MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. – Never count out Stewart Friesen.

The native of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, had to take a winner’s provisional just to make the field for Sunday’s Eastern States 200 big-block modified feature at Orange County Fair Speedway, meaning he would start 44th in a stacked field.

The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series championship contender went right to work and marched through the field to win the event for the second-straight year, earning the $40,000 winner’s share in the process.

Using the outside line most of the night, Friesen took the lead for the final time on the 129th circuit after overtaking Billy Decker. Once out front Friesen pulled away, beating Matt Sheppard to the checkered flag by more than five seconds.

Decker finished third, followed by Danny Johnson and Larry Wight.

The finish:

Stewart Friesen, Matt Sheppard, Billy Decker, Danny Johnson, Larry Wight, Jimmy Phelps, Tim Fuller, Tim McCreadie, Billy Dunn, Mat Williamson, Erick Rudolph, Pat Ward, Anthony Perrego, Marc Johnson, Peter Britten, Mike Gular, Mike Mahaney, Craig Mitchell, Jessica Friesen, Tyler Boniface, Dillon Steuer, Billy VanInwegen, Danny Creeden, Jeff Strunk, Rich Eurich, J.R. Heffner, Bob Hentschel, Jack Lehner, Rick Laubach, Brett Hearn, L.J. Lombardo, Matt Janiak, Michael Storms, John Ferrier, Max McLaughlin, Jimmy Horton, Matt Hitchcock, Andy Bachetti, Kenny Tremont Jr., C.G. Morey, Jeff Heotzler, Ryan Godown, Tommy Meier, Jerry Higbie.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- This is a weekly overreactions column, but you still want to be careful and make sure you're overreacting, underreacting or simply reacting appropriately, and sometimes you need to see things with your own eyes to be sure. So I came out here to check out the undefeated 49ers, thinking, all right, Carolina's a good team, this'll be a good game.

It was not.

It was a thumping. An assertion of dominance. A straight-up flex. The Niners beat the Panthers 51-13 on Sunday, and it never felt much closer than that score indicates. They rushed for 232 yards. They sacked Kyle Allen seven times. They made twice as many first downs as Carolina did. Nick Bosa had three sacks and an interception, and more or less ate the souls of the two Panthers offensive players who tried (and, barely, succeeded) to prevent him from scoring on the return. Tevin Coleman touched the ball 13 times and scored four touchdowns. The Niners were physically dominant and brilliantly creative, and they did this all to a team with a 4-2 record fresh off its bye week.

"It feels great," linebacker Kwon Alexander said. "7-0 feels great, nothing but great, and I'm ready to be 8-0."

They'll get that chance soon, as they have a game Thursday night in Arizona. The 49ers are getting healthier, and there's a chance starting left tackle Joe Staley will return for the game. They're flying as high as any team in the league and see no reason this can't continue.

"Our run game, it's unbelievable," tight end George Kittle told me. "Our style is different from anyone else's in the league. We're out there moving people. The tight end, the fullback, the running back, we're going. We're not duck walking. We're full sprinting off the ball, right from the get-go, and that's different from the way most teams do it. And I love it, because it gets the defense on its heels and we just take it from there."

Take it they did, and given the caliber of opponent it may have been the best any NFL team has looked all season. So, because this is an overreaction column -- for more, check out NFL Live at 2:30 p.m. ET Monday on ESPN and the ESPN app -- I figured we'd start right there:

The 49ers are the best team in the NFL

The verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION. And before you come at me, yes, of course the 8-0 Patriots are the defending Super Bowl champions and have earned the right to be considered the league's best team until someone beats them. I'm not sitting here saying the 49ers are better. I'm saying it's not an overreaction to say the 49ers are better. As in, you could make a convincing case.

San Francisco's offense certainly looks better (and healthier) than New England's. And while its defense doesn't score as many touchdowns, it's right there with the Patriots statistically this season. The Niners will have to keep their foot on the gas with Seattle and the Rams right behind them in the NFC West, while the Patriots' nearest challenger is a Buffalo team that got knocked down to earth on Sunday by the backs-to-the-wall Eagles. So we'll find out.

But right now, Kyle Shanahan's bunch is doing everything right and in position to be the team that gets a shot to take down Bill Belichick's in Miami in early February.

