Tuomo Ruutu

[Riddarn]

Best players end up in the swedish league? Right now I would say there are three finnish players in the elitserien that were on top the last time they played in Finland, Tomi Kallio(was a really good two-way player), Jani Hassinen and Fredrik Norrena. The most of the players in Elitserien hailing from Finland are in my opinion pretty average, or at least were when they played in SM-Liiga.

Peter Ahola - Old. Would be nothing else than a depth player in SM-liiga, probably would be retired.
Kimmo Eronen - One of my favourites but can in no way be seen as one of Finland's finest playing in europe.
Janne Grönvall - A good defenseman. No further than good though.
Kari Haakana - Decent defenseman.
Hannes Hyvönen - Was as close one comes to being a grinder, did show a little scoring touch
Joonas Jääskeläinen - Decent depth forward, had a fluke goalscoring year
Erik Kakko - decent offensive d-man
Kimmo Kapanen - Was one of the worst starters
Toni Koivunen - Decent utility player
Markus Korhonen - Decent backup goalie
Kalle Koskinen - Decent defenseman
Valeri Krykov - Decent playmaker
Mikko Kuparinen - average defenseman
Veli-Pekka Laitinen - Decent two-way defenseman
Mika Lehtinen - Good defenseman, but no star
Jouni Loponen - Good defenseman, but no star
Tommi Miettinen - Inconsistent player, has all the skills but has no heart nor intensity
Tuukka Mäntylä - Good defenseman
Pasi Määtänen - Decent two-way forward
Antti-Jussi Niemi - Almost good defenseman, still an enigma
Mika Niskanen - Average
Mikko Peltola - He is old now. Not good enough for higher leagues anymore
Tommi Rajamäki - Decent defenseman
Juha Riihijärvi - Starting to decline
Juuso Riksman - Decent backup
Kalle Sahlstedt - Captain of TPS, good leader, decent defensive centre
Mika Strömberg - OLD, can't hold his own in the positional play
Jussi Tarvainen - Decent leech.
Pekka Tirkkonen - Old forward with decent passing
Antti Törmänen - Old, used to be a star but those days are over.
Kimmo Vesa - Come on? They must be joking...
Jyrki Välivaara - Decent defenseman
Sinuhe Wallinheimo - inconsistent decent starter


YOU point at those who were stars in SM-liiga. IMO it seems like they want to take anyone who has a finnish name....

Great post Matti. I wonder why all swedish teams insists on recruiting semi retired finnish players, and pay them pretty good too. I think it is because finnish hockey players are so very well respected in sweden, and the fact that the level of play in the SEL isn't what it should be.. Also we should at least try to start developing some goaltenders ourselves because as you point out, out of all those finnish tenders, only Norrena is worth the money.

 

[Spiffy]

They have gotten older, and I guess the level of the league has dropped a bit. But you cant argue that the best go in the AHL...some are dropped there naturally, but you hardly see those guys in team Finland after the season...you see the guys who did good in SM-Liiga.

A few years back, pretty much every top finnish center played in the Swedish league (Helminen, Keskinen, Riihijärvi). Things have changed a bit, now some go to the germany league (Rintanen) or other leagues (Nummelin, Peltonen).

Riihijärvi would probably still be a top notch center in SM-Liiga...just a guess though.

Riihijärvi a centre? When did he play centre? Rintanen plays in the swiss league as do Nummelin, Peltonen, Sulander and Kiprusoff.

 

[Riddarn]

First of all, Russia has been sending young teams to the Euro tourni and does have close to the same goaltending as Finland, alot of the better players from Czech, Sweden, and Finland go to the RSL like Hudler, as you see his point totals drop a ton. The RSL is the lowest scoring league in the world, SML has one of the highest scoring leagues in Europe. A couple thoughts to keep in mind.

Point totals can drop for various reasons, you know. Could you tell me the names of the "better" swedish players who have played in the RSL, I have no clue who they might be.

 

[psycho_dad*]

Riihijärvi a centre? When did he play centre? Rintanen plays in the swiss league as do Nummelin, Peltonen, Sulander and Kiprusoff.

He was a center when he played in Finland (I should know, he was the #1 center in my favourite team for a while), also he has been a center (and I have seen him play right wing too) in team Finland.


Oh yeah Rintanen also plays in swiss league, Kloten wasnt it.

 

[Riddarn]

I don't have a list on me but I'm sure over the past four years there werte a couple.

I know there have been a few, but "better" ones? Right now all I can think of is Peter Nylander, right winger. He used to score around 10 points per season (50 games) in the SEL who played a year for St. Petersburg, scoring a whopping 11 points in 46 games.

