Christian Ruuttu (born 20 February 1964) is a Finnish former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player, who currently serves as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

. Ruuttu is the father of Alexander Ruuttu, who was drafted by the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

. His father Kalevi Ruuttu is a former

Bandy World Championship The Bandy World Championship is a competition between bandy-playing nations' men's teams. The tournament is administrated by the Federation of International Bandy. It is distinct from the Bandy World Cup, a club competition, and from the Wome ...

referee.

Playing career

Christian Ruuttu grew up in

Pori ) , website www.pori.fi Pori (; sv, Björneborg ) is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River, west of Tampere, north of Turku and north-w ...

, where he attended the Swedish-speaking Björneborgs svenska samskola

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

while playing for the

Ässät Ässät or Ässä may refer to: * HC Ässät Pori Oy, Finnish sports club ** Porin Ässät (men's ice hockey) ** Porin Ässät (women's ice hockey) ** Porin Ässät (men's football) ** PATA (esports) *, Finnish band from Oulu *S Group, Finnish Con ...

Finnish Elite League The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

club. He was originally drafted by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

of the National Hockey League in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, 7th round, 134th overall. He played six seasons in Buffalo from 1986–87 through 1991–92, attaining career highs in goals (26 in 1987–88), assists (46 in 1988–89), and points (71 in 1987–88). In Ruuttu's last season in Buffalo, his totals dropped to 4 goals and 21 assists. Ruuttu began the 1992–93 season playing for the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

after being traded for goaltender Stephane Beauregard. He played there for the next two and one-half seasons before being traded to the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

midway through the 1994–95 season. After his career as a player, Ruuttu served as General Manager of the

Espoo Blues The Espoo Blues were an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They played in Espoo, Finland, at the Espoo Metro Areena. The club went bankrupt at the end of the 2015–16 Liiga season. History The club was established in February 1984 as Kiekko-Espoo ...

of the Finnish Pro League and was a board member of the Finnish Elite League. He joined the

organization as the Director of European Scouting. He is currently the Director of European Scouting for the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

Awards

*Finnish First All-Star Team (1986) *Played in NHL All-Star Game (1988)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruuttu, Christian 1964 births Living people Arizona Coyotes scouts Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Chicago Blackhawks players Espoo Blues players Finnish ice hockey centres Frölunda HC players Los Angeles Kings scouts People from Lappeenranta Swedish-speaking Finns Vancouver Canucks players Sportspeople from South Karelia