EURO CURVE

Euro Curve appears on Saturdays on Illegalcurve.com, and chronicles the latest international hockey news.

– It was reported earlier this week by many sources, including TSN, CBC and Rogers Sportsnet, that free-agent forward Peter Forsberg would not be returning to the National Hockey League this season, contrary to earlier speculation. It is believed that concerns regarding Forsberg’s foot and ankle injuries can simply not be ignored and have turned interested teams off. The Philadelphia Flyers and Colorado Avalanche were rumoured to be the teams most likely to bring Foppa back to the NHL.

– The Philadelphia Flyers claimed Norwegian Center Patrick Thoresen off waivers from the Edmonton Oilers in a quiet move Friday afternoon. Thoresen fell out of favour with Oilers management after struggling in only 17 games of action this season (two goals and an assist). The 24-year-old may turn out to be a useful acquisition for the Flyers, who have been decimated by injuries as of late, particularly to star forward Simon Gagne. Thoresen has oodles of offensive talent- he scored 108 points for Baie Comeau of the QMJHL in 2002’03- but has been inconsistent in the NHL.

Eurohockey.net writes about:

–Former Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings forward Ziggy Palffy and how he is leading the Slovak Extraligue in scoring with 65 points in 43 games (27 goals, 38 assists). The 35-year-old right winger plays for HK 36 Skalica and scored six points in a game last weekend against rival Trencin. Palffy retired abruptly in 2005′-06 after 42 games. His best season came in 1996’97, when he posted 90 points for the New York Islanders.
–Eisbären Berlin’s victory at the German Cup ( this is vaguely similar in format to the Spengler Cup hockey tournament) German national team head coach Uwe Krupp was in attendance as a scout.

Risto Pakarinen, the well-connected European hockey writer for The Hockey News, had two interesting pieces in this weeks issue:

– Kenny Jonsson, the former outstanding defenseman for the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders, will play a key role on the blueline for Team Sweden at the 2008 World Hockey Championships in Quebec City and Halifax. NHL puckheads may have forgotten about Jonsson, but Swedish fans certainly have not. Pakarinen reminds readers that Jonsson was named top defenseman at the 2006 Turin Olympics and has been playing at a high level in the Swedish Elite League.
– 43-year-old Raimo Helminen may be retiring at the conclusion of the 2007’08 season, but his legacy will live on for a very long time. Helminen is a veteran of six Winter Olympics, and over 331 international games for Finland. Pakarinen notes that Helminen also played over 100 games in the National Hockey League but his mark was made as a jack-of-all-trades utillity player for Finland, winning a world junior scoring title in 1984 and a World Championship in 1995.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Ezra Ginsburg.