into the offensive zone, also got an assist.
Pittsburgh's power play was sloppy in the opening period, failing to capitalize on five straight chances with the man advantage.
The NHL is returning to Europe this weekend with regular-season openers in both the Swedish and Czech capitals. In Prague, the New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1.
NHL players in Sweden is nothing new. Canada played an exhibition in an adjacent arena to the Globe before heading to Moscow for the last four games in the historic Summit Series in 1972 that had NHL players against the Soviet Union for the first time.
And many NHL teams, among them Original Six clubs like the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs, and clubs from the old World Hockey Association have played tournaments in Sweden throughout the years.
But this was the first time in league history two teams began the regular season in Sweden, one of Europe's top hockey nations.
The teams last met in last season's playoffs when the Pittsburgh swept Ottawa in four games in the first round.
This was the second time Pittsburgh played the first two games of the regular season on international ice. The Penguins traveled to Tokyo in 2000-01 splitting the two-game series with the Nashville Predators.
Ottawa was listed as the home team, but the Senators drew several boos when they entered the arena despite having Alfredsson on the team.
Mats Sundin, who helped Sweden win the 2006 Olympic gold medal and a Stockholm native, drew the biggest cheers when he dropped the puck during a ceremonial faceoff before the game.
Sundin, an eight-time All-Star with the Toronto Maple Leafs, has not yet signed a contract with an NHL club this season.
Pens beat Sens, 4-3, in opener
By Rob Rossi
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
October 4, 2008
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Who needs a productive power play when defenseman Rob Scuderi is around?
Not the Penguins, that's for sure.
Scuderi snapped a 120-game goal drought, including playoffs, at 3:56 of the third period -- beating Ottawa goaltender Martin Gerber after a sharp cross-ice pass from center Sidney Crosby -- to help the Penguins defeat the Senators, 4-3, in overtime at Globe Arena in the NHL Premiere.
Tyler Kennedy scored his second goal of the night late in overtime.
Scuderi last scored a goal Feb. 16, 2007, at New Jersey. He had played 95 regular-season games without a tally.
The Penguins appeared as though they would open this season the same way they finished the last one, with a disappointing defeat.
As was the case against the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup final, the Penguins' power-play was of no help today. The new-look power play -- missing defenseman Sergei Gonchar (left shoulder injury) and with wingers Miroslav Satan and Jordan Staal replacing departed forwards Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone -- went 0-for-7.
Kennedy, playing on a line with Staal and center Evgeni Malkin, scored for the first time since March 16 -- a span of 29 games, including playoffs -- 40 seconds into the game yesterday.
But the Penguins failed to capitalize on five power-play chances in the opening period, including 38 seconds with a two-man advantage.
Ottawa pulled even, 1-1, on forward Shean Donovan's goal midway through the first period.
Malkin pushed a backhand shot past Senators goaltender Martin Gerber at 3:18 of the second period -- capitalizing on a short-handed breakaway to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.
A poor hooking foul by right wing Eric Godard at 11:38 gave the Senators a power-play, and left wing Dany Heatley beat goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury 37 seconds later to tie the score, 2-2.
Senators center Jason Spezza assisted on Heatley's goal and put his club ahead, 3-2, at 17:55 with a short-handed tally.
The teams will play here again Sunday night.
Unlikely heroes in Penguins' season-opening OT victory were... Scuderi and Kennedy
By Shelly Anderson
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
October 5, 2008
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- One had a goal drought that left a fire in his belly all summer. The other has a goal deficiency, one he carries around without much thought.
The Penguins' Tyler Kennedy and Rob Scuderi picked the same night to bust out of those droughts, and it spoiled the party this city threw around the appearance of one of Sweden's own.
Ottawa winger Daniel Alfredsson, the only native Swede on either roster, didn't have a point and watched from just behind as linemate Jason Spezza turned the puck over in overtime to set up Kennedy's winner as the Penguins opened their regular season with a 4-3, comeback victory at Globe Arena.
"I worked hard this summer. When I work hard in the summer, I build confidence," Kennedy said. "A lot of my goal this year is just to try to get as many pucks on net as I can."
