COMMERCE, Ga. – Defending Top Fuel world Steve Torrence rolled to his second straight victory on Sunday with a win at the 39th annual Arby’s NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.

Ron Capps (Funny Car) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also winners in their respective categories at the seventh of 24 events during the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

Torrence, whose first career Top Fuel win came in Atlanta in 2012, used his 3.863-second pass at 320.20 mph in his Capco Contractors dragster to defeat Brittany Force’s 3.989-second run at 274.00 mph in a final round matchup that featured the top two qualifiers of the weekend and the two most recent Top Fuel world champs. It is the 29th career win for the Top Fuel points leader and third at the track.

Torrence, who became the first repeat winner in the class this season, also picked up round wins against Luigi Novelli, Scott Palmer and Shawn Reed to earn his second victory in three years at Georgia’s House of Speed.

“When you have a group of guys that sticks together and that continuity is there, that’s the reason for success,” Torrence said. “As a driver, I need to do my job and give them the best driving ability I possible can because they’re giving me the best race car they possibly can. My guys are second to none and I would put them up against anybody out here. We went down the track every time we needed to and we’ve had a really good car. It’s really cool to have Arby’s out here and be the first guy to ever win the Arby’s Southern Nationals.”

Force, the No. 1 qualifier, reached the final round with wins against Cameron Ferre, Antron Brown and Jordan Vandergriff.

In Funny Car, Capps secured his first win of the season in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, going 4.068 seconds at 315.34 mph to win on a holeshot against Tim Wilkerson’s 4.052-second run at 310.05 mph in the final round. It also gives Capps his 62nd career victory, continuing his impressive string of 11 straight seasons with at least one win.

Capps beat Shawn Langdon, John Force and Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. to reach the final round, earning his third career win at Atlanta Dragway.

“An average race car driver could have probably won in that car today,” said Capps, whose first win with crew chief Rahn Tobler came in Atlanta in 2012. “This was a car you dream about driving. Rahn Tobler pulled out the vintage Rahn Tobler, and that just gave me more and more confidence. It was just amazing and to get a Hellcat win was huge.”

Wilkerson beat Cruz Pedregon, Bob Tasca III and points leader Robert Hight to reach the finals.

Five-time Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion Hines earned his second straight victory, third overall this year and 51st in his career after going 6.865 seconds at 195.05 mph on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to defeat Jerry Savoie in the final round. It also marked the 100th career win for Harley-Davidson in the class, a streak that Hines started with his first career victory in 2004.

It was another noteworthy accomplishment for Hines, who became the first rider to claim 50 wins in the class last weekend and has three victories in four races to open the Pro Stock Motorcycle season. The class points leader beat Melissa Surber, Ryan Oehler and Hector Arana Jr. to reach the final round.

“It was a good day and my motorcycle is nothing like I’ve ever had in my career,” said Hines, who now has three wins at Atlanta Dragway. “It’s working really well and doesn’t do much wrong. All in all, it was a fantastic day. To get 100 wins for Harley-Davidson, it’s monumental. It was a very big struggle at first, and there’s been trials and tribulations, but it’s really nice to get the 100th.”

Savoie knocked off Cory Reed, Steve Johnson and Eddie Krawiec en route to the finals.

COMMERCE, Ga. – Mike Castellana claimed his second victory in three years at Atlanta Dragway in the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service on Sunday.

Castellana ran 5.825 seconds at 248.29 mph in his supercharged Al-Anabi Performance Chevrolet Camaro, picking up the final-round win when Jose Gonzalez suffered a red-light start.

It marks the ninth career E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod victory for Castellana, who qualified ninth and also earned round wins over Brandon Snider, Jeremy Ray and defending world champion Mike Janis, running a 5.809 at 248.48 in the semifinals.

“I knew everything would come together, but I didn’t expect it this quick,” said Castellana, who failed to qualify at the first three races of the season. “(Crew chief) Frank (Manzo) and my team do a great job. We feel real confident now. We’re making progress with the car and we’ll be ready for Virginia.”

