Tuomo Ruutu Wins Fight, But Joins Injured
by Bob Wage on Jan 11, 2010 2:42 PM EST
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Last Friday night early in the Avs game, Tuomo Ruutu dropped the gloves with Darcy Tucker and the two settled some differences. The Carolina Hurricanes forward hit Tucker from behind in Colorado and Tucker wanted to administer some old-time hockey justice. Ruutu was honorable enough to accept the challenge, but ended up hurting himself and will now be out of action for a couple of weeks.
When the Finnish forward dropped his gloves, he decided "to go" with a much more experienced fighter. According to Hockeyfights.com, Tucker has been involved in over 90 fights in his career. Ruutu, on the otherhand, had only dropped the mitts six times, not including Friday's tilt.
One might think that the experienced fighter with something to prove would have the upper hand in this bout, but according to Hockeyfights, Ruutu won the fight. The Finn garnered 46% of registered voters' support. He also has a winning record when totaling the results of his previous fights.
Although, don't look for one of the team leaders in hits to change roles to enforcer anytime soon. After the altercation, Ruutu was in obvious pain, but the good news is that his injury does not seem to be serious. At least nothing is broken or that information would have leaked by now. But the warrior will be out of action for at least two weeks.
People are guessing about the nature of the injury and some have said that it might be his shoulder. (The team has not released any information). Regardless what it is, fans are hoping for a quick recovery.
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The team is suffering through a lot of injuries this year and unfortunately, the maladies are not just limited to the players. Equipment manager Bob Gorman was hit in the head with a puck in Nashville and his gash required eight stitches to close up. But like a true pro, he went right back to work after he got stitched up.
And you thought being the equipment manager was a cushy job? Mike Maniscalco has the lowdown with this excellent report on Fankind.
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After the jump, check out the video of the Ruutu/Tucker affair. Who do you think won? Should Ruutu have accepted the challenge or skated away?
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Inside information: Early in the game on Center Ice yesterday the Sen’s announcers said it was Tuomo’s shoulder as a matter of fact, no hedging. Perhaps Jarkko let it slip?
Gleason for the "C" :
Just what do we need to do to make this happen?
by Carolyn Christians on Jan 11, 2010 2:51 PM EST reply actions
Shoulder, eh? Whoda thunk it?
They also said 2-3 weeks, which sounds worse than “a couple”.
SISU
by Jamie Kellner on Jan 11, 2010 3:05 PM EST up reply actions
That’s a great picture! Better than any available by the AP. I need to search your site more often.
GM of CanesCountry.com
One of the best fight photo’s I’ve seen. Maybe being up a few rows is the best place to be.
Gleason for the "C" :
Just what do we need to do to make this happen?
by Carolyn Christians on Jan 11, 2010 4:22 PM EST up reply actions
Thanks, both of you! Pure luck I was in the right spot for that shot (or Rudar, as the case may be). I’m not usually able to capture facial expressions that well from that far up (was about 20 rows off the ice).
SISU
by Jamie Kellner on Jan 11, 2010 5:01 PM EST up reply actions
JAARKO RUUTU VS. TUCKER LAST YEAR
Have y’all seen this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRiLdkOI-KA
Who’s next for Tucker, The Ruutus’ Mom? Would that be Ruutumomof2? Isn’t there a 3rd brother somewhere?
LOL, there is middle brother Mikko who was drafted by the Senators but never played. He still works for the Sens as a scout. So I don’t know if that makes Mom Ruutumomof2 or 3.
SISU
by Jamie Kellner on Jan 12, 2010 1:22 PM EST up reply actions
Since Ruutu is the one sitting in the press box, I have to say that Tucker won. And no, Ruutu should not have walked away. He had to answer that “invitation”.
"This guy is as meat and potatoes as there is of a man."
Gleason for Emperor!
that was my thinking also, the one that gets hurt the worse is usually the loser
Staal will be the next CAPTAIN........get over it!