 

[Spiffy]

The RSL is the lowest scoring league in the world, SML has one of the highest scoring leagues in Europe.

The fact that the finnish league has produced pretty many goaltenders for the american leagues also comes to mind. Right now playing in NHL/AHL:

Atlanta organisation:
Pasi Nurminen, Jani Hurme, Kari Lehtonen

Boston organisation:
Hannu Toivonen

Buffalo organisation:
Mika Noronen

Edmonton organisation:
Kristian Antila

New Jersey organisation:
Ari Ahonen

New York R organisation:
Jussi Markkanen

Philadelphia organisation:
Antero Niittymäki

San Jose organisation:
Miikka Kiprusoff
Vesa Toskala
------------------------
Don't think that the level of defense and goaltending is worse just because they score more goals, that has more to do with style of league and so on, the Swedish elitserien doesn't have as many goals per season as does the Finnish and still I think the SM-liiga is one small notch ahead of elitserien.

 

[Riddarn]

I think the SM-liiga is one small notch ahead of elitserien.

I think so too.
I'd say the best 4-5 teams in the SM-liiga is better than the best 4-5 teams in the SEL, but the depth in the SEL is still probably a little bit better. However the style of play in the SEL is a bit old fashioned and slow, and most of the better players are already quite old, so in a few years the SM Liiga will be alot better.

 

[Kronblom]

I know there have been a few, but "better" ones? Right now all I can think of is Peter Nylander, right winger. He used to score around 10 points per season (50 games) in the SEL who played a year for St. Petersburg, scoring a whopping 11 points in 46 games.

There is a swedish defender with a finnish name playing his second season in Russia - Osmo Soutokorva.

Joakim Musakka played one season in Russia a few years back.

 

[Kronblom]

Best players end up in the swedish league? Right now I would say there are three finnish players in the elitserien that were on top the last time they played in Finland, Tomi Kallio(was a really good two-way player), Jani Hassinen and Fredrik Norrena. The most of the players in Elitserien hailing from Finland are in my opinion pretty average, or at least were when they played in SM-Liiga.

Peter Ahola - Old. Would be nothing else than a depth player in SM-liiga, probably would be retired.
Kimmo Eronen - One of my favourites but can in no way be seen as one of Finland's finest playing in europe.
Janne Grönvall - A good defenseman. No further than good though.
Kari Haakana - Decent defenseman.
Hannes Hyvönen - Was as close one comes to being a grinder, did show a little scoring touch
Joonas Jääskeläinen - Decent depth forward, had a fluke goalscoring year
Erik Kakko - decent offensive d-man
Kimmo Kapanen - Was one of the worst starters
Toni Koivunen - Decent utility player
Markus Korhonen - Decent backup goalie
Kalle Koskinen - Decent defenseman
Valeri Krykov - Decent playmaker
Mikko Kuparinen - average defenseman
Veli-Pekka Laitinen - Decent two-way defenseman
Mika Lehtinen - Good defenseman, but no star
Jouni Loponen - Good defenseman, but no star
Tommi Miettinen - Inconsistent player, has all the skills but has no heart nor intensity
Tuukka Mäntylä - Good defenseman
Pasi Määtänen - Decent two-way forward
Antti-Jussi Niemi - Almost good defenseman, still an enigma
Mika Niskanen - Average
Mikko Peltola - He is old now. Not good enough for higher leagues anymore
Tommi Rajamäki - Decent defenseman
Juha Riihijärvi - Starting to decline
Juuso Riksman - Decent backup
Kalle Sahlstedt - Captain of TPS, good leader, decent defensive centre
Mika Strömberg - OLD, can't hold his own in the positional play
Jussi Tarvainen - Decent leech.
Pekka Tirkkonen - Old forward with decent passing
Antti Törmänen - Old, used to be a star but those days are over.
Kimmo Vesa - Come on? They must be joking...
Jyrki Välivaara - Decent defenseman
Sinuhe Wallinheimo - inconsistent decent starter


YOU point at those who were stars in SM-liiga. IMO it seems like they want to take anyone who has a finnish name....

Kalle Sahlstedt, decent...?

Hey, you forgot to make some negative comments about Juha Lind. Peter Ahola has retired.

 

[Spiffy]

Kalle Sahlstedt, decent...?

Hey, you forgot to make some negative comments about Juha Lind. Peter Ahola has retired.

If I start saying good things about Sahlstedt I might never stop. I've got criticism on other boards for overrating him big time...

Bad things about Lind? Nah, too easy...