BARRE, Vt. – Jason Corliss dominated down the stretch to take his second consecutive Community Bank N.A. 150 victory at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl on Sunday.

Corliss held off a mid-race charge from reigning King of the Road Scott Dragon to grab his third consecutive ACT win at Thunder and 13th career Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model victory.

Corliss started third in the 26-car field and was content to ride in the early going as outside polesitter Trampas Demers set the pace. Just past the 20-lap mark, Corliss jumped to the outside of his fellow Thunder Road weekly runner, completing the pass on the 24th circuit.

The second caution of the day on lap 52 for a turn-one incident involving Darrell Morin and Josh Demers set up a duel between Corliss and Dragon, who had moved into the second spot. Dragon was able to stay at Corliss’s door for several laps following the restart before eventually dropping back in behind him.

Dragon got a second chance on lap 59 when Tyler Cahoon spun after getting accordioned in traffic. This time, Dragon poked his front bumper out front for three circuits, with the two swapping the lead three more times in the next few laps before Corliss got the upper hand.

No sooner did Corliss clear Dragon than the fourth and final caution came out on lap 66 for Trevor Lyman’s spin. Dragon got the nose up for two more laps on than restart before Corliss pulled back in front and set sail from there.

Fellow Barre racer Nick Sweet flew through the field from his 21st starting position to get second from Dragon on lap 116 and seemed like a potential threat in the closing stages. But Corliss responded by putting the hammer down and sailing away late for the victory.

Sweet finished second while Dragon took third. Demers ended up fourth followed by Rich Dubeau in fifth.

A total of 35 drivers attempted to earn a spot for the 26-car starting field. In a stunning development, two-time defending ACT Champion Scott Payea failed to qualify for the main event.

The Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger feature results were eventually decided in the tech line more than an hour after the event. Jason Pelkey appeared to have taken a runaway win after getting underneath Sam Caron on lap 24 of the 40-lap main event. Pelkey was later disqualified in post-race inspection for a chassis infraction. As a result, Micheal MacAskill inherited his first win after crossing the finish line second.

Another first-time winner emerged in the Allen Lumber Street Stocks with Tyler Pepin taking the victory. Pepin started seventh and managed to avoid a massive pile-up on a lap-two result that was triggered when two cars near the front of the field made contact on the backstretch. Pepin then got the jump on fellow sophomore J.T. Blanchard following the third and final restart on lap-16 before pulling away for the win.

Nate Brien became the third first-time winner of the day in the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors feature. Brien started on the pole of the 20-lap event and pulled away in the early stages before Davey Chase reeled him in down the stretch. Chase made a daring three-wide bid for the lead around a lapped-car coming to the two-to-go mark, but Brien managed to fend him off for the win.

The finish:

Jason Corliss, Nick Sweet, Scott Dragon, Trampas Demers, Rich Dubeau, Jimmy Hebert, Marcel J. Gravel, Stephen Donahue, Brooks Clark, Matt White, Cody Blake, Brandon Atkins, Jonathan Bouvrette, Joel Hodgdon, Dylan Payea, Chip Grenier, Josh Masterson, Tyler Cahoon, Christopher Pelkey, Bryan Kruczek, Trent Goodrow, Mathiew Kingsbury, Brendan Moodie, Trevor Lyman, Josh Demers, Darrell Morin.

OREGON, Wis. – Bubba Pollard made the long haul from Georgia to Wisconsin worth it with a victory in Sunday’s ARCA Midwest Tour Joe Shear Classic at Madison Int’l Speedway.

Pollard, who earned $10,000 for the victory, was among 27 drivers to take the green flag for the race honoring short-track legend Joe Shear. Shear won four championships at Madison and earned 66 feature wins on the half-mile oval.

Ricky Baker and John DeAngelis Jr. had the honors of bringing this stellar field to the green flag. DeAngelis wasted no time as he jumped out to the lead with last year’s winner Austin Nason and Dan Fredrickson up to second and third, followed by Pollard and Paul Shafer Jr.

