AVONDALE, Ariz. - Matt Kenseth did his best to put on a brave face following his worst performance of the season, which just happened to come at the worst possible time in his championship battle with Jimmie Johnson. Dark sunglasses shielded the disappointment in Kenseths eyes when he climbed from his car. His voice cracked just once during what was clearly a concession speech. Instead of harping on the negatives — he was saddled with an ill-handling car all day at Phoenix International Raceway and every fix crew chief Jason Ratcliff attempted only made it worse — Kenseth focused on the positives. His first season with Joe Gibbs Racing has been the best of his 14 years in the Sprint Cup Series. He won a career-best seven races, added a Southern 500 victory to his resume and crossed Chicago, Darlington, Kentucky and New Hampshire off the list of active tracks where hed never won a Cup race. And at 41 years old, a decade removed from his only Cup championship, Kenseth was in the mix again. Although Kenseth is still mathematically eligible to win the title, his 23rd-place finish at Phoenix sends him into Sundays finale at Homestead trailing Johnson by 28 points. It would take a massive failure for Johnson not to win his sixth championship. "You hope to go down to Homestead and race for it on performance," Kenseth said. "On the other hand, Im extremely happy. Im really, really happy with my team. Its a special group of guys. Weve had just an amazing, incredible season and we still have one week left. Hopefully, we can go to Homestead and go down there and contend for a win." It was an admirable post-race performance on an abominable day for Kenseth and the entire No. 20 team that came out of nowhere at a time when there was zero margin for error. The rest of the garage had noted from the opening practice Friday that Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team had shifted into another gear. Coming off a rout of the field at Texas, the No. 48 team gave every indication it was poised to do the same at Phoenix. Joey Logano said Johnson was in "kill mode" and Kenseth teammate Denny Hamlin sounded as if a Johnson title was inevitable. "I think everyone in the garage knows that they can turn it up at will, and this is typically the time of year they start doing that, especially when they are in championship contention," Hamlin said. With the pressure on, Kenseth had to be perfect. Instead, his car was terrible from the start, every adjustment backfired and strategy didnt play into Ratcliffs hands. When the crew chief tried to make a call on the fly, it led to a botched pit stop that put Kenseth down two laps from the leaders. "Itd be great if we came in here and everything worked out like we had on paper, you went out and won the race and go to Homestead tied," Ratcliff shrugged. "Thats why its so hard to win these championships. People work their guts out for them and theyre very rewarding when you do get them." Ratcliff called it "a pretty rough day," but noted the No. 20 team had very few of those this year — Kenseth had two engine failures and a crash that contributed to three of his five finishes worse than 23rd this season — and that on this particular Sunday, things just spiraled out of control quickly in a sport that moves at almost 200 mph. "Everybodys going to say, Oh, the pressure got to them," Ratcliff said. "Just poor execution on a track thats so hard to pass. Youre trying to make up for something that happened earlier and it just snowballs on you." This is a team that led just 190 laps a year ago when Joey Logano drove the car and Ratcliff won his first race as a Sprint Cup crew chief. This is a team that took Kenseth to New Hampshire, where hed led 89 laps in 26 previous races and hadnt finished in the top-five since 2005, and got him to Victory Lane for the first time in his career. The New Hampshire victory marked back-to-back wins to open the Chase and put Johnson on alert. After Johnson moved into the points lead heading into Martinsville, the No. 20 team went into another one of Kenseths weaker tracks and delivered a second-place finish that tied the championship race. Sometimes, people just have bad days. Sunday was one of them for Kenseth and crew. It was the wrong day against the wrong opponent, and behind his sunglasses, Kenseth had to be wondering if hell ever have an opportunity like this again. But deep down, he knew this season itself was one to be treasured. "Disappointing day here, but yet what a great season," he said. "I really appreciate this whole group. Theres not a car out here Id rather be driving than this one. Im a pretty lucky guy." 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In the calls, Hernandez discussed the murder of Odin Lloyd, including his "belief about his criminal liability" and the "extent of his control over persons charged as accessories," according to the request filed Thursday in Fall River Superior Court.The post-Olympic NHL is buzzing with rumors of trade talk between the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning involving some significant pieces – Ranger captain Ryan Callahan and Lightning captain Marty St. Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less.2. The real question, though, is what is the latest and greatest information. Or, in other words, is this a story that is a couple of weeks old, just now finally coming to light and perhaps outdated? If its the latter, and either Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman doesnt intend to trade St. Louis or St. Louis doesnt want to be traded (he has a full No Move Clause), one or both of them may want to put the kaibosh on this story real fast now that theyre back from Sochi. Thats their call, but the Lighting are an Eastern Conference contender and letting this take on a life of its own is going to make for an unsettled week to 10 days leading up to the March 5 trade deadline. Ultimately, the larger issue is where is St. Louiss mindset at right now? Does he want to remain captain of the Lightning? There is reason to believe in the immediate aftermath of his Jan. 7 snub from the Canadian Olympic team, in some form or another, St. Louis indicated to the Bolts he may look favorably on a move out of Tampa. We have to be careful here not to get too hung up on semantics. Was it a trade demand? A trade request? A conversation? Was it St. Louis speaking directly to Yzerman or was it some form of communication between St. Louiss agent Lewis Gross and the organization? While none of the principals were confirming or denying anything in those days and weeks after the initial snub, talk in the NHL community was rife that St. Louis wanted out. There was even talk – again, nothing with an absolute confirmation -- that the only place St. Louis would waive his No Move Clause for was the New York Rangers. His off-season hhome is just outside NYC, in Connecticut.dddddddddddd If the NYR or bust account is accurate, it would certainly explain the St. Louis rumors coming out of NYC the last few days and the talk of Callahan for St. Louis. But heres the problem on that front. Tampa, especially now that Steven Stamkos is closer to returning, is a potential Eastern contender. St. Louis is a huge part of the Lightning attack and if you take a primary offensive catalyst out of the Bolts lineup now, its difficult to believe it could be accomplished with Ranger captain Callahan coming the other way on an expiring contract. Yzerman would want and need more from the Rangers than that. And as long as we presume the Lightning want to remain a contender in the East this season, trading St. Louis for future considerations or younger, unproven players presents its own set of unique problems in the short term. As for the Rangers, theyre not about to start giving up draft picks, prospects or young players for a 38-year-old. So the Tampa-NYR fit doesnt appear to be there. Even if there were a fit, when its all said and done, nothing happens if St. Louis doesnt want it to happen. His NMC guarantees that. If he feels more strongly about staying in Tampa now that hes played for Team Canada in the Olympics than he may have in the aftermath of the Jan. 7 snub, then the trade stories out of NYC are old news recycled as new. But if St. Louis would look favorably on a move now, even if its only to NYC, then the ball is back squarely in the Lightnings court to decide if theres any desire to oblige him and whether theres even a deal to be made. The way I see it, Yzerman isnt making any move in the short term unless it totally suits his purposes and IF he is contemplating trading St. Louis, it may make as much or more sense to do it in the summer as now. Or maybe St. Louis and the Lightning are going to live happily ever after. If thats the case, theyll no doubt let us know. Or not. In the meantime, well just sit tight to see how this one plays out but it sure seems as though it has way too many moving parts.