The Bears need to bench Mitchell Trubisky

Earlier in the day, the Bears lost to the Chargers to fall to 3-4, which means they've already lost as many regular-season games as they did all of 2018 and it's not even Halloween yet. And yeah, they lost on a missed field goal, which is its own huge, haunted thing in Chicago these days. And yeah, Trubisky did move them down the field to get into position for that potentially game-winning field goal. But man, did Chicago's third-year quarterback look bad prior to that.

Trubisky was 23-for-35 for just 253 yards, so 7.2 yards per attempt, which isn't impressive. He threw an interception and lost a fumble and continues to look like a mess from a footwork and timing standpoint. This was supposed to be a big year for Trubisky, and so far he's a big part of the Bears' problem.

The verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION. What the future holds for Trubisky in Chicago remains a mystery. He has one year left on his rookie deal after this, and the team will hold a fifth-year option for 2021, which at this point you have to think they may not exercise. (FUN FACT: Since Trubisky was a top-10 pick, his option salary will be higher than Deshaun Watson's!)

But the point here is about the now, and this is a season that is about to slip away from the Bears if it hasn't already. They came in with massive hopes, a still-mighty defense and (though it's hard to remember right now) plans to run the ball and win grind-it-out games. Based on what Trubisky has shown this season, Chase Daniel might give them a better chance to get back to that formula and try to stay within shouting distance of Green Bay and Minnesota in a tough NFC North.

It may be too late, but it may not, and sticking with Trubisky through this developmental roadside ditch could cost them a chance to find out.

At least one of this year's rookie head coaches will be one-and-done, Steve Wilks-style

Looking at you, Freddie Kitchens. And don't laugh, Adam Gase. Things are getting ugly out there for the first-year guys, and teams aren't very patient these days.

Matt LaFleur is 7-1 with the Packers, but the other seven teams that changed coaches in the offseason are a combined 10-40-1. In the group, Arizona's Kliff Kingsbury has the best record at 3-4-1, while Cincinnati's Zac Taylor has the worst at 0-8. (Miami's Brian Flores is 0-6 heading into Monday Night's matchup with Pittsburgh.)

The verdict: OVERREACTION.

Miami is in a rebuild and likely to stick with Flores unless something wild happens (like Jim Harbaugh deciding to leave Michigan). Taylor's Bengals are a wreck, but it's hard to see them making a change after one season. (Taylor's predecessor, after all, lasted 16 years.) Arizona just did this last year, so you have to think they won't do it again. So that leaves Vic Fangio in Denver, Bruce Arians in Tampa Bay, Kitchens in Cleveland and Gase with the Jets.

Gase has assumed even more power since getting the job, so you have to think he's safe. Arians isn't likely to get fired and doesn't seem like the type to pack it in after only one year. Fangio could be in some trouble, I guess, if they draft a QB and want a coach to develop him. And Kitchens is the most at-risk of the group because of the potential for things to unravel in an ugly way in Cleveland.

But owners and GMs don't love admitting they were wrong, and the one-and-done thing with coaches usually requires some unusual circumstance. At this point, it's too early to know if anything heinous enough is going to transpire in any of these places to warrant this.

Cam Newton will get his job back

The flip side to the 49ers' offensive outburst Sunday was another dominant performance by their defense, which delivered Kyle Allen his first loss as Carolina's quarterback. Allen was 19-for-37 for 158 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions in the loss, took those aforementioned seven sacks and posted a miserably low Total QBR of 17.5.

The Niners defense has been making a lot of quarterbacks look bad, and Carolina's line had no answers for Bosa & Co., but there was no way to sugarcoat this performance by the previously very impressive Allen.

The verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION, mainly because everything I was told prior to the game indicated that the plan was to go back to Newton once he's healthy.

The Panthers don't know when that will be, but Newton made the trip here and looked spry running around on the field before the game. Had Allen played well and won the game, it might have been tougher for the Panthers to sell a return to Newton, who has lost his last eight starts. But there's no question the ceiling is higher with Newton, and the Panthers are still in contention. If he's healthy enough to play Sunday against the Titans, it wouldn't be a shock to see him out there.

"Cam's in the middle of a rehab thing with the trainers," Panthers offensive coordinator Norv Turner told me before the game. "There's a process he has to go through to get ready to play, physically, first, and it's not in anybody's best interest to even have a conversation about it until he's ready to go.

"Cam's been an MVP, he was playing at an MVP level last year when he got hurt, and I would expect him to do that again. The history is incredible, and you can't base a decision solely on that, but early last year, he was rolling pretty good, and he's capable of doing that again."

