Carolina Hurricanes Tuomo Ruutu out till April with Hip Surgery -NHL Injury Update
Veteran forward for the Carolina Hurricanes, Tuomo Ruutu, is out at least till April of 2013 due to a procedure on his hip to correct a nagging injury, according to general manager of the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, Jim Rutherford, who talked
to the News & Observer on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old underwent hip surgery in Colorado and will not be able to make a debut till April according to the team management, but that is set to be the best case scenario, obviously meaning that things could be extended depending on his status at the
time.
There is no confirmation at the moment when Ruutu sustained the injury as the General Manager stated that he had passed his year end medical examination after the 2011-2012 NHL regular season came to an end.
"We're not sure how long he will be out," Rutherford told the paper. "Certainly through the regular season, if we play it. Maybe longer."
"In August he started complaining about it," Rutherford added. "He tried a number of things to rehab it, but it got to the point the doctors recommended surgery.
"There was really nothing that signaled surgery might be necessary. It just flared up. Like most athletes, hockey players have a lot of wear and tear on their hips."
Ruutu is a former ninth overall draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks and has played in 532 games up until now throughout his career with Chicago and the Carolina Hurricanes. He has 299 points (129 goals, 170 assists) to his name along with 508 minutes in
penalty time.
Last season was not one of his best ones, but not his worst also as the native of Vantaa, Finland, put up 34 points (18 goals, 16 assists) in 72 games. He is currently signed on to a four-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes, which is worth a total
of $19 million with an annual salary cap hit of $4.75 million.
He will become an unrestricted free agent by the end of the 2015-2016 regular season.
Updates should be expected in the days to come as the Carolina Hurricanes continue to work it out.
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