Comments on: Penguins sign Jarkko Ruutu

By: FlamingHomer

FlamingHomer — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 10:21:24 +0000

Ruutu will drop the gloves all right. Simon, McCarty, Iginla and Warrener all wanted to fight him but he chose to fight 5' 10" Byron Ritchie. Ruutu is the biggest coward in the history of sports.

Having said that, I agree with the first comments you made. The changes they made have made them a strong contender.

By: Kraftster

Kraftster — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 10:14:06 +0000

Yea, I mean, between Roy and Ruutu, thats a lot of money for a team that is on a "budget."

I agree with your point that it seems that Shero must have some clear plain in mind if he was willing to overpay for Ruutu.

I won't be surprised if we see Ruutu skate with Sid at some point, but I am getting tired of just throwing guys without the sort of pedigree that Sid deserves up there on a line with him to see how they do. Colby clearly earned a spot with Sid, but there's no excuse for not going out and getting a proven winger to play on the opposite side. Jarko Ruutu certainly isn't that guy. At this point though, I would be surprised if we add any one fitting that profile.

By: Kraftster

Kraftster — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 10:11:49 +0000

And a wise decision resigning Milan Kraft would have been. Honestly, he should a great deal of goal scoring promise (and finally some consistency) towards the end of his final season here. He also improved his defensive play toward the end of that season. Any time a player scores 20+ in the NHL (especially on that team) you should take note. First round pedigree, finally given a chance and he came on. No excuse for why the Penguins always held him to an uber standard, or for why they chose to not bring him back after a strong season.

Now, between Roy and Ruutu we’ve got $2+ million invested in our “tough” fourth line. That seems like an unwise decision to me. Time will tell, and as kamulio noted, Shero overpaid so he must have a clear vision of where Ruutu fits in in mind, so I’ll put my trust in Shero for now.

Incidentally, nice work picking up on the name!

By: kamullia

kamullia — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 07:29:19 +0000

I am not sure about this signing either. I have not figured out Shero's vision yet.

I do like the rough stuff and agitating, but being dirty I am not a fan of. Players like these tend to take unecessary penalties, which irkes me. Pittsburgh sort of had one not too far back in Ville Nieminen, although I think Ruutu is dirtier.

Pretty expensive to be a fourth liner or even a third liner, and he does not have a scoring knack to put him on the top two lines. Crosby might make him score regurlarly, like Mario did with Brown, but Ruutu does not have the size or tough guy skills to protect Sydney either, so I think he'd be a waste with Sydney (when someone better could be there), especially if time and again takes the line off the ice by taking a stupid penalty. On top of that, consider that the Pens were not the greatest in the PK last year, and the only move they have made to get getter in the PK is the Eaton signing (shotblocking) which I am not sure is enough.

I do not understand why Shero grossly overpaid for Ruutu either, but that fact makes you think Shero has a clear purpose to specifically have to have Ruutu on the roster and hence willing to overpay.

All in all, I guess better to have a dirty player in your roster than to have to play against him...

By: CrosbyMalkin66

CrosbyMalkin66 — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 23:22:43 +0000

Yea, but by the looks of it if you were running the team Milan Kraft would still be on it so i think its best we leave it up to Shero

By: merr29

merr29 — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 22:32:29 +0000

haha, what team are you cheering for?

By: Westcoastexpress

Westcoastexpress — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 19:55:11 +0000

Ruutu’s leaving is a blessing, when the team was fighting for it’s playoff lives last spring, if it wasn’t Ruutu taking a stupid undisciplined penalty it was Bert. Looks like the Nucks fixed both those problems. But this is a good pick up for the Pens as Ruutu is a good team player WHO WILL STICK UP FOR TEAMMATES unlike some of the Pens last year who watched while Crosby was being molested like an Altar Boy. Ruutu is not a heavyweight but will drop the gloves, this pick up could help take some physical pressure off of Crosby. Now the Pens need a true heavyweight to ride shotgun with Crosby.

By: FlamingHomer

FlamingHomer — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 18:23:25 +0000

Thank God that A-Hole is out of the Northwest division. Watch injuries increase in the Atlantic next season.

By: Kraftster

Kraftster — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 17:54:58 +0000

This is a pretty spectacular signing, all we need to do now is sign a 4th line center for $1 million plus so that we can have a 4th line that averages 1 million per....

what the hell Shero?

By: gtweb

gtweb — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 17:43:52 +0000

As a Canucks fan...I have mixed feelings.

He showed flashes of offensive brilliance and can probably score 15, maybe 20 goals during a good year. He also is a great pest...but sometimes goes way too far (vicious hit from behind on Jagr in the Olympics) and takes stupid penalties. Jarkko is a decent 3rd or 4th liner...but I wont be crying over his loss.