He moved from center to right wing on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal because Petr Sykora was out with a groin injury and parlayed that comfort level into two goals on two shots. He went the final nine regular-season games and all 20 playoff games as a rookie last season without one.
He opened the scoring 40 seconds into the game on a wrist shot from the left circle and closed the scoring with another wrist shot past Senators goaltender Martin Gerber at 4:35 of overtime.
In between, the Penguins blew several chances to open the game in their favor. Most notably, they were 0 for 7 on the power play and gave up a shorthanded, go-ahead goal by Spezza, with all of those chances coming in the first two periods.
That's why they trailed, 3-2, going into the third period, with Ottawa sitting on 1:25 of a five-on-three power play.
The Penguins not only killed that and the ensuing 30 seconds of a five-on-four Ottawa power play, but also got shorthanded chances from Max Talbot and Sidney Crosby.
"We could have killed the game there, but we couldn't make any sharp passes," Alfredsson said, referring at least in part to ice that both teams called choppy.
Two minutes after the teams were back to full strength, at 3:56, the Penguins got a surprise when Scuderi, a prototypical defensive defenseman, scored his first goal since Feb. 16, 2007, a span of 95 games, or 120 if you count the playoffs.
"That was a long shot, eh?" coach Michel Therrien said, with a hearty laugh. "We were not expecting that one."
Against what would normally be his better judgment, Scuderi pinched in as Crosby, along the right boards, drew a crowd. Crosby threaded a pass through several Senators skates, leaving Scuderi to punch it home on the far side from the left circle.
"Sid's pass? Yeah, it was pretty good," Scuderi cracked. "No, obviously, the play was all Sid."
Joining the rush is foreign to Scuderi.
"Sometimes, it's a little scary," he said. "An alarm goes off in my head sometimes when I'm below the top of the circles, but I knew we had [an advantage in] numbers, and Sid always makes a lot of plays.
"At that point, I knew I was going to shoot it. He moved everybody over to his side and slid it over. It was a great play by him. I'm fortunate to get one."
And the Penguins were fortunate to pull out the game, considering the lack of production on 12:32 of power-play time.
Therrien switched personnel some -- particularly, Staal and Ruslan Fedotenko alternated between the first and second units in the role of the forward in front of the net -- as the Penguins try to overcome the loss to injury of its quarterback at the point, Sergei Gonchar, and work new players into the mix.
The power play got some movement and space, but couldn't generate a lot of quality chances.
"We need more shots," Crosby said. "But Ottawa is a good first-game test, too. They have a great penalty-kill. They give a lot of teams trouble. But there's no doubt we need to do better."
It wasn't a lost night on special teams for the Penguins. Malkin took advantage of a turnover at Ottawa's left point for a shorthanded breakaway and slid the puck under Gerber for a 2-1 lead at 3:18 of the second period.
Dany Heatley got that back for Ottawa when -- with Eric Godard in the penalty box for hooking Chris Neil -- he shoveled the puck around Malkin and past the glove of Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury at 12:15 of the second period.
Spezza gave Ottawa its final lead, 3-2, at 17:55 of the second period when he drove the right side and, after defenseman Kris Letang committed and went to the ice, lifted the puck over Fleury's glove.
Ottawa Senators' forward Jarkko Ruutu, of Helsinki, Finland, skates up the ice during the teams first practice, in Ottawa, Canada Wednesday Sept 17, 2008. Ruutu, who played last season with Pittsburgh, was signed as a free agent during the off season. - AP Photo - Tom Hanson
Ruutu gets first crack at former teammates
By Shelly Anderson
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
October 4, 2008
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- For a second, Jarkko Ruutu forgot.
When he visited the Penguins' side of Globe Arena while his former team was practicing yesterday, he obliged some Swedish boys who were hanging over the railing begging for an autograph. He signed one and then checked himself. He had written a No. 37 next to his name.
Ruutu doesn't wear that number anymore. It was taken by Dean McAmmond when Ruutu signed with Ottawa as a free agent over the summer. He reversed it and now wears No. 73.