The Bengals are worse than the Dolphins

Cincinnati fell to 0-8 on Sunday with a 24-10 loss to the Rams in London. On defense, the Bengals made the curious decision to not cover Cooper Kupp, who went for 220 yards on seven catches. On offense ... well, at least they were better than they were last week, and they didn't turn it over. They actually had more yards and more time of possession than the Rams did, but again, just the 10 points.

They've scored more than 17 points in a game just twice all season. They've allowed at least 21 in every game. It's their worst start in 11 years, and again, this is the Bengals. Worst anything in 11 years is significant when you're talking about the Bengals.

The verdict: OVERREACTION. Hey, the Bengals have a terrible team this season -- don't get me wrong. But the only way anyone can claim a 2019 team is worse than Miami is on a day in which Miami didn't play.

The Dolphins play the Steelers on Monday Night (8:15 ET on ESPN and the ESPN app) and the strong likelihood is that everyone will feel silly for thinking even for a second that they aren't the worst team in the league. For goodness' sake, they've been outscored by an average of 25 points per game.

But in case you doubt me, in case you want proof of which of these teams is worse, there is good news! The Bengals and the Dolphins will play each other in Week 16.

Cardiff athlete clocks 31:34 in Leeds on a busy weekend which also includes the Valencia half-marathon, Dublin Marathon and IAU 24H World Championships

A report on the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon, won by Valary Jemeli Aiyabei and Fikre Tefera and featuring a Scottish record by Steph Twell, can be found here, while other recent highlights are below.

Age UK Leeds Abbey Dash, October 27

Charlotte Arter ran 31:34 for the fourth best ever legal British 10km time behind Paula Radcliffe’s 30:21, Liz McColgan’s 30:39 and Wendy Sly’s 31:29. Gemma Steel has clocked 31:26 but that was achieved on an overall downhill course.

Cardiff’s Arter claimed victory in Leeds ahead of Abbie Donnelly in 32:00 and Beth Potter with 32:05. Jess Judd was fourth in 32:11.

Presentations at the Age UK Leeds Abbey Dash 10km with wins for Charlotte Arter and Omar Ahmed pic.twitter.com/4BY0wRfPua

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) October 27, 2019

The men’s race was won by Omar Ahmed as he clocked 28:38 to finish one second ahead of Ross Millington. Adam Craig was third in 28:45 as nine athletes went sub-29 minutes and 29 went sub-30:00.

Valencia Half Marathon Trinidad Alfonso EDP, Spain, October 27

There was an Ethiopian double as Yomif Kejelcha won the men’s race and Senbere Teferi the women’s.

Kejelcha won in 59:05, a couple of seconds ahead of Kenya’s Benard Kipkorir Ngeno, with Ethiopia’s Jemal Yimer third and Kenya’s Leonard Barsoton fourth.

Norway’s Sondre Nordstad Moen was eighth in 60:14, while Isle of Man’s Ollie Lockley ran a PB of 63:01 for 31st and his fellow Brit Jack Gray was two places back in a PB of 63:15.

After leading the women’s race through 5km in 15:19, Sifan Hassan – who had an eye on the world record – suffered a heavy fall and was four seconds behind Senbere Teferi and Joan Chelimo at 10km, as the pair passed that point on world record pace of 30:43.

Teferi and Chelimo went through 15km in 46:16, with Hassan 16 seconds back, but the Dutch runner worked her way back to second, clocking 65:53 behind Teferi’s Ethiopian record 65:32. Chelimo was third in 66:09.

USA’s Molly Huddle was seventh in 69:35, while Britain’s Lily Partridge was 11th in 71:58 as she continues her marathon preparations and Ireland’s Emma Mitchell ran a 72:28 PB one place behind her.

KBC Dublin Marathon, Ireland, October 27

Morocco’s Othmane El Goumri, who was banned from 2016-18 due to biological passport irregularities, won the 40th edition of the event in a course record of 2:08:05.

Stephen Scullion ran the race of his life to finish second in 2:12:01, breaking the Northern Ireland record just three weeks after finishing 43rd in the World Championships marathon.

‘Best day of my life’ Stephen Scullion in second overall and national champion in 2:12:01 pic.twitter.com/mmtkncqX6S

— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) October 27, 2019

Motu Gedefa (2:27:48), Mesera Dubiso (2:28:29) and Denbali Chefo (2:29:51) claimed an Ethiopian clean sweep in the women’s race, with Britain’s Natasha Cockram finishing fifth in 2:30:50 for a PB and Welsh record.

