Tuomo Ruutu

Tuomo Ruutu (born February 16, 1983 in Vantaa, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward who plays for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League.

Playing career
Ruutu started out playing for HIFK in the Finnish SM-liiga in the 1999-00 season, and moved to Jokerit for the next two seasons. In 2002 he returned to HIFK for one more season. Ruutu was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, as their first-round pick, #9 overall. Chicago was ecstatic to get Ruutu as he was considered the best player in the world not in the Nhl. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 2003, playing a full 82 games with the Blackhawks in the 2003–04 NHL season.

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

He is the younger brother of Jarkko and Mikko Ruutu.

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

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

During the 2007-08 season on February 26th, 2008, at the trade deadline, the Chicago Blackhawks traded Tuomo Ruutu to the Carolina Hurricanes for Andrew Ladd.

Ruutu inked a one-year deal worth $2.25m with the Hurricanes on June 24, 2008.

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