"Might get seven goals this year," Ruutu said later, after he practiced with the correct team, the Senators.
Seven would be a career high for Ruutu, 33, one of the league's better-known agitators who spent the past two seasons with the Penguins.
Now it's his turn to get under their skin, if the winger can, when the Penguins and Senators meet today in the first of back-to-back games. It's the regular-season opener for both clubs.
Perhaps Ruutu will start with the best player on his old team, center Sidney Crosby.
"I hope he gets emotionally involved," Ruutu said, forming a grin across a face that looks nothing like it did the last time he wore a Penguins uniform.
Gone are the black eyes, stitches and abrasions he wore like badges during the Penguins' run to the Stanley Cup final last spring, although there is a noticeable scar high on his left cheek as a reminder of his days playing at Mellon Arena.
If not Crosby, then maybe center Evgeni Malkin.
"I was trying to learn some Russian over the summer," Ruutu said. "I got a couple good lines. I'm still trying to manage it."
The Penguins won't be caught unaware by the guy they used to love watching as he made opponents hate him with taunts and hits.
"We know that he's going to be gritty," Crosby said. "That's Ruuts. We had him. He did a great job at it. I'm sure he's going to try to do the same over there.
"He'll be doing his thing. We might be ready more than other teams."
That's what Ruutu is concerned about -- as well as he knows their weak spots for grilling, they're well-versed in his modus operandi.
"They probably know me way too well, too, so they probably won't fall for the old tricks," he said, flashing one of his devilish smiles.
One thing Ruutu can do is pass along a couple secrets to his new teammates.
"He's given a few hints, who to tease and whatnot," Senators winger Daniel Alfredsson said. "It probably will help."
While Ruutu will go after anyone on the ice, he has a soft spot for the Penguins and Pittsburgh on dry land.
"Obviously, there's a little bit of emotion, but, as soon as I hit the ice, there's no emotion," he said.
A free agent after last season, he signed with Ottawa for three years and $3.9 million. It's believed the Penguins were only offering a two-year contract.
The extra year was something Ruutu didn't want to turn down. He also hinted that he hoped to play more than the average of 10:12 minutes he was given by Penguins coach Michel Therrien last season.
"Obviously, I want to play as much as possible, but, in some cases, you don't always see eye to eye on ice time, but success was the biggest thing," Ruutu said.
He had six goals, a career-high 10 assists and 134 hits for the Penguins last season, then added two goals, one assist and 50 hits in 20 playoff games. Weeks later, he was gone.
"During that time period, there was a lot of pressure on teams," he said. "My head was spinning just trying to make a decision. It was a real hard decision to leave Pittsburgh, but I had to make it. I've been happy that I chose to come to Ottawa. They've been real good to me, and I think the style fits me on the ice."
For this weekend, Ruutu is glad that ice isn't Uptown but far, far away in Europe.
"It's a little different playing overseas playing against your old team," he said. "I'm sure it would be a little different playing in Pittsburgh. But I'm excited playing against my former team the first game and getting it out of the way."
NOTES -- The Penguins assigned Finnish winger Janne Pesonen to their Wilkes-Barre/Scranton minor league club, getting them to the 24-man roster limit for these games. ... Penguins winger Petr Sykora, who returned to practice Wednesday after an illness, missed the exhibition game Thursday in Finland and practice yesterday because of what the team described as a groin problem. ... Ottawa's Alfredsson, a native of Sweden, did not practice, citing "bumps and bruises," but is expected to play. ... Senators center Mike Fisher (groin) will be evaluated today. ... Penguins coach Michel Therrien confirmed he is starting the season with center Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Brooks Orpik as alternate captains. There will be a monthly rotation, and defenseman Sergei Gonchar will resume wearing an "A" when he returns from shoulder surgery late in the season.
Ruutu lines up friends
By Chris Stevenson
CANOE -- SLAM! Sports
October 4, 2008
New Sens agitator takes aim at his old teammates today
STOCKHOLM -- Jarkko Ruutu is a world-class agitator who will be on a world stage today.