IAU 24H World Championships, Albi, France, October 26-27

USA’s Camille Heron won the women’s world 24-hour title in France, improving her world record to 270km (167 miles).

Leading Brits were Jessica Baker (227km) in 16th, Catherine Simpson (220km) and Wendy Whearity (217km).

Aleksandr Sorokin of Lithuania won the men’s title with 278km (172 miles) as Paul Maskell was top Brit in 15th with 251km. James Stewart ran 250km and Dan Lawson 244km.

USA gained gold in both team events. Their men achieved 799.754km ahead of Hungary’s 782.241km and France’s 779.076km, while the women achieved 746.132km ahead of Poland’s 721.124km and Germany’s 696.846km.

Britain’s women were fifth and men sixth.

Lindsays Scottish National XC Relays, Cumbernauld, October 26

Central AC made it seven wins in eight years in the senior men’s race and Edinburgh Uni Hare and Hounds made it four-in-a-row with senior women’s gold.

Callum Hawkins returned to his cross country roots, racing for the first time since his fourth place finish in the world championships marathon, helping his Kilbarchan AAC team to silver. Inverclyde AC were third.

Cameron Milne and Conan McCaughey flew in from Holland and Ireland respectively to help Central AC’s cause and they had their team in second at the halfway stage. Alastair Hay duly pushed them into first and did well only to concede five seconds to Hawkins before Jamie Crowe brought it home.

Edinburgh Uni were seventh after the opening leg from Rebecca Johnson – with Fife AC’s Jenny Selman and Eloise Walker of Glasgow Uni out in front – but Constance Nankivel brought the students into a lead they never relinquished via third leg runner Eilidh Jaffray and Holly Page.

Edinburgh AC were second in the senior women’s event and Giffnock North third.

Giffnock won the young males race, while Fife claimed victory in the young females race.

British Masters Cross Country Relay Championships, Long Eaton, October 26

Salford Harriers dominated the younger men’s age groups as they took both M35 and M45 five-stage titles, writes Martin Duff.

Their Carl Hardman and Mark Russell were fastest in the M35 and M45 races respectively over a slightly shortened course that was waterlogged and with one flooded section where the water came up to the shorts of some runners.

Lucy Elliott was fastest among the women as she led Winchester to the W45 title and the 53-year-old ran two seconds quicker than top W35 Chrissie Dover of Derby. However, it was Bristol & West who narrowly won the W35 event.

Elsewhere among the women, Steel City took the two oldest age groups while Barnet relieved Oxford City of the M65 title but Stan Owen was again the fastest in this group.

Loughborough, October 25

World T38 long jump champion Olivia Breen warmed up for the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai with a best leap of 4.70m.

World T44 champion Stef Reid recorded a best mark of 5.19m.

Zak Skinner achieved a best of 6.40m and Luke Sinnott 5.19m.

Ljubljana Marathon, Slovenia, October 27

Kelkile Gezahegn of Ethiopia won the men’s race in 2:07:29, while Kenya’s Bornes Chepkirui set a women’s course record of 2:21:26.

Huawei Venice Marathon, Italy, October 27

Ethiopia’s Tesfaye Anbesa Lencho and Kenya’s Judith Korir won, running respective PBs of 2:10:49 and 2:29:20.

Roger Federer has withdrawn from this week's Paris Masters in order to "pace himself", with next month's ATP Finals in London on the horizon.

The 38-year-old is playing in his 22nd season on the ATP Tour and won a record-extending 10th Swiss Indoors championship title on Sunday.

"I am extremely disappointed to have to pull out," Federer said.

"I want to play as long as possible on the Tour. I'm sorry for my French fans who I'll see at Roland Garros in 2020."

The world number three has already secured a spot in the ATP Finals, which start on 10 November at the O2 Arena.

World number one Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas are the other five to have guaranteed a place, with the Paris Masters set to determine who clinches the final two spots.

Alex Ovechkin doesn't just believe his team's No. 1 defenseman, John Carlson, should win his first Norris Trophy. The Washington Capitals captain kicked off an all-out blitz campaign as the team toured Western Canada this week. It began with Ovechkin declaring, in Calgary, that he had a preferred hashtag: #Johnny4Norris.

"That's the hashtag right now," Ovechkin said. "Let's keep it going."

John Carlson (@JohnCarlson74) for the Norris Trophy? ?

Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8) says let the campaigning begin. pic.twitter.com/78NGB35GqH

— NHL (@NHL) October 23, 2019

It continued in Edmonton, when a reporter began asking a question about Carlson.

"Sorry," Ovechkin said, interrupting the question. "John Norris."

Alex Ovechkin when Oilers media asked him about John Carlson ... "Sorry, John Norris." ? #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/4vNYE7CLWP

— Here's Your Replay ⬇️ (@HeresYourReplay) October 24, 2019

Carlson's take on the extra attention from his teammates?

"They're all over me all the time about it," Carlson said in a phone interview this week. "I can't say I like the attention, but I appreciate everyone standing up for me."

Ovechkin's campaign has its merits. The 29-year-old Carlson is blazing through October at a historic pace. "I've seen some pretty hot starts," reigning Norris winner Mark Giordano told NHL.com this week, of Carlson. "But I've never seen something quite like this."

Carlson not only leads defensemen, but he's second among all skaters, with 21 points through 13 games. He's on pace for 132 points this season. For context: in the last 30 years, the highest-scoring defensemen were Paul Coffey and Al MacInnis, both with 103-point seasons.

Carlson is also just four points shy from matching MacInnis' 1990-91 record for points by a defenseman in October, with one game left (Tuesday at the Maple Leafs) to do it. Sixteen of Carlson's points are assists; most of his production is at even strength, too. Only six of his points are from the power play.

"I've been playing well the last couple years," Carlson said. "I don't know if this year is too much different. I'm just getting good fortunate bounces, getting lucky a couple times. I think I made a lot of good plays, but this year the good plays that I make, the guys seem to be scoring on."

Carlson isn't necessarily shooting more; he's on pace for about 177 shots; he had 185 last season and his career-high is 237, set in 2017-18. However, the quality of his chances may have improved thanks to a new system brought in by coach Todd Reirden. If you've watched the Capitals this season, they've looked a tad different than years past. "We've changed our style a bit," Carlson said. "We're in the learning process right now and we're getting caught a little bit here or there, as expected, but overall everyone is sticking to it really well. We're playing a little more up-tempo -- a speed game that fits our team right now."

As for how it affects the offense, well, they're a bit more aggressive, for starters.

"We have a pretty specific attack in how to score goals in the offensive zone -- never mind off the rush, that's pretty cut and dry across the league," Carlson said. "In the zone, we're a little more aggressive with the D. We never really pinch down as much as we do now, pretty much in my whole career -- except maybe when Bruce [Boudreau] was here, it was a little more aggressive. So that's a big change. I think that brings us four or five feet closer to the net and opportunities to shoot or have a dangerous shot."

One thing that constantly comes up in meetings: not harping on the quantity of shots, but rather the quality of shots.

"We talk about that all the time as a team," Carlson said. "So sometimes that means passing up on certain shots that will have no effect on the goalie and maybe increase his confidence."

Carlson has been one of the best defensemen in the league for some time. So it feels a bit unsavory that only now is he getting Norris attention because of his eye-popping offensive totals. Carlson says he's not dismayed by it.

"It's the constant debate that I hear when it comes to the Norris," Carlson says. "This guy is only offensive, this guy is only defensive. In reality, it should be the best defenseman; take any team in the league, if they could choose a defenseman, that's who it should be."

When asked what he likes best about his game, he said: "I take pride in doing everything. I take pride in killing penalties and in what I do on the power play and at five-on-five. I play against a lot of top players on other teams, so that's what I think of going into every game."

Jump ahead:
Emptying the notebook | What we liked this week
Three stars of the week | Biggest games coming up

Emptying the notebook

I talked to Carlson on Friday afternoon before the team's game against the Canucks that night. I bring this up, because the timing is important -- and it makes Carlson look smart. I asked Carlson if he's noticed any league-wide trends a few weeks into the season. Here's his response: "Things feel more offensive. I don't know statistically if there's more goals, but it does feel like scoring has been up a little bit. Everyone is in every game, whether that is the first place team versus the last place team, or throughout a game the back-and-forth lead changes feel like it's been a little more wide open than in years past. Anything can happen at any time against any opponent. That's how I feel." What happens later that night? The Capitals overcome a four-goal deficit against the Canucks to win in overtime. Pretty wild. Also wild: the Capitals had lost their previous 50 games when trailing by at least four goals.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Washington became the second team with a four-goal comeback this season -- the Jets did it against the Devils on Oct. 4 -- which marked just the fifth four-goal comeback win in the NHL in the last 10 seasons.

