Controlled Chaos - Bluegrass Derby Standings

Darryl Lozier's lead is becoming increasingly precarious thanks to his poor form where he has won a single event and taken just two top five finishes in the past fourteen weeks, failing to qualify for five other finals in the process. With his win in Louisville Scott Hutchins moves up from sixth to take over second place from the injured Andy Bing, while Will Thompson was the only other member of the top ten to reach the final, gaining a slight bump for his seventh place finish.

Chris Henton moves into that top ten with a runner-up place, joing the one-hundred point club in the process, and Lynne Higgins' third moves her up three spots to thirteenth.

Name	Pts	Derby Wins	Heat Wins
Darryl Lozier	156.5	4	4
Scott Hutchens	143	2	4
Andy Bing	136	4	3
Will Thompson	134.5	1	4
Tom Gariepy	128.5	3
Joe Ramage	121	2	1
Norm Gibson	118.5	2	1
Jamie Eilers	102	2	3
Will Murphy	102		2
Chris Henton	101	1	2
Ben Hadsell	83.5	1	4
Leo May	70		3
Lynne Higgins	66		3
Matt Welliver	60.5	1	3
Steven Redden	57.5		1
John McCrory	57.5		1
Darrell Andresen	52		6
Sam Harbin	50		1
Ricky Grimes	49	1	2
Rob Remaley	45.5		2
Danny Krol	42		4
Jess Yates	40		3
Charlie Clayton	32		2
John Ruiz	31	1	2
Jason Ingle	30.5		2
Randy Corson	30		2
Bobby Gallagher	27		2
Dick Garrett	27		1
Don Davis	25		2
Bob Alexander	22		2
Randy Tondreau	22		1
Reggie Banks	21	1
Ed Smith	15		1
Timmy Barnes	14		1
Philip Ruffin	10		1
Bambi Rogers	5
Kenny Rose	2		1
Billy Edgington	2
Tommy Miller	0

Player of the Game Hockey - NHL 1967/68 Playoff QFs, April 6th 1968

Saturday 6th April 1968
East Division
Boston Bruins @ Montreal Canadiens Game #2
A very exciting game two ended with Montreal in control of the series as Beliveau (4) scored a hat-trick, and Duff (3) scored a pair, while Lamaire (0+3) and Ferguson (0+2) kept the chances flowing. Ferguson was also involved in one of the four fights as the Canadiens out-battled the Bruins in all aspects of the game.

Boston did cancel out Duff's opening goal after two bouts of fisticuffs through Bucyk (1), but still found themselves down 3-1 heading into the first intermission. A shortie from Orr (1) got them as close as 3-2 but Beliveau took over in the second period, leaving two goals from Hodge (2) all but meaningless.

		1st	2nd	3rd	OT	F
BOS	@	1	2	1		4
MON		3	2	2		7

BOS Cheevers (0-2-0 .859 5.00) 35/42, Powerplay 0/3
MON Worsley (2-0-0 .905 3.00) 32/36, Powerplay 2/7

Goalscorers:
First Period
MON Duff (2) Lamaire, Cournoyer 2:51
Fight BOS McKenzie vs Laperriere 3:01
Fight BOS Awrey vs Harris 7:24
BOS Bucyk (1) Stanfield, McKenzie 9:15
MON Cournoyer (2) Vadnais, Lamaire
MON PPG Duff (3) Cournoyer, Lamaire
Second Period
BOS SHG Orr (1) Shack, Esposito 1:10
Fight McKenzie vs Laperriere 5:23
MON PPG Beliveau (2) Ferguson, Rousseau 6:05
MON SHG Beliveau (3) Ferguson 16:14
BOS Hodge (1) Shack, Esposito 18:37
Third Period
BOS Hodge (2) Esposito 3:00
MON Beliveau (4) Ferguson 6:12
Fight Awrey vs Ferguson 12:07
MON G Tremblay (1) Provost 14:27

Montreal leads the best-of-seven series 2-0

West Division
Pittsburgh Penguins @ St Louis Blues Game #2
With the only goal through two periods St Louis looked in good form on the back of B McCreary's (1) tally even though the Blues were edged in shots at that point twenty-two to seventeen. Roll on to the third period and penalty trouble led to Pittsburgh taking full advantage with a pair of powerplay markers as they owned the frame with sixteen shots to the hosts' four.

Stratton (1) and Dea (1) had the game on it's head five minutes in before St Louis were level again through Melnyk's (1) goal seconds later. However, the ice was tilted throughout the period as the Penguins kept coming in waves, finally making all of the pressure pay off with a game-winner from Fonteyne (1) at 18:22; McDonald (2) sealing the 2-0 series lead with his empty netter.