On lap 10 Gabe Sommers passed Shafer to break into the top five. Rich Bickle Jr. moved into sixth on lap 16 when he worked his way around Shafer. On lap 18 Pollard powered his way past Fredrickson for the third spot with Ty Majeski taking the seventh spot from Shafer one lap later. Five laps later Majeski would wrestle sixth away from Bickle.

Majeski continued his move forward when he passed Sommers for fifth on lap 30. On lap 33 he moved inside of Fredrickson to take over the fourth position. Majeski and Pollard then battled it out for third as the leaders continued to work their way around lapped traffic. On lap 45 Majeski took advantage of the slower traffic to work his way past Pollard for third.

Out front DeAngelis continued to lead Nason by two car lengths with Majeski a distant third.

The first caution flag waved on lap 53 when Shafer spun on the backstretch. This meant the first opportunity for controlled pit stops. Most of the cars electing to pit were in the back half of the field with Fredrickson and Bickle the only top-10 cars at the time of the caution to pit.

For the restart on lap 61, DeAngelis chose to start on the outside with Nason taking the inside of the first row. Majeski lined up outside and Pollard inside of row two. It was a good start for Nason who jumped out to the lead over DeAngelis.

Major trouble happened two laps later when Majeski experienced axle issues on the backstretch that ended his run and led to a multi-car pile-up in turn three involving Fredrickson, Sommers, Bickle, John Beale, Carson Kvapil, and Jeff Van Oudenhoven. Only Bickle and Beale were able to continue.

SAN JOSE -- San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said he'll accompany the team to Denver for Game 6 against the Colorado Avalanche, but there's no timetable for his return to the lineup after a horrific head injury in Game 7 against the Vegas Golden Knights on April 23.

Pavelski made a surprise appearance during the Sharks' Game 5 win on Saturday night, waving to the crowd in the third period to thunderous applause as San Jose skated to a 3-2 series lead.

"It was exciting to be out there. Once you're out there and you experience that, you realize how much you miss it," Pavelski said Sunday.

Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said it was a "give-you-a-chill type moment" before quipping, "I think our coaching staff will give him the same kind of ovation when we find out he's back."

The Sharks have been careful with Pavelski. He's skated on his own for the past few days, including a vigorous training session after practice on Saturday. His line with Logan Couture has played well in his absence, with Gustav Nyquist moving up to help the line take on Colorado's top unit with Nathan MacKinnon. But given that Pavelski had 38 goals and 26 assists in 75 regular-season games and is one of the Sharks' most effective playoff performers, they would love nothing more than to have him back on the ice. In fact, they've made his return a rallying cry in the playoffs.

"We're trying to win as many games as we can so we can see him back out on the ice again," Joe Thornton said earlier this round.

Pavelski's comments on Sunday were the first he made since his Game 7 injury.

Midway through the third period against Vegas, Pavelski's head hit the ice following a cross-check to the chest by Knights center Cody Eakin and a collision with Vegas forward Paul Stastny. Pavelski was motionless for a moment, bleeding profusely through the top of his helmet.

Pavelski said that the injury was a "pressure cut" from his head hitting the ice and that his helmet did its job to protect him.

Brent Burns and other Sharks players surrounded their captain, calling for the training staff to come out. Pavelski eventually sat up and gingerly skated to the bench, with Thornton pressing a towel against his head.

"I remember taking the faceoff, and I don't really remember a whole lot after," Pavelski said. "Getting pushed, and all that stuff. The first thing that kind of came back was being helped off. Jumbo [Thornton] was right there, just calming me down. He just was saying, 'We got you, we got you. You're going to be all right.'"

Pavelski said he wasn't panicked, although Thornton's reaction signaled the severity of the situation. He was still coming to his senses as he left the ice.

"Then getting into the training room," he said. "Getting the first staple in my head was probably when the first goal horn went off. I was kinda like, 'What was that?' And they told me we scored."