I asked Carlson, upon reflection, how real the Stanley Cup hangover was. He admitted last year's training camp was a bit more difficult to get through -- and the team felt like they were "catching up a little bit."

"But as the season went on, I didn't feel any different," Carlson said. "By opening night, I felt just as good as I would on any opening game. I really didn't feel less energetic or less motivated. I don't buy into the whole hangover thing; if anything, it gives you a little bit more momentum. Also, for our team, especially with having Ovi and the top guys we've had my whole career, we're always getting everyone's best effort every night. We were never sneaking up on teams over the last seven, eight, nine, 10 years."

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy was a terrific guest on ESPN on Ice this week. I highly recommend you check out the entire interview, but I found this to be a very honest answer on the Bruins' goaltending split -- and if teams need to rely on two goaltenders to win in the modern NHL. "I don't know if you have to," Cassidy said. "We do it that way because the data's told us that Tuukka [Rask] has a certain workload where he's performed better. It's a lot closer to 50 games than it is to 65. The other part of it is that we have a really good backup. We trust him. It started with [Anton] Khudobin, who was good for us, and then [Jaroslav] Halak. Part of it is that. If your team doesn't have confidence in the guy going in 35 times a year, then that's a problem. So we're lucky that way. That's how we go about it, and we're not going to change. The game is harder on goalies. It's faster, more physical around the net. I think their workload is harder than it was in the past."

At the espnW summit in Newport Beach this past week, Kendall Coyne Schofield and John Langel spoke on a panel about equal pay. Langel, the attorney at Ballard Spahr who is working with the 200-plus women's players boycotting professional hockey this year, explicitly called out the NHL to get involved with women's professional hockey.

"We haven't been too secretive about it," Langel said. "The WNBA has the NBA alongside it. The National Women's Soccer League is formed by U.S. Soccer -- well-heeled, smart, soccer people. They engage MLS teams; half the teams are owned by MLS franchises. Our league, the WUSA, had Comcast, Fox Communications, Time Warner, Discovery all behind it, putting in millions of dollars, but they weren't soccer-savvy. For the women's team league to survive, they need the established identity that hits the ground running and knows how to run the sport. And we've not been secretive about it. We think the one viable option is the WNHL. And that's what we're moving towards."

Coyne Schofield was as strong as I've ever heard her on the topic of professional women's hockey.

"I think we want to go to where the WNBA is today," Coyne Schofield said. "Now we have to go over 20 years back, and that's where hockey is today. We don't have a professional league that's sustainable. There's a few professional leagues -- one folded in April this year, one is still going -- but they are simply being labeled as professional. They're not acting as professional. There's not one thing that's been professional about the league. The product, the treatment of the players, the pay."

Along that topic, I spoke with WNBA players union president Nneka Oguwmike at the summit. I thought these comments about the WNBA/NBA relationship were especially interesting, if you think about the NHL getting involved with a woman's league.

"Without the NBA, we wouldn't be here," Ogwumike said. "I think that it is true: We do need the support of men's leagues, to be honest. I was talking with Kendall [Coyne Schofield], and she was saying, we just need the NHL to buy in. Quite frankly, that's a big reason why we're successful: because we have a brother league that helped get us started and helped sustain us. I think that maybe complacency with initial success has kind of slowed things down, progressively, for us. I think that as the game grows, we have to grow the business. We find ourselves in a moment where we can't continue to do the same old thing. That same old thing may work to get a league started as the women in hockey are looking to do. But to sustain it, you have to invest in it as much as you have in the men's league."

Three Stars of the Week

Pekka Rinne, G, Nashville Predators

The Predators' offense looks fantastic right now (leading the league with 4.09 goals per game) but let's not overlook Rinne's strong play. The Nashville goaltender won his two starts this week, stopping 52 of 53 shots for a .981 save percentage.

Brad Marchand, LW, Boston Bruins

The Bruins had a strong week -- defeating the rival Maple Leafs, blanking the Blues in a Stanley Cup rematch then thrashing the Rangers on Sunday night. Brad Marchand was a big part of that, tallying three goals and five assists in three games last week.

Brayden Schenn, C, St. Louis Blues

The Blues are still working out some early-season funks, and they could be without Vladimir Tarasenko, who missed this weekend's games with an upper-body injury. Lucky, the newly extended Schenn has stepped up offensively, with four goals in four games.

What we liked this past week

• Gary Bettman with a decent deadpan? Say it ain't so!