 

[psycho_dad*]

I think so too.
I'd say the best 4-5 teams in the SM-liiga is better than the best 4-5 teams in the SEL, but the depth in the SEL is still probably a little bit better. However the style of play in the SEL is a bit old fashioned and slow, and most of the better players are already quite old, so in a few years the SM Liiga will be alot better.

Where does this "depth" problem come from? Last time I looked, Finnish league had 12 teams within few points.

 

[wabwat]

wait... i thought this thread was about ruutu? not some backstage guest list for björk.

back to begin... i watched ruutu closely the other night against the kings... i like this guy... a total nut job! you cannot teach the enthusiasm this kid has. once he settles down a little, he's goonna (sic) be pretty good... me thinks!

 

[who_me?]

Ruutu has only himself for being over-hyped. In his contract dispute earlier this year, he wanted to be the highest paid Hawks player this year, including a $3M signing bonus. This is a guy who will be hard pressed to put up 30 pts this year (IMHO). and this is assuming he won't get injured, which is not unlikely due to his recent knee surgery, small size, and physical play.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

Ruutu has only himself for being over-hyped.

That has a lot more to do with The Hockey News and various posters around here than it has to do with Ruutu.

 

[Teemu]

Ruutu has only himself for being over-hyped. In his contract dispute earlier this year, he wanted to be the highest paid Hawks player this year, including a $3M signing bonus. This is a guy who will be hard pressed to put up 30 pts this year (IMHO). and this is assuming he won't get injured, which is not unlikely due to his recent knee surgery, small size, and physical play.

how so? there were three reasons for his hype. Bill Zito, his greedy agent, who wouldnt sign him until the last minute, publications such as the sporting news who say he plays a similar game as peter forsberg (so people immediatedly incorrectly infer that he will be euqal or better than peter), and the damn TSN for making that phony quote about him being 'the best player in the world'

 

[PecaFan]

damn TSN for making that phony quote about him being 'the best player in the world'

Did TSN ever retract that statement? I don't believe they did.

Until then, it's just Ruutu and agent denying they made the statement, to cover their ass.

 

[Tuomo Ruutu's Ego]

Some people here are in outerspace. Tuomo Ruutu is a hockey god. He will be bagging 30 goals annually with 30 or more assists to go with them. He is big, strong, rugged and will make it in the NHL. 2nd line duties? Umm, no. He will eventually win the 1st line job after Alexei Zhamnov moves on. Ruutu has played like 3-4 games in North America so far, give him a chance to get adjusted. He tore up the Finnish league, a year or two down the road he will be potting lots of points regularly. He is a hybrid, a European power forward and he WILL be a force in the NHL someday. 1 year, two years, maybe 5 years down the road, but I think he will be challenging the likes of Spezza for the scoring title a couple years from now. Now all the Ruutu-haters should get their heads out of their butts, the sun might not shine from Tuomo Ruutu's ass but he sure is one hell of a prospect. 29 other teams in the NHL would die to have him!

 

[psycho_dad*]

He has already been playing in their #1 line, not that it means anything really.

Some geniuses are STILL totally uninformed about the contract situation and base their silly arguements on bs articles.

Just read www.tuomoruutu.com his own comments after the deal was done...you can see what this guy is about.

 

[iamcaper]

He's a bust. 3 games, 0 points.

Others with no points so far this season:

Amonte, Roenick, Gagne, Lindros, Sundin, and Nolan just to name a few.

Any questions?

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

It appears Alex Zhamnov is out for six weeks at least with a back injury. This could be a great opportunity for Ruutu.

Man, the Blackhawks are just totally cursed.

 

[flyercide]

It appears Alex Zhamnov is out for six weeks at least with a back injury. This could be a great opportunity for Ruutu.

Man, the Blackhawks are just totally cursed.

Cursed or just poorly managed? I wonder if the Hawk fans could go back in time... if they would want Keenan back & half the players the Hawks have since traded away.

 

[Teemu]

It appears Alex Zhamnov is out for six weeks at least with a back injury. This could be a great opportunity for Ruutu.

Man, the Blackhawks are just totally cursed.

i like to think of it as a 'blessing in disguise'

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

Cursed or just poorly managed?

Cursed because they are poorly managed and seems to always have all sorts of problems :p

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

i like to think of it as a 'blessing in disguise'

You think so? I dunno, I don't think it's a good thing when you lose a fairly good player.

 

[Teemu]

You think so? I dunno, I don't think it's a good thing when you lose a fairly good player.

Frankly, id rather have ruutu and arnason splitting the 1st and second as is.