The Sharks received a five-minute major power play after Pavelski's injury, scoring four goals to take a 4-3 lead. They later won the game in overtime to eliminate the Knights. The NHL subsequently apologized to Vegas for the officiating mistake, which Pavelski acknowledged on Sunday.

"For me ... I've played with some of those guys [on Vegas] for a lot of years. I have no issues with that play. Was it a five-minute major? No. Was I happy they called it that way? Heck yeah," he said. "But from that moment on, what the guys did after that in scoring four goals, it was a special night. One of the tougher nights. But one of the better nights."

Pavelski said that night was difficult, as he felt the impact from what the Sharks inferred was a concussion. He had headaches that continued to the next day. His light sensitivity was decent, but Pavelski said looking at his phone for too long would adversely affect him.

As the Sharks look to close out the Avalanche, he's skating again with regularity. The team has said he's close to returning. Pavelski agrees.

"You'd like to think you can play tomorrow. But we're going to be smart. Definitely getting closer," he said.

Stars goalie Ben Bishop exited early from Sunday's Game 6 home loss to the St. Louis Blues, but Dallas coach Jim Montgomery said Bishop is "fine."

The Blues' Colton Parayko unleashed a shot in the third period that hit Bishop on the left shoulder. Bishop went down, clutching his shoulder.

While Bishop was laying on the ice, the Blues' Jaden Schwartz scored to make it 3-1 with 13:23 left when he redirected Alexander Steen's shot. Steen had gathered the puck outside the right circle after Parayko's shot was deflected off Bishop.

Bishop was tended to by a trainer and initially stayed in the game, but he was subbed soon after with Anton Khudobin.

"He's fine. We just wanted to put [Khudobin] in; [Bishop] wasn't hurt. That's why we switched," Montgomery said after the game.

The Blues won 4-1 to force Game 7 on Tuesday.

Bishop, who came into the game with a .936 save percentage in the playoffs, stopped 16 of 20 shots. Khudobin had five saves in the final 12 minutes in his first action this postseason.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

It's an annual rite that seemed to skip a year: Where was the usual outrage over the NHL Awards nominations? The nominations seemed to arrive and then leave the public consciousness faster than that "Hellboy" remake with Chief Hopper from "Stranger Things."

Part of me hopes that it's because the Professional Hockey Writers Association got it (mostly) right this season. Most of me believes the award nods were just overwhelmed by the shock and awe of the most unpredictable postseason in nearly 15 years. It's hard to get riled up over the Selke Trophy nominations when the Columbus Blue Jackets are winning their first playoff series in franchise history over one of the most successful regular-season teams in hockey history, you know?

So, as a public service, here's a breakdown of the major awards and some analysis. I did not include the Masterton Trophy, which will go to Robin Lehner; the Lady Byng, which the referees and linesmen should vote on instead of the writers; and the Mark Messier Leadership Award, a vanity project that should have disappeared when its sponsorship did.

Also in this week's Wysh List: Fix these rules | Jersey Foul
A tribute to Jason Botchford | Puck Headlines

Hart Trophy (most valuable player)

Nominees: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins; Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning; Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Surprisingly absent: Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames
Frustratingly absent: Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins
Likely winner: Kucherov

It's easy to understand how Connor McDavid became just the sixth player in the past 51 years to become a Hart finalist despite his team not qualifying for the postseason.

Last season, he finished fifth for the award in a season where support from the voters had crystallized around four players: Taylor Hall, Nathan MacKinnon, Anze Kopitar and Claude Giroux. This season, Kucherov was a lock as a finalist. Crosby had strong support. But beyond them, it was wide open. So McDavid found enough votes through his 116-point season, the Oilers' putrid numbers without him on the ice and what we assume is a significant amount of pity for being stuck in the bottomless abyss of that organization.