The Senators winger is doubly pumped making his debut for Ottawa because it's against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team he left as a free agent this summer.
"Obviously there's a little bit of emotion, but as soon I hit the ice there's no friends," said Ruutu after the Senators practiced at the Globe Arena. "I'm sure the (Pittsburgh) guys think the same way. They're probably trying to kill me ... well, it's even then."
Ruutu was asked by a Pittsburgh reporter how he gets along with Penguins forward Matt Cooke, another agitator and a former teammate with the Vancouver Canucks who moved over to take Ruutu's place with the Pens.
"Good. We only had one tilt in practice," said Ruutu of their time together with the Canucks.
Who won, he was asked.
"I don't remember," he said, slyly. "You'll have to ask somebody else."
Given his knowledge of his old Pittsburgh teammates, he should have some kind of advantage today, like what buttons to push.
"Everybody knows their secrets. You throw the top guys out there and try and shut them down. They probably know me way too well, too. They won't fall for the old tricks," said Ruutu.
Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson said Ruutu was tapped for a scouting report. Did he come up with much?
"A couple of things, nothing major," said Alfredsson. "He's given us a few hints on who to tease and what not."
Hear and there:
The talk here is Mats Sundin, international man of mystery, will be dropping the puck for the ceremonial faceoff for today's game. "I'm going to hand him my stick," said Alfredsson. But another come-on to Sundin won't be coming from the Senators captain. "No, I don't think I'll be making a sales pitch. Obviously, we would have loved to have had him like anybody else, but we'll see what happens." ... With the Penguins missing wheelhorses Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney on the blue line because of injuries, forward Evgeni Malkin has been on the point.
Revelations:
Alfredsson had bad news for all those Frolunda fans who gave him such a wonderful welcome earlier this week. They chanted "Alfie to Sweden," but he quashed any speculation he might return to Sweden to play out his final year or two of hockey. "I've thought about it and I'm pretty sure it won't happen," he said. "I'll play in the NHL as long as I feel I can perform and feel motivated. Once that stops, you just can't go back and play one year just for fun. If you want to play in the Swedish league or any of the top leagues in Europe, you have to commit yourself 100% because otherwise it will be a very long year. I'll play as long as I can in the NHL and once that's over, my career is over." ... To the people who asked how the Frolunda Indians got their nickname, here's the story as heard by Senators PR man Brian Morris. In the 1970s, Frolunda played firewagon hockey and was beset by front office instability. Some people said the crazy environment was like the American old West. So, when teams started getting nicknames here, they had a choice: Cowboys or Indians.
Speculations:
One of the big questions going into the season is how the Senators D is going to come together. Will the six guys -- Chris Phillips, Anton Volchenkov, Jason Smith, Filip Kuba, Alexandre Picard and Brian Lee -- fit together in well-defined roles? They're strong defensively as a group, but can they get the puck to the forwards on a consistent basis? "Our puck movement and transition is an area we have to continue to address," said Senators coach Craig Hartsburg. "We've got big, strong guys and should be able to win those battles along the wall and protect the front of the net." Hartsburg has them grouped now, but he's not shy about shaking things up. "You start the game with six, but that doesn't mean you're always going to play the three pairs all the time together. I think Picard has played enough and has enough experience that we feel comfortable he can eat some minutes up."
The Buzz:
Globe Arena had to be reconfigured from international dimensions for today's game. It's not exactly NHL size, coming in at 196 feet. The glass on the sides of the rink is about six inches shorter than a normal NHL rink, but an extra six feet of higher glass has been added along the corners. ... When the Frolunda crowd was chanting about Alfredsson the other night, some of the Senators entourage joined in. "What are we saying?" they asked some locals. "Alfie (back) to Sweden," was the reply. They stopped chanting.
