IS DENMARK THE NEW SWITZERLAND?

There is an interesting article in today’s Globe and Mail (May 24, 2008) by Donna Spencer (sorry I couldn’t find the link on www.theglobeandmail.com, my apologies) about the cosmic rise of Denmark’s young hockey talent.

Not since Michel Riesen and David Aebischer, two young guns out of Switzerland, have we seen so many prospects coming out of a region of Northern Europe known more for it’s exports like Hans Christian Anderson than it’s stockpile of fine hockey prospects.

Spencer writes about already-drafted players Frans Nielson (New York Islanders), Jannick Hansen (Vancouver Canucks, Manitoba Moose) and Lars Eller (highest drafted Dane ever, 13th overall by St.Louis Blues in 2007) while also previewing highly-regarded draft-eligible winger Mikkel Boedker, of the Kitchener Rangers, who is a top 15 prospect in the upcoming 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

The Danes are coming.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Ezra Ginsburg.