The irony is that even through the Oilers finished closer to a playoff spot this season -- a still-embarrassing 11-point margin -- McDavid's performance was arguably more impressive last season, finishing 38 points ahead of Edmonton's second-leading scorer Leon Draisaitl. The margin was just 11 points this season. Typically, that gap is a leading indicator of Hart candidates. Unless, of course, you're Marchand, who finished 19 points ahead of David Pastrnak but took a back seat to McDavid here.

Of course, you know I feel all of this is moot: McDavid shouldn't win the Hart and shouldn't be a finalist because his team finished 11 points out of a playoff sport. I went into this in greater detail last season, but the abridged version is: The Hart's description mentions "value to his team." The Hart isn't entirely beholden to wins and losses, but it's not without consideration of the candidate's team and what value his performance holds within the context of that team. Hence, there's little value in a performance that results in a team finishing that far out of the playoffs; in fact, one could argue McDavid's performance was actually deleterious to the Oilers' actual need, which was to increase their draft lottery chances as best as possible.

Without Crosby, the Penguins don't make the playoffs. Without Kucherov, the Lightning don't challenge history. Without Marchand or Ryan O'Reilly, who were also on my ballot, the Bruins and Blues don't place where they placed in playoff seeds. Without McDavid, the Oilers are ... still nowhere near the playoffs. There's a reason only six non-playoff players have been nominated for the Hart, and there's a reason only one of them captured it: Mario Lemieux in 1986, whose team finished two points out of a playoff spot. Or, nine closer than McDavid's team did this season.

Norris Trophy (top defenseman)

Nominees: Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks; Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames; Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
Surprisingly absent: Morgan Rielly, Toronto Maple Leafs
Frustratingly absent: John Carlson, Washington Capitals
Likely winner: Giordano

Obviously, Drew Doughty's negative campaigning against Burns didn't keep him from a nomination, thanks to his 83-point season. But the biggest stunner here was Hedman, although perhaps not as stunning when you consider how reputation-based this award has been through the years. Hedman won it last season. His campaign this season simply missed those heights.

Rielly, Carlson and Kris Letang all deserved the nod over Hedman this season, but here we are. Can't wait to see those PHWA ballots. And we better never hear another "if he played in Toronto, he'd be nominated" laments, because Rielly plays in Toronto and ... welp.

Vezina Trophy (top goaltender)

Nominees: Ben Bishop, Dallas Stars; Robin Lehner, New York Islanders; Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning
Surprisingly absent: Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
Frustratingly absent: John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks
Likely winner: Bishop

The glaring absence here is Gibson, whose 18.66 goals saved above average was best in the NHL and whose underlying numbers were stellar. The general managers vote on this award, and we can only assume that they stopped paying attention to Gibson once the Ducks imploded.

Calder Trophy (rookie of the year)

Nominees: Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues; Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres; Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
Surprisingly absent: Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars
Frustratingly absent: Heiskanen
Likely winner: Pettersson

Can Binnington win this? Unfortunately, yes. Look, he had an outstanding rookie season with a 24-5-1 record, a .927 save percentage and a 1.89 goals-against average, pulling the Blues out of the basement with his superlative performance in 30 starts. Operative phrase being "in 30 starts." There's absolutely no way that Pettersson's 66 points in 71 games should rank behind Binnington's slice of a season. I had them first and second on my ballot.

I had Heiskanen third ahead of Dalhin on my ballot for two reasons: The role he played for the Stars, which was vital from October through April and included penalty-killing time; and his usage, getting just 52.8 percent of his starts in the offensive zone and playing against tougher competition. This is by no means an attempt to disparage the season that Dahlin had, as it was stellar. I just think Heiskanen was a smidge better.

Selke Trophy (best defensive forward)

Nominees: Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins; Ryan O'Reilly, St. Louis Blues; Mark Stone, Ottawa Senators/Vegas Golden Knights
Surprisingly absent: Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers
Frustratingly absent: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Likely winner: Stone

Once again, Bergeron gets a nomination despite not having the work history. He was third in the voting last season with 64 games played. He played 65 this season. Was he dominant? Sure, and this was another season up to Bergeron's lofty standards. And while there have been players that won the Selke playing fewer than a full season, like Kris Draper in 2004 when he played 67 with the Detroit Red Wings, there should always be deference to the players that had outstanding campaigns while playing more games. O'Reilly played 82. Stone played 77. Sean Couturier played 80. Crosby played 79. And so on.