I disagree, I think Ruutu won the fight. Yea he got hurt doing it, but still Ruutu won that fight. Had Ruutu been hurt to the point that he couldnt finish the fight, or hurt to the point that it cost him the fight then sure, Tucker wins. But Ruutu was able to finish the fight and in my opinion won. Fights arent measured by injuries. I never boxed but I have a feeling that if you asked a boxer he’d tell you its about who’s left standing, who landed the better blows, etc. To answer the above question, yes, I believe that Ruutu owed it to Tucker to drop the gloves. It was a dirty hit, and, intentionally dirty or not a player is responsible for his actions. I read a Whitney quote somewhere regarding this and he mentions something about “the code” and backing up your actions, Ruutu answered the call, the players respect him for it, yada yada yada…..
If you box and "win the bout"
but you can’t move something very well the next day while your opponent doesn’t have any lingering effects, it’s called “you did it wrong”
Happerry Chrisolkwanaka
I know only my own opinion from ancient days in athletics that wound up in fist fights. I thought I won if the other guy looked worse than me. If he hurt my shoulder, I lost. If I hurt my shoulder punching his lights out, I thought I won; but as lcd2you said I “did it wrong.” I didn’t include self-inflicted injuries as long as the fight got finished. I was much happier leaving the other guy looking worse and my hands feeling like every finger was broken than looking bad afterwards, but feeling fine.
Maybe a better way to have phrased it would have been: he won the battle, but lost the war. Big picture-wise, he (and the Hurricanes) lost.
"This guy is as meat and potatoes as there is of a man."
Gleason for Emperor!
Your boy Sutter is on the NHL channel…………………………….
Staal will be the next CAPTAIN........get over it!
They asked Sutter about the Ruutu fight. He said it was great.
OT – not sure if it’s just me, but I don’t get that Sutter is all warm and fuzzy about being here (from this interview). He often references to the Hurricanes as “the team in Carolina” more so than “my team” or “our team”. Maybe it’s just me.
I do give him big points for telling the announcers that college basketball and football are much more popular here than NASCAR.
I get that same feeling.
I’m thinking with his families background he wants to be on an original six team. After next season with the money he wants and knowing he wants out of here, not sure he’ll be here long term.
Staal will be the next CAPTAIN........get over it!
Sutter wants out,
I saw the interview and if you notice, when the Canes are mentioned, he moved away from the person who asked.
Avoidance like that is a sign they would rather be somewhere else.
Now, I don’t know if that is due to the Canes sucking this season or something else.
Happerry Chrisolkwanaka
Or the guy had bad breath. Or he felt his leg going numb from standing like that. Or he really had to use the bathroom and was trying not to let on. Or maybe he was having a bad day and wasn’t in the interview mood. Or maybe he was sick of answering the same three questions over and over again. There are a lot of possible reasons for the vibe you got. I’m not jumping to conclusions just yet.
"This guy is as meat and potatoes as there is of a man."
Gleason for Emperor!
I know the Hurricanes are very excited about Sutter. I also think young players take a huge risk in going from a team where they know the system and the players and the general managers to greener pastures. The NHL is littered with the failures of players who had a great situation and went to coaches or general managers who decided they were not essential. I personally doubt Sutter is looking to escape. He and Boychuk have been friends since they were teenagers. He is on a team that won the Stanley Cup in 2005-2006 and is committed to rebuilding and getting more Stanley Cups. I would be surprised if Jim Rutherford didn’t sign Sutter to a long-term contract.
I haven’t gotten the feeling that he wasn’t happy to be here. I think it’s more of his coach’s son mentality coming through. All of his interviews come across that way to me-he knows just what to say, no more and no less. In fact, I haven’t heard a lot of the guys say “my team” when referring to the Hurricanes. It’s more often “the Hurricanes” or “the organization” or “the guys”.
But here’s an interview where he does call them “my team”. Come on, did you really think I wouldn’t have an interview ready?! LOL
"This guy is as meat and potatoes as there is of a man."
Gleason for Emperor!
He was very direct in the NHL Powerplay interview. Short and sweet, but I’m sure he’s tired of answering questions about his weight. You could tell he was like not again about the weight.
Staal will be the next CAPTAIN........get over it!
Well I guess it’s going to be one of three things: his family, his weight or the massive suckage of his team. Odds are they probably nailed all three at some point.
