Ruutu Gets a Crack at Ottawa's Top Line!

Well, this definitely proves that signing with the Senators was the right move for former Pittsburgh pest Jarkko Ruutu (good for you, Ruuts!)!!  He must be impressing the right people in the Ottawa organization (unfortunately, there were too many skilled hockey players on the Penguins team for Ruuts to get any props while in Pittsburgh)!!

This bit of news was mentioned on Savran on Sportsbeat last night, but the majority of the information from this post is from various Ottawa Senator sources.  It was announced yesterday that Ottawa Senators Captain, Daniel Alfredson, will be undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee to remove a bone chip that was dislodged during last Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Sweden (he originally injured his knee last season).

The Senators have juggled around their lines placing Ruutu on the top line to replace Alfredson along side Dany Heatley (who will now be donning the "C" in Alfredson's absence) and Jason Spezza.  From the Ottawa Citizen blog, Hockey Capital:

Jarkko Ruutu, whose main concern most of the time is antagonizing opponents physically, will get a shot to cause some pain on the scoresheet. He moves up to play with Heatley and Jason Spezza.

To be honest, I was pretty surprised to hear that they decided to choose Ruutu to replace Alfredson; however, I was always a backer of his and knew full well that he was a better player than anyone ever gave him credit for in Pittsburgh (he's smart with penalties AND the puck).  I'm anxious to see how he performs - this could actually be the start of big things ahead for Ruutu (all of which is well deserved), but I also must give some credit to his time in Pittsburgh -- when you play with the best, you become a better player yourself (even though it's a little easier when you're a good player to begin with)!!

Red Fisher of The Gazette said of Ruutu, "... and if former Penguins winger Jarkko Ruutu wasn't the best player on the ice for the Senators, he was close to it." [in reference to the Senators win over the Penguins last Sunday]

CONGRATS, Ruuts (I still / will always miss you here in Pittsburgh)!!