#NHL commissioner Gary Bettman asked about playoff format at #HeritageClassic event: "We think the format we have works extremely well ... unless you're a Leafs fan."

— Donna Spencer (@DLSpencer10) October 25, 2019

• This play by Predators goalie Pekka Rinne -- to shovel the puck above Eric Staal's head, to avoid a delay of game penalty after skating far outside his crease -- is quite creative, and well-executed.

• Kudos to Stanley Cup champion (and Capitals folk-hero) Devante Smith-Pelly for finding a new hockey home. He has reportedly signed with the Kunlun Red Star of the KHL.

• Interesting story on the Blue Jackets website about a team-wide sleep study. I recommend you read the whole thing. This quote from Pierre-Luc Dubois, though, is all-time beauty: "Sometimes you start watching 'Love Island' and you don't want to go to bed because you are like, 'Oh, what is going to happen next?' You stay up for another hour, and then you're not tired anymore. It's just being mature about it."

• Nice to see Daniel Sedin still getting after it, finishing a marathon in under three hours. What a world class athlete. Notably missing in this photo? Henrik. You're on the clock, bro.

We congrats Daniel Sedin for running his 1st long-race, the TCS Amsterdam Marathon the other day. Only 2% of all marathoners ever runs a sub-3 Mara. Danny finished his first marathon race in 2.57...?? Simply amazing, if not unique. I am sure Henrik soon will try to match that. pic.twitter.com/1LravR2Ry9

— Claes Elefalk (@elefalk) October 24, 2019

What we didn't like this past week

• Concerned and monitoring the situation around Vladimir Tarasenko, who stayed home from the Blues' recent road trip, including a rematch of the Stanley Cup final with a visit to the Bruins. The star winger (10 points in 10 games so far) will be re-evaluated on Monday after suffering an upper-body injury versus the Kings on Thursday night.

• You have to feel for 19-year-old Flyers rookie Joel Farabee. He appeared to have scored his first NHL goal on the road in Chicago this week -- only to have it called back for offsides. He then appeared to record his first NHL assist. Again, it was called back for offsides. Both times, linemate Kevin Hayes was the culprit. Farabee did get his first assist later in the game. Naturally, it was Hayes who scored.

• Rangers rookie Kaapo Kakko is awesome when he's confident and happy. We don't like hearing these quotes from sad Kakko, who endured a bit of a slump as the Rangers endured a five-game losing streak. "Hockey isn't very much fun for me right now," Kakko told Finland's Eastside Media earlier in the week, according to a translation from reporter Pasi Tuominen. "Things haven't been working out, and sometimes I feel like I could be on the ice a bit more. It would be cool to get a chance on the first line at some point. I understand that it hasn't been realistic so far, since I haven't really showed much."

Games of the week

Tuesday, Oct. 29: Washington Capitals at Toronto Maple Leafs

See if John Carlson can match Al Macinnis' record for points for a defenseman in October! But also see some exciting, wide-open hockey. These are two of the top four scoring teams in the league.

Thursday, Oct. 31: Montreal Canadiens at Vegas Golden Knights (ESPN+)

What's spookier than Halloween hockey? Well, a lot actually. But this isn't a bad plan if you're manning the door waiting for trick-or-treaters.

Friday, Nov. 1: Dallas Stars at Colorado Avalanche (ESPN+)

Don't look now, but the Stars could be climbing their way out of the early mess, winning three of their last four. The Avs are the team to beat in the West, especially after a thrashing of Vegas last week.

Quote of the week

After the Blue Jackets beat the Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime, John Tortorella had a message for those who doubted his team this season:

#CBJ coach John Tortorella: "We're supposed to suck this year."

— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) October 22, 2019

Pep Guardiola has questioned whether Manchester City can continue to cope with their lengthy injury list.

The champions are without Aymeric Laporte, Leroy Sane, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Rodri, and coach Guardiola has said the number of absentees is a becoming a concern as they attempt to chase down league leaders Liverpool.

"The problem for the short term, we can handle it. For a long time, I don't know," Guardiola said.

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"Of course, against top, top, top, top teams when you don't have players playing in their own position, I don't know what's going to happen."

After beating Aston Villa 3-0 on Saturday, City are back in action against Southampton in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.

As well as the players sidelined through injury, Guardiola will be without Fernandinho after the Brazil international was sent off against Villa.

"We don't have Fernandinho for the Carabao Cup, we have to play another one," Guardiola said.