The weight one is a little odd, but I’ve heard/seen it in other interviews with him. I guess when you’re that tall and that thin, it’s more obvious.
"This guy is as meat and potatoes as there is of a man."
Gleason for Emperor!
Funny how in the video you posted he said something about playing in the playoffs next year………..boy was he wrong.
Staal will be the next CAPTAIN........get over it!
We’ll chalk that one up to youthful optimism.
"This guy is as meat and potatoes as there is of a man."
Gleason for Emperor!
Which is what I'll give you when I read you saying.....
I haven’t gotten the feeling that he wasn’t happy to be here.
Like I said though, I don’t know if that’s due to being on a team that’s #30, being kept in the AHL for as long as he was (when there was a “tacit” understanding that he had a decent chance of making the team if he played well in the pre-season) or more.
Happerry Chrisolkwanaka
He may just be more serious and less bouncy and bubbly than some of his teammates. Along the lines of more Gleason less LaRose.
Y’all may be right-he may very well hate it in Raleigh, but there may be a lot of other reasons for him giving off that impression.
"This guy is as meat and potatoes as there is of a man."
Gleason for Emperor!
Actually I think he likes the Raleigh. I have heard him say because of all the schools around there are alot of people his age to hang out with. Well something along those lines. We just need to get him deep into the playoffs so he can here the Caniacs screaming all out full blast. Then he will be SOLD and will want to see his jersey up in the rafters after playing with the Canes for the next 15 years.
Staal will be the next CAPTAIN........get over it!
Yeah – I’m not really saying he hates it here… just maybe hasn’t jumped on the bandwagon. Then again, after been sent down to Albany mid-season last year, maybe he just isn’t sure if he’s in Raleigh to stay just yet.
You can tell he’s been around the NHL since birth. He’s very comfortable being interviewed and knows how to handle the tough questions. As well as the ‘here we go again’ type questions.
Please – if any mainstream media types read Canes Country, drop the “what will it take for you to gain weight” question for Sutter. Enough already!
Considering that Ruutu was out for the game IN COLORADO after the hit… and that he was suspended for two games… and he still called Dicky Tucker to apologize (when nobody even liked Dicky Tucker)…. Ruutu did not have to fight him….
And Tucker is that much more of a jerk for expecting him to fight…..
by Mateos_Canes_Lamp on Jan 11, 2010 3:10 PM EST reply actions
I think he needed to fight him. He made a bad hit and he had to drop the gloves for it. He held his own, and it’s unfortunate that he got hurt (even tho it was pretty clear it was by nothing Tucker did).
by Cory Lavalette on Jan 11, 2010 3:15 PM EST up reply actions
Ruuty did the right thing. No, you don’t skate away. You accept the challenge, which he did admirably. I just hope it doesn’t end up costing him a trip to Vancouver.
SISU
If he misses that trip over that fight would be sad.
Staal will be the next CAPTAIN........get over it!
If Ruutu misses the Olympics….
Darcy F***ing Tucker…..
geez….
by Mateos_Canes_Lamp on Jan 11, 2010 4:28 PM EST up reply actions
He’s been Darcy F’n Tucker for awhile.
If Ruu misses Vancouver I hope every capable Finn in the league considers it a point of honor to fight, slash, and otherwise abuse Darcy F’n Tucker.
by drifterscape on Jan 11, 2010 8:29 PM EST up reply actions
Is that before or after LTD finishes with him? ;)
"This guy is as meat and potatoes as there is of a man."
Gleason for Emperor!
IMO the injury occurs at the end of the fight when Ruutu falls on top of Tucker. His arm gets trapped under Tucker, you can see him holding the arm as they are separated
"He has all the virtues I dislike, and none of the vices I admire." -Sir Winston Churchill
by SouthernHockeyFan on Jan 11, 2010 6:59 PM EST reply actions
Thats not exactly a tenacious victory. I wouldn’t say he “lost” either though. Good hockey fights are actually pretty rare. He landed about 2 good shots. Hardly a fight.
^ i know this bd. used to be a pal o mine
Team Cullen...and I don't mean that vampire twit.
by J'adoreBrind'Amour on Jan 23, 2010 6:11 PM EST up reply actions
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