OTTAWA - SEPTEMBER 20: Jarkko Ruutu #73 of the Ottawa Senators skates in a game against the New York Rangers during second period action of a game on September 20, 2008 at the Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Canada. The Ottawa Senators lead the New York Rangers 3-1 after two periods. - Phillip MacCallum - Getty Images
Ottawa Senators - Features: Warm Senators welcome greets Ruutu
Rob Brodie
OttawaSenators.com
September 12, 2008
Agitating forward can't wait to get started with his new NHL team in Ottawa
Jarkko Ruutu can’t wait to get started.
The newest Ottawa Senators forward wore a perpetual grin Thursday as he arrived for his first workout at Scotiabank Place since signing as a free agent with the team in early July. For the onetime Vancouver Canuck, the scenario couldn’t be much better.
“I’m excited. It’s very fun to be back here, back in Canada,” said Ruutu, who spent the past two seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, helping them reach the Stanley Cup final back in June. “This is really where the game matters the most.
“(Moving to a new team) is part of the business. I had a good time (in Pittsburgh) and we went pretty far. But you can’t look back, you’ve got to look ahead. I’m going to try to be better this year on my new team (in Ottawa).”
Senators general manager Bryan Murray has high hopes for Ruutu, an agitating forward who figures to bring some needed edge to the Ottawa lineup.
“I really like the way he plays,” Murray said of Ruutu. “I like his attitude on the ice. He’s a hard guy to play against. He’s a pest in many ways. He’s upsetting (to rivals). But I say all of that and he’s a good player.
“He knows what to do with the puck. He doesn’t bring the goals that maybe some other players might bring, but he brings an attitude and a work ethic. I think he addresses an issue we had on this hockey team. And that’s character, hard work, finish your checks and make it difficult on the goaltender because you drive the net regularly.”
Ruutu already likes what he sees in Ottawa.
“It’s a great organization. They’ve been pretty great to me so far,” said the 6-foot-1, 200-pound native of Helsinki. “The building is almost new. I have not seen much of the city yet but I know it’s Canada. It’s going to be good. I can’t wait for the first game.”
Ruutu is already warming up to his new home and new teammates.
“The only guy I knew before (coming here) was Alex Auld, from Vancouver,” said Ruutu. “But (the Senators players) were all very good to me. I feel very welcome."
And wouldn’t you know it, the Senators’ first two regular-season games are against Ruutu’s former Penguins teammates. They face off Oct. 4 and 5 in Stockholm as part of the NHL Premiere season-opening series.
Murray expects Ruutu to stir it up right from the opening whistle.
“You like competitive people and I regard him as a competitive person,” he said.
For his part, Ruutu admitted he can’t be anything but himself. But he intends to contribute any way that he can.
“I’m going to play with my strengths, not try to do much other stuff,” he said. “Obviously, you want to score whenever you get a chance and you want to get better every night.
“(Being an agitator) is what I get paid for, you could say. But you have to be able to do something else, too. You have to prove yourself every night. Whether you have a 10-year contract or not, it doesn’t matter. You have to put yourself in situations where you can make a difference in a game.”
The decrease in fights in the NHL has nothing to do with the rules, new Senator Jarkko Ruutu says, but has everything to do with the evolution of the game that has made speed a more important factor. - Photograph by : Julie Oliver, The Ottawa Citizen
Rules may change, but Ruutu stays same
Ken Warren, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Friday, September 12, 2008
On the day Jarkko Ruutu made his first appearance in Ottawa as a member of the Senators, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League began its season with new, severe suspensions of up to 15 games for players deemed to be aggressors in fights.
At first glance, the two events may seem unrelated.
However, given that the National Hockey League has also taken its own, less dramatic, measures to reduce fighting in recent years, a super pest such as Ruutu -- like him or hate him -- has become an even more valuable role player.
A 33-year-old veteran of seven NHL seasons, Ruutu acknowledged yesterday that he didn't exactly make his living (he signed a three-year deal worth $3.9 million U.S. with the Senators in July) by scoring goals.
In 419 games with the Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins, he has 36 goals and 47 assists. Only once has he hit the 10-goal mark in a season.
His ticket to success comes from finding ways to get under the skin of opponents without drawing penalties himself.