		1st	2nd	3rd	OT	F
PIT	@	0	0	4		4
StL		1	0	1		2

PIT Binkley (2-0-0 .940 1.50) 19/21, Powerplay 2/5
StL Hall (0-2-0 .932 2.50) 34/37, Powerplay 0/0

Goalscorers:
First Period
StL B McCreary (1) McKenney 5:%6
Second Period
No Scoring
Third Period
PIT PPG Stratton (1) Matiussi 1:43
PIT PPG Dea (1) Andrea 5:23
StL Melnyk (1) Berenson, Roberts 5:40
PIT Fonteyne (1) Schinkel 18:22
PIT ENG McDonald (2) MacNeil, Speer 19:51

Pittsburgh leads the best-of-seven series 2-0

Los Angeles Kings @ Philadelphia Flyers Game #2
A much better performance from the Kings earns them a tied series as, unlike the Blues, they were able to win after leading 1-0 through two periods on a White (1) shorthanded effort. On another day they may have crumbled after the previous result when LaForge (1) tied the game less than a minute into the third frame, but Los Angeles remained resolute with Rutledge in goal replacing game one's starter Sawchuk and were happy to play an end-to-end game.

Labossierre (1) restored the Kings' lead at 4:32, Sutherland (1) tied it once again with ten minutes to play, this time with the man advantage; an area that both sides struggled with today. The next goal would prove to be the decider and it was an unassisted effort from Gray (1) that won the day as he stole the puck for a breakaway, barely beating Parent in the Flyers' net.

		1st	2nd	3rd	OT	F
LAK	@	1	0	2		3
PHI		0	0	2		2

LAK Rutledge (1-0-0 .931 1.00) 22/24, Powerplay 0/6
PHI Parent (1-1-0 .909 2.50) 29/32, Powerplay 1/6

Goalscorers:
First Period
LAK SHG White (1) Joyal, Irvine 17:54
Second Period
No Scoring
Third Period
PHI LaForge (1) Peters, Van Impe 0:47
LAK Labossierre (1) R Lemieux, MacDonald 4:32
PHI PPG Sutherland (1) Rochefort 9:55
LAK Gray (1) unassisted 16:20

The best-of-seven series is tied 1-1

Controlled Chaos - Bluegrass Derby Final

Bluegrass Derby - Louisville, KY
Final
Jason Ingle, Timmy Barnes, Chris Henton, Randy Corson, Danny Krol, Charlie Clayton, Will Thompson, Darryl Lozier, Jess Yates, Ricky Grimes, Lynne Higgins, Scott Hutchins

Ricky Grimes (3rd Jersey Derby, 3rd Texas Nationals, 1st Louisiana Invitational) would have hoped for better than last place with a history of four scoring finals in his previous six appearances, but a five car pack led by two hits from Jess Yates soon dashed those hopes.

After securing a very impressive qualification in the consolation heat thanks to an excellent preparation, Jason Ingle (Tied-5th Lobster Nationals, 7th Louisiana, 3rd Mile High Open) also missed out on taking away any points with Timmy Barnes and Chris Henton double-teaming him into submission, and Darryl Lozier (1st Tampa Open, 1st Jersey, 1st Big Apple Smash Up, 1st Alamo Derby) claims just a single point; his only reward in the past month and the fourth time he has finished ninth or worse in nine weeks.

Randy Corson's (5th Frostbite, 5th Tampa, 6th Arkansas Derby) third final in eighteen weeks started with a blindside hit from Danny Krol which caused a stall. Upon re-firing, Corson took charge at Charlie Clayton before another surprise hit, this time from Henton to end his four shot salvo, cleaned up.

Eighth place goes to Timmy Barnes (12th Spring Fling Derby, 4th Big Apple) as he stalled out after blindsiding Will Thompson (1st Arizona Derby, 2nd Summer Sizzler, 2nd Bryan Family Open) who himself was wiped out in seventh position on the fifth hit against him, coming from Krol.

Charlie Clayton (5th Texas, 8th Louisiana, 6th Ohio Derby) performed well coming out of the consolation heat, riding six hits and striking Scott Hutchings twice before the final came down from Henton, and Jess Yates (7th Jersey, 4th Sizzler, 3rd Alamo) claims his third top five finish in a row, albeit thirteen weeks apart, as he doubled up on Grimes, Thompson, and Higgins, taking five in return during his eight minutes of work.

Danny Krol (8th Valentine's Day Massacre, 4th Jersey, 3rd Sizzler) backs up his heat victory with a third top four finish on the year, surviving an early stall and crashing through Clayton twice and helped take down Corson and Thompson.

It's a personal best finish for Lynne Higgins (4th Arkansas Derby) as the four-time fifth place finisher goes down in third, bouncing off a seemingly bullet-proof Scott Hutchins. He was Higgins' favourite victim striking him on three occasions, but Lozier, Grimes, Corson, Yates, and a huge hit on Barnes made the rest of her contribution to her eleventh final.

Seconds later and the results were in after Chris Henton also targeted Hutchins while the latter was happy to return the favour. Competing in his seventh consecutive final Henton (1st Spring Fling, 2nd Arkansas) takes his second runner-up spot in that span, with another three top five finishes thrown in. His rabid attack on Corson where he laid on four hits in quickfire fashion made up 40% of his shots, and Jess Yates received a pair of his own. Runner-up in heat one Henton rode just four hits against but it was the final two from Hutchins in addition to his own failed contact that decided matters.

