On the Beat: Citizen Kane

What team beat writers are saying this afternoon:

• Atlanta Thrashers general manager Don Waddell likes the look of his team’s roster heading into training camp and may not be pursuing Nikolai Zherdev as intensely as he was two weeks ago. 1st Round Draft pick Evander Kane may surprise a few people with his play this year in A-Town.
• “The Wild remains interested in free agent Petr Sykora“, writes Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Sykora would be a nice fit on the Wild but new GM Chuck Fletcher is going to have nightmares with the salary cap this season if he chooses to squeeze one more forward onto the roster.
  
• Notes from New Jersey Devils rookie camp and (drum roll….) Defenseman Johnny Oduya’s first American interview since signing a three-year, $10.5 million contract back in June! I woke up this morning for that interview and only for that interview.
• The Pittsburgh Penguins are scheduled to meet President Barack Hussein Obama at the White House today. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that President Obama is going to break an ugly trend and actually pronounce Stanley Cup-winning captain Sidney Crosby’s name correctly. Remember Bill Clinton’s famous pronunciation of Steve Yzerman’s name as Steve Izzerman?