"I think I have to play to my strengths, and not try to do too much other stuff," Ruutu said after introducing himself to his new teammates. "Obviously, you want to score when you get a chance and get better every night."
He allowed himself a smile when asked if his strength was to be hated by the other team.
"I guess you could say that ... that's why I get paid."
When opponents retaliate to Ruutu's antics, whether it's throwing a punch, putting a gloved hand in his face, waving a stick at him or, in the case of the New York Islanders' Chris Simon last December, stepping on the back of his leg, resulting in a 30-game suspension, they often earn penalties themselves.
If they drop their gloves in a bid to entice Ruutu to fight, they're at risk of drawing instigator penalties as the aggressor in a fight.
That results in a two-minute minor penalty, a five-minute major and a 10-minute misconduct. A player earning three instigator penalties draws a two-game suspension.
Since the 2005-06 season, a player deemed the instigator in the final five minutes of a game is subject to an automatic one-game suspension and his coach is fined $10,000.
Accordingly, the number of fights has dropped significantly, from an average of one per game in the 1980s, to 0.38 per game in 2007-08.
If all that adds up to a bigger role for Ruutu, so be it. He says his job is help the Senators win, regardless of how it's done.
"I think you have to be smart," he said. "When the emotions get involved, it doesn't matter, you have to be in control. And sometimes you lose it and that's the way it is. You don't want to put yourself and your team in situations where you're going to be shorthanded," he said.
"But I don't think (the drop in fighting) is about the rules. It's just that, in the league, you have to win games. I think the personnel has changed a bit. There are more faster guys, that's the evolution of the game. It has nothing to do with the rules."
He might get an argument from Senators general manager Bryan Murray, who is not a fan of the instigator rules and whose team felt the sting in 2005, when defenceman Zdeno Chara earned a one-game suspension and a $10,000 fine for his role in a brawl late in a game between Ottawa and the Los Angeles Kings.
"I still think that the instigator rule in our game is such a worrisome thing that we've got guys that take advantage," Murray said. "Last year, I can think of Dean McAmmond getting run (by Steve Downie of the Philadelphia Flyers). We got criticized for not going after (Downie), but there's a real reason why you can't. I think that's an area where you just go after him right away. There has to be a message that you can't be dirty and abusive against our team."
Murray, however, doesn't consider Ruutu to be that same style of player.
"Ruutu is just a hard guy," he said. "He can fight. I have no problem with guys who do that, who push and shove and talk. I have a problem with a guy running a Jason Spezza or a Dany Heatley or a Daniel Alfredsson, like Mark Bell, who really stuck the knee out on Alfredsson (in the second-last game of the 2007-08 regular season).
"You know, that's a time when you really want to send a message, but you have to win the game to get into the playoffs. You can't afford to take something dumb or whatever. However, there are times earlier in the year, mid-season, where that message could be a lot clearer."
Murray and Ruutu see eye-to-eye in one area, believing the NHL won't soon be adopting anti-fighting rules as strict as those in the QMJHL. The impetus for that league's tough stance was an incident in which Quebec Remparts goalie Jonathan Roy skated to the other end of the ice and rained punches on Chicoutimi Saguenéens netminder Bobby Nadeau during a playoff game.
Under the new QMJHL rules, players deemed to be aggressors for chasing down or punching unwilling opponents will be suspended for up to 15 games.
The instigators of fights will be automatically ejected and repeat offenders will face disciplinary hearings and possible suspension, as will their coaches. All players who fight in the final five minutes of a game with a margin of two goals or more, will be suspended for one game. Players who fight during pregame warmups will be suspended for 10 games.
"I think it's more about dealing with something really stupid and gets out of line," Ruutu said. "The NHL, I think, has been really good with the way they have handled things."
Murray says the QMJHL rules are "extreme."
"(The QMJHL) wants fighting out, pretty much, and I would assume that's the first step," he said. "I don't agree with how it happens in our league a lot now, with two guys squaring off and all that, but I do think there's a real reason why you can have the occasional fight, when there's an abusive guy going after good players or whatever."
