John Branch of the New York Times has won the 2012 Dart Award for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma for his series “Punched Out: The Life and Death of a Hockey Enforcer,” which chronicles rise and fall of Derek Boogaard, an enforcer who fought his way to the heights of the National Hockey League, but died of an overdose before his 30th birthday, after a prolonged struggle with cognitive decline, substance abuse, and depression.

Branch won the January 2012 Sidney Award for this series, which cast a critical eye on NHL-sanctioned fighting and post-concussion syndrome in hockey.

Once again, the monthly Sidney proves to be a bellwether for major journalism awards. Two recent Sidney winners, Sara Ganim and David Kocieniewski went on to win Pulitzer Prizes this year.

[Photo credit: John Branch accepting the Sidney Award from Hillman Executive Director Alexandra Lescaze. By Lindsay Beyerstein, all rights reserved.]