On the Beat: Habs media loves Gomez

What team beat writers are saying this afternoon:

• In case you missed it, Michael Russo breaks the news on his blog that Petr Sykora has officially signed with the Minnesota Wild for one year/$1.6 million. Great signing for Minnesota. Petr Sykora needed a fresh start and he’ll get every opportunity on an offensively-challenged Wild team.
• Habs Inside/Out has some interesting article links today, including the local media’s new infatuation with Scott Gomez and a note mentioning that Carey Price’s mom is running to become the next regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations. (Scroll down to Lynda Price).
• A tentative line-up for the Nashville Predators as they prepare to play the Atlanta Thrashers tonight at the Sommet Center. All eyes will be on 1st Rounder Colin Wilson tonight. Wade Belak should also provide several jaw-dropping moments.
• Bobby Ryan is in fantastic shape at Anaheim Ducks training camp, writes Curtis Zupke of the OC Register. We are clearly big Bobby Ryan fans at IllegalCurve.com, as we posted an article about Ryan just 4 hours ago.
• Maxim Afinogenov has been offered a tryout contract by the Atlanta Thrashers,writes Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News.
• “Blue Jackets defenseman Marc Methot will miss the next couple days of camp due to an upper-body strain,” writes Tom Reed on his Puckrakers blog.
• Capitals Insider Tarik El-Bashir pontificates about who will be named the next alternate captain of the Washington Capitals. If I were a betting man (which I sometimes am), I would bet on Mike Knuble getting the ‘A’, with Nicklas Backstrom coming in as runner-up.