Tryout for Richardson:
The Senators have extended a tryout to defenceman Luke Richardson, who played 76 games with Ottawa last season.
Richardson, 39, will be in a tough, perhaps impossible, battle to step ahead of Anton Volchenkov, Chris Phillips, Filip Kuba, Jason Smith, Alexandre Picard, Brian Lee and Christoph Schubert for a spot on the roster.
"I just think that he's deserving, if he wants to continue to play," Murray said. "And the thought is (that) we will decide along with him, at the end of camp, where he fits. And if he doesn't play, he can help us in another capacity."
Ruutu a pest in control with Sens
By Chris Stevenson - Sun Media
CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Hockey NHL - Ottawa
September 12, 2008
Fitting in with new teammates won't be an issue, at least not for agitating winger
Jarkko Ruutu met his new Senators teammates yesterday and maybe one or two might have asked to see the scar.
You know, the one from the high-stick he took from former Senator Martin Lapointe in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference quarter-final with just over a minute to go in the game. The Penguins scored on the power play to win it after the Senators had come back from a 3-0 deficit and went on to sweep Ottawa.
To say Ruutu embellished it would be like saying Sidney Crosby is a pretty good player. Lapointe insisted he might have brushed Ruutu's helmet. From Ruutu's reaction, you would have thought a shot came from the Grassy Knoll.
"I've never drawn a line on what I can and can't do," Ruutu has said in the past. "I'll do whatever it takes to win."
Now, Ruutu, who finished third in a Sports Illustrated poll of NHL players asked to identify the dirtiest player in the league, is a Senator, signed to a three-year deal this summer which will play him $1.3 million US a year.
"I'm excited. It's really fun to be here and be back in Canada. It's where the game matters the most," Ruutu said yesterday minutes before he scrimmaged with his new best friends at Scotiabank Place.
Ruutu, wearing wire-rimmed glasses and looking quite unlike one of the most despised players in the league, will be bringing his super-pest act to Ottawa, giving the Senators an edge they have lacked pretty much since they came into the league. Along with a player like Sean Avery (who topped the SI poll) of the Stars, Ruutu sets the standard when it comes to agitating in the NHL.
NO NIGHTS OFF IN CANADA
"I guess you could say so. That's why I get paid a lot, I'm sure," said the 33-year-old. "I don't think they want me to score goals. I have to play with my strengths and not try to do too much other stuff. Obviously, you want to score when you get the chance.
"I have to prove myself every night. That's the key. Whether you have a 10-year contract or not, it doesn't matter. You have to put yourself in situations where you can make the difference in the game. That's what's fun about the game in Canada. You can't get away with stuff like taking a night off."
Ruutu scored a career-high 10 goals with the Canucks in 2005-06 and has had seven and six the last two years with the Penguins while picking up 125 and 138 penalty minutes in each of those seasons. His style has made him a popular guy on YouTube after he had a great toe-to-toe scrap with former Maple Leaf Darcy Tucker (which should endear him to Senators fans right away) in January and was the stompee when Chris Simon got suspended for 30 games after bringing his skate down on Ruutu's foot in December.
Ruutu said fitting in with new teammates -- even some who might have despised him in the past -- isn't an issue, at least not for him.
"I don't take it personal. Whatever happens on the ice, you try to get an advantage for your team and there's a lot of emotions involved. When you start being personal about it, it doesn't work out. I don't really remember what I say on the ice or do. I'll just try to look ahead," he said.
Making his club tougher to play against has been one of the priorities for Senators GM Bryan Murray this summer. The additions of defenceman Jason Smith and Ruutu are moves in the right direction.
"I really like the way he plays," Murray said of Ruutu. "I like his attitude on the ice. He's a hard guy to play against. He's a pest. In many ways, he's upsetting. I say all of that and he's a good player. He knows what to do with the puck. He doesn't bring the goals that some other players might bring, but he brings an attitude and work ethic. He addresses an issue that we really had on this hockey team and that's character, hard work and finish your check, make it difficult on the goaltender because you drive the net regularly.
"You like competitive people and I certainly regard him as a competitive person."