Anyway, the only thing I really care about here is Stone winning the Selke, for all the wingers that have been unceremoniously ignored through the years.

Jack Adams Award (best coach)

Nominees: Craig Berube, St. Louis Blues; Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning; Barry Trotz, New York Islanders
Surprisingly absent: Bill Peters, Calgary Flames
Frustratingly absent: Bruce Cassidy, Boston Bruins
Likely winner: Trotz

The NHL's broadcasters vote on this one. The award comes down to Trotz winning the Stanley Cup, leaving over a financial dispute, taking over a broken team and turning them into a defensive juggernaut; vs. Cooper, who coached a 128-point team with 62 wins and a plus-103 goal differential.

One assumes the Trotz narrative will be too enticing to the voters -- although we'd love to see Cooper win, just for the speech that celebrates one of the greatest regular seasons in NHL history that then lasted four ignominious games in the postseason.

Jersey Foul of the Week

From the Shark Tank:

@wyshynski got a pretty good #jerseyfoul for ya pic.twitter.com/Hd9KSdDNwB

- Jacob Mendelson (@sjsharksfinatic) April 27, 2019

The NHL-as-NFL jersey bit usually works in the opposite direction, such as in Washington D.C. with "Ovechkin" Redskins jerseys. Obviously there's a bit more going on here than a Sharks fan supporting the Niners, but again: Hockey sweaters are for hockey things. But please drop some money on a Tomas Hertl 49ers jersey at your leisure.

Three obvious rule changes after two rounds of the playoffs

1. Video review on majors involving the stick. I know there's a raging debate about expansion of replay for penalties, but this one is simple: Instead of having four guys on the ice guess about what happened and invent something that didn't -- like the officials in Game 7 of the Sharks vs. Golden Knights series did on the cross-check to Joe Pavelski's chest that earned Cody Eakin a five-minute major -- just use a quick review to double-check that this was the right call. Where did the stick land? Whose stick was it? And so on.

It's such a simple, logical application of replay that doesn't have to lead to any further expansion. Which is why, of course, the NHL won't apply it, despite Vegas owner Bill Foley's vow to introduce it at the next board of governors meeting.

2. This dumb puck-into-the-netting rule. The NHL rulebook is truly an onion, as we peel away the layers of each rule and find new levels of stink. The situation in Game 4 between the Blue Jackets and Bruins was putrid. Please recall the puck hitting the spectator netting, falling to the ice, Oliver Bjorkstrand playing the puck and Artemi Panarin eventually putting it into the net behind Tuukka Rask. According to the rules, the play wasn't reviewable because it's only reviewable when (a) the puck goes straight into the goal off the netting or (b) when the first player who touches the puck off the netting scores.

As Kerry Fraser put it:

A missed offside at blue line resulting in "eventual" goal so long as puck doesn't exit the zone can be reviewed & overturned. A missed puck out of play resulting in goal must go directly into the net on immediate ensuing play (no 1 pass)....just inconsistency or bad rule #both - Kerry Fraser (@kfraserthecall) May 3, 2019

Indeed.

3. Just get rid of "intent to blow" already. One of the worst rules on the books is the "intent to blow" rule in which a referee can end a play in his mind before actually blowing the whistle. The thinking is that it takes time for the brain to send a signal to the lungs to create the thrust of air that is sent through the whistle that ends the play, and thus an official can think a play is over before we hear that it is.

This goal on April 25 between Dallas and St. Louis should not have counted if "intent to blow" is a thing. C'mon. Chris Rooney blows his whistle like a millisecond after the puck goes in. He can't see the puck beforehand. The ruling was "that the puck completely crossed the St. Louis goal line before he blew his whistle to stop play." OK, great: Then why is that not the standard in every situation, rather than the occasional "the play ended before you heard the whistle -- in my mind." This rule is the worst, and this goal shows why.

