Timo Jutila started to play ice hockey at the Finnish Championships with Tappara Tampere in 1979 and played there until 1984. In 1984, Jutila went to the NHL and played for the Buffalo Sabres, the team that drafted him in 1982. However, Jutila’s NHL career was short-lived and he left the NHL the following season, because he was unable to break through to the main Sabres line-up and played most of his NHL season in the American Hockey League (AHL) for the Rochester Americans. After his short NHL spell, Jutila returned to Tappara and stayed with the club for three seasons (1985-88), winning the Finnish title every season. After three successful seasons in Finland, Jutila signed with the Swedish team Luleå HF, where he played four seasons (1988-92). Jutila returned to Tappara in 1992 and continued to play with his former team for another four seasons (1992-96). In 1996, Jutila was contracted by SC Bern in Switzerland, but after only one season with the club, he returned to Finland, playing his last two seasons again with Tappara and then retired in 1999. Internationally, Jutila played 246 times with the Finnish national team, scoring 108 points (40 goals and 68 assists). He played at eight World Championships tournaments (1987, 1991-97), at three Olympics (1984, 1992, 1994) and in one Canada Cup (1991). He won an Olympic bronze in 1994, a World title in 1995 and World Championship silvers in 1992 and 1994. After his retirement, Jutila worked as an ice hockey commentator, and together with Mika Saukkonen and Jari Kurri formed the play-by-play team for the Finnish ice hockey TV program Hockey Night, aired on Finnish TV channel MTV3. Since 2003, he has also been team manager of the Finnish national team.
Finland