EURO CURVE

Euro Curve takes a look at the latest international hockey headlines.
(picture shown courtesy of http://www.russianprospects.com/)

-Apparently Anson Carter has signed with Lugano of the Swiss League.

- According to hokej.cz HC RI Okna Zlin has signed slovak forward Peter Barinka and czech defenseman Tomas Kloucek on a try-out basis. ( Thanks to http://vakfan.blogspot.com/ Click this link for a great website that always seems to break stories from across the pond. Check it out! It's worth the time) Some might remember Kloucek as a New York Ranger, Nashville Predator or Atlanta Thrasher. He was drafted by the Rangers in 1998 (5/31). Kloucek played 68 games with the Syracuse Crunch last year, registering 2 goals and 9 assists in 68 games.

- Check out this scouting report/profile of Kirill Petrov, courtesy of http://www.russianprospects.com/. He is widely considered one of the top prospects of the 2008 Draft class. He is playing as a 17-year-old with Ak Bars Kazan.

- Here is the 2007 International Ice Hockey Federation's World Rankings ( courtesy of http://www.iihf.com/)
** Some significant ranking changes: Italy has moved up 4 spots since the last rankings, Kazakhstan have fallen 5 spots and ( Ouch!) The Democratic Republic of South Korea has plumetted 8 spots to 44th in the world.

2007 IIHF World Rankings
Official Senior Rankings

The 2007 IIHF World Ranking is based on the performance at the 2006, 2005, and the 2004 World Championship and at the 2006 Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament in Turin.

1.Sweden- 3740 points2.Canada-3670 points
3. Finland- 3640 points
4. Czech Republic- 3595 points
5. Russia- 3535 points
6. Slovakia- 3390 points
7. U.S.A- 3375 points
8. Switzerland-3250 points
9. Belarus- 3025 points
10. Latvia- 2995 points
11. Germany- 2925 points
12. Denmark- 2855 points
13. Italy- 2815 points
14. Norway- 2780 points
15. Ukraine- 2740 points
16. Kazakhstan- 2740 points
17. Austria- 2695 points
18. Slovenia- 2640 points
19. France- 2525 points
20. Poland- 2395 points
21. Hungary- 2320 points
22. Japan- 2305 points
23. Estonia- 2165 points
24. Netherlands- 2155 points
25. Lithuania- 2105 points
26. Romania- 1970 points
27. China- 1860 points
28. Croatia- 1850 points
29. Great Britain- 1605 points
30. Serbia- 1555 points
31. Bulgaria- 1500 points
32. Korea- 1320 points
33. Australia- 1260 points
34. Israel- 1260 points
35. Belgium- 1200 points
36. Spain- 1105 points
37. Iceland- 920 points
38. Mexico- 915 points
39. New Zealand- 900 points
40. Turkey- 830 points
41. South Africa- 770 points
42. Luxembourg- 710 points
43. Ireland- 710 points
44. DPR Korea- 660 points
45. Armenia- 390 points
46. Monaco- 260 points

For Illegal Curve, I'm Ezra Ginsburg