Listen to ESPN On Ice

Emily Kaplan and I kept it in the ESPN family this week for a fun chat with Bomani Jones about why Carolina Hurricanes fans dislike him and about the Toronto media. Plus Mike Rupp of NHL Network discusses the Boston Bruins vs. Columbus Blue Jackets series and the next step for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Stream here and grab it on iTunes here.

Remembering Botch

Jason Botchford died at age 48 this week from heart failure. He was one of the most innovative hockey writers in the business, as one of the first newspaper beat guys to figure out how to meld that style with the blog aesthetic, with the "Provies" for The Province, and then the "Athleties" after he made the jump to The Athletic. He was brash and combative and loved the art of debate, which is why his dust-ups were so compelling.

I had two interactions with him that I'll remember, one regrettable and one memorable.

The regrettable one was the time I tried to be Internet Cop and proclaim that his game recaps were an idea borrowed from the Pensblog, which was a Pittsburgh Penguins fan site that did hilarious reviews of games using inside jokes and random images. This was said in a moment of Twitter Rage (as most regrettable things are). No one who is creative wants to be accused of having their work be derivative, and things got heated, because I was being petty and stupid. But some time later, we had a chat and I acknowledged what I should have in the first place: That he had reinvented the wheel. That what he was doing with game recaps hadn't been done before, and was going to influence how it could be done by others. The number of young writers who acknowledged his influence on their own coverage of teams was a testament to that.

The memorable one was perhaps the most infamous Botch moment. You've no doubt heard about the Joe Thornton four goals "rooster" trick. It's one of the most famous memes in the NHL. Well, Botch was the one who reported that quote from the Sharks locker room, and started a media firestorm about the ethics of, basically, reporting on locker room banter. It was a fascinating moment in hockey journalism back in 2013, and few things spoke better to Botch's bravery as a writer than the way he defended himself. (We had him on "Marek vs. Wyshynski" at one point to talk about it, but that podcast episode is lost in history, alas.)

If nothing else, the Thornton moment captured the essence of Jason Botchford, which was: Having an unwavering loyalty to his audience to report with candor and honesty. It's why a community of Vancouver Canucks fans grew around his work and supported it rabidly, and it's why that same community was so rocked by his tragic loss this week.

R.I.P. to Jason Botchford, to whom I pay the greatest compliment I can as a writer: You were never ordinary, sir.

This tribute from Mike Halford and Jason Brough on The Athletic is worth your time, as is this column from Ed Willes. A Go Fund Me page to support his family has over $50,000 in donations at last count.

Puck Headlines

Gary Bettman's testimony in front of the House of Commons on concussions was as divisive as expected. I don't disagree with him on the idea that banning all contact with the head on checks would fundamentally change the NHL. Nor do I think it's fair to leave the wishes of the players in the background, when the NHLPA's polling has consistently shown support for fighting and hitting. But his continued CTE denial is an embarrassment for the NHL and its fans, and a tarnish on his legacy every bit as repugnant as a cancelled season.

Hockey in Pop Culture Part 1: The Onion takes a run at the "hockey is better in person" thing.

Hockey in Pop Culture Part 2: "The Simpsons" jump on the Ottawa Senators dog pile.

Unhappiness with the coverage of the Blues vs. Stars series in St. Louis.

The Columbia Journalism Review takes the hockey media to task for its coverage of the Alex Ovechkin fight.

Getting your beer in the Hockey Hall of Fame seems to be a noble calling.

Boston students stage a walkout to protest their hockey coach not getting his contract renewed.

Why "Moneyball" can't work in the NHL.

Hockey tl;dr (too long; didn't read)

"Inside Team USA's heartbreak and redemption," as Craig Custance goes inside Team USA.

In case you missed this from your friends at ESPN

Great reporting here from Emily on the women's hockey boycott that could kill off the NHWL.