"We have an academy and we have other solutions, and when the spirit is correct and you want to help, always you go through. It is what it is.

"These situations exist in football, especially in one season, one long season."

City face Southampton twice in the space of five days this week with Ralph Hasenhuttl's side back at the Etihad Stadium in the league on Saturday.

The Carabao Cup tie is Southampton's first game following their 9-0 mauling by Leicester at St Mary's on Friday and Guardiola is wary of a team be believes will be keen to bounce back quickly.

"It's not easy, but they are incredible professionals," he said.

"The manager will be sad for a moment, for one night, but after that they have to move forward.

"They will try to do their best so I am not going to judge them on or prepare to play against them based on what happened against Leicester, so it's a little bit strange."

Southampton players and coaching staff have pledged to donate their wages from Friday's humiliating 9-0 defeat by Leicester City to the club's charitable foundation in an attempt to put things right with their supporters.

Leicester recorded the biggest English top-flight away win by thrashing 10-man Southampton at St Mary's, with hat tricks from Ayoze Perez and Jamie Vardy helping to inflict Saints' worst home defeat in their 133-year history.

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"The squad has been working on putting things right for the club's supporters," Southampton said in a statement.

"As the first step towards that, the group has decided that they wish to donate their wages from the day of the Leicester game to Saints Foundation, in order to help the vital work that is conducted by the charity."

No more talking. No more messages.#SaintsFC manager Ralph Hasenhüttl says the only suitable response now can come via his team's actions: pic.twitter.com/jERucgJ799

— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) October 27, 2019

The players would look to make further amends in the upcoming double-header against Manchester City, who Southampton face first in the League Cup on Tuesday and then in the Premier League on Saturday.

Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl said his team would not stay up this season unless they found a way to improve.

"We must know that when we play like this, we have no chance to stay in this league, that is for sure," he told reporters. "Everybody knows this. It's about us now, to try and find a way to do better than this."

The defeat sent Southampton, who lost Ryan Bertrand to an early red card, into the relegation zone, while Leicester stayed third in the table, eight points behind leaders Liverpool.

Lionel Messi has said he does not like to be substituted and would rather start the game from the bench.

In the past, the Barcelona captain has refused to be taken out of a game even when his team is winning by a big margin.

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"I don't like to be replaced," Messi told TyC Sports. "I prefer to come from the bench and play less than to be taken out.

"I say that because a lot of games are resolved near the end of the game, or you find more spaces then because you have more rivals that are tired. I prefer to come in and enjoy it than to leave and miss out on the best."

Messi has scored 674 goals in 829 games for Barcelona and Argentina but said scoring is just one facet of his game.

"I still think I'm not the typical goalscorer," he said. "I prefer to come from behind, to have more contact with the ball, create.

"I also like to get there in the box and score but I don't live off [scoring] goals. I like to be in constant contact with the ball.

"I have learned to adjust myself in a game and find that moment. There are times when I don't need to get involved and then I wait for that moment when I think that is the right time to give that physical wear.

"I have grown in terms of reading the game better. To know at what moment and where I can be more effective and crucial."

Messi also said he would not trade all of his club achievements to have won the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Germany beat Argentina 1-0 in that final and Messi declared he would not have changed his career to win that competition.

"I would have loved to have been world champion and it was one of my biggest dreams, but I would not change anything," he added.

"It's what God gave me and it was for a reason. I cannot complain about what I have from a football and personal standpoint. It happened like that because God wanted it and that's that."

Hamish Rutherford, the New Zealand batsman, will return to Worcestershire as their overseas player for the whole of their 2020 campaign.

Rutherford twice filled in as a replacement for Callum Ferguson in 2019, making a pair of 50-over hundreds - against Lancashire and Northants - and another on his Championship debut.

He was flown into Sri Lanka by New Zealand in September for his first international game in four years - though was out first ball as he missed the T20 Blast quarter-finals - but is unlikely to be absent due to international duty much next season.

"I am really excited to be returning to New Road for the 2020 season," Rutherford said.

"I really enjoyed my two stints with the club last season and hopefully I can contribute to some success for the club next year. I look forward to catching up with my team-mates and support staff in April."

Paul Pridgeon, the club's cricket steering group chairman, said that signing Rutherford for the full season would be "really good for continuity".

"He did well for us and we thought trying to sign him for the entire summer was worth persevering with," Pridgeon said. "He is available for all cricket.

"Hamish was very keen to come back, he is enthusiastic and has gelled with the rest of the lads in the dressing room."