Somervuori, Eero

Published reports out of Switzerland and Finland speculate that RW Eero Somervuori will depart Karpat at the end of the SM-liiga season for the Swiss NLA league. According to the newspaper Kaleva, Somervuori has already signed to play for the club team Ambri-Piotta next year.

Somervuori is currently third in scoring on Karpat behind Petr Tenkrat and Jussi Jokinen with 12-22-34 in 48 games. The Finnish website jatkoaika.com points out Somervuori has struggled recently since being moved off a line with NHL veteran and former Lightning player Michael Nylander but Somervuori still places in the top-20 in scoring in Finland. Karpat is currently 2nd on the SM-liiga table 5 points behind Jokerit for the top spot in the waning days of the season. Their regular season ends on March 9th at Pori Assat before the playoffs begin.

Ahhhhh, my first European Hockey Update away from the third world dictatorship that HF has become. Lets begin:

All in all, the beat goes on in Europe for the Lightning's prospects. They have some excellent overage properties like Somervuori, But and Norrena but have yet to see the explosion from youngsters like Polushin and Kazionov they might've hoped for. The exception to the rule is 2004 entry draft 6th rounder Karri Ramo, who is emerging as one of the two best young goalies in all of Finland after having a remarkable performance at Traverse City.