That gives Scott Hutchins (1st Seattle, 2nd Big Apple, 2nd Lobster) his second derby win and ninth top five finish this season. A slight stall in the latter stages of his thirteenth final was not enough to earn him the win and push him up into second in the standings, 13.5pts behind Lozier. Until his encounter with Henton at the very end Hutchins laid six hits on as many competitors and taking just two hits from Clayton until the finale where both Higgins and Henton came at him for four shots.

Race Result
1. Scott Hutchins
2. Chris Henton
3. Lynne Higgins
4. Danny Krol
5. Jess Yates
6. Charlie Clayton
7. Will Thompson
8. Timmy Barnes
9. Randy Corson
10. Darryl Lozier
11. Jason Ingle
12. Ricky Grimes

Controlled Chaos - Bluegrass Derby, Consolation Heat

Bluegrass Derby - Louisville, KY
Consolation Heat
Leo May, Timmy Barnes, Will Murphy, Jamie Eilers, Ed Smith, Steven Redden, Jason Ingle, John McCrory, Bambi Rogers, Norm Gibson, Charlie Clayton, Andy Bing (inj)

Andy Bing was unable to participate in the second chance race and the fourteen-time finalist, who just moved into second place in the standings with two wins in three weeks (Ohio Derby, Golden Gate Invitational), matching his victories in Idaho and Indy, is expected to miss out entirely in next week's event.

The eleven car dash started with five minutes of action before the first elimination came when Jamie Eilers (1st Summer Sizzler, 1st Summer National Derby) fails to make it three finals in a row (10th Mile High Open, 7th Golden Gate) as he found himself in a vulnerable spot after getting locked bumper to bumper with Ed Smith.

Norm Gibson (1st Lobster Nationals, 1st Texas Nationals) cannot make it thirteen finals in sixteen weeks as, after putting in the hit that separated Eilers and Smith, was paid back in kind by Smith before John McCrory finished the job, and Leo May (4th Wisconsin Invitational, 4th Idaho Invitational, 2nd Indy Nationals) looked a threat until Timmy Barnes caught him off guard and Charlie Clayton moved in for the kill with a double-tap.

Will Murphy (2nd Tampa Open, 3rd Spring Fling Derby, 3rd Idaho, 3rd Big Apple Smash Up) continues to struggle and drop down the standings with three finals in the past fourteen weeks. His latest exit coming after seven hits on his car, the final blow coming from Barnes who showed no mercy towards Murphy when he was stuck, instead seeking revenge for two hits beforehand.

Steven Redden (Tied-2nd Valentine's Day Massacre, 3rd Indy) misses his ninth final in a row taking it McCroryand May twice each after surviving a very early blindside hit from Ingle, and Ed Smith (11th Texas, 7th Ohio Derby, 4th Mile High) ran over Gibson before his lock-up with Eilers delayed his attacking plan that ultimately come unstuck on his own over-exuberance as he only took three hits.

John McCrory (3rd Seattle Derby, 4th Summer National, 2nd Ohio) misses a third straight final thanks to a stall caused by a lot of attention on him as Barnes, Smith, and Redden all doubled up on the ten-time finalist, and Bambi Rogers (6th Arkansas Derby, 11th Bryan Family Open) ends in the unlucky fourth spot for the second time in Louisville as she crunched into Charlie Clayton killing her own chances in one blow. She would not have got this far if she had not re-fired a long stall at the very start of the consolation heat.

The results means that Timmy Barnes qualifies for the first time in fifteen weeks, his third appearance this year, but only barely as he stalled at the very end and time was fast running out when Rogers was eliminated. He is joined by Jason Ingle for his tenth final and Charlie Clayton for his ninth. The former proving that a strong team is not always needed, just a bit of luck and smart preparation, as he became an indiscriminate attacker mowing his way through the pack, and Clayton taking to Murphy and May above all others.

Race Result
Q. Timmy Barnes
Q. Jason Ingle
Q. Charlie Clayton
4. Bambi Rogers
5. John McCrory
6. Ed Smith
7. Steven Redden
8. Will Murphy
9. Leo May
10. Norm Gibson
11. Jamie Eilers
12. Andy Bing (inj)

Player of the Game Hockey - NHL 1967/68 Playoff QFs, April 4th 1968

Thursday 4th April 1968
East Division
Boston Bruins @ Montreal Canadiens Game #1
Penalty trouble kept the Bruins from enjoying complete control in the series opener as they put Montreal onto the powerplay seven times, conceding the one goal lead Boston had earned in the first period when Green (1) finished on a nice feed by Awrey.

After a fight between the goalscorer and Montreal's Ferguson the home side went on to take a 2-1 advantage through Cournoyer (1) and Duff (1); Lamaire assisting on both powerplay efforts. Despite being shorthanded for significant time in the game Boston still led in terms of shots in regulation, and ultimately made their chances pay off with a late game-tying goal from Esposito (1) with 1:03 left to play and the netminder pulled.

In overtime the Canadiens finally looked like they had a home ice advantage, outshooting the B's 4-1 in the extra frame, and taking the first game when Beliveau (1) squeaked his shot past Cheevers less than two minutes into OT.

		1st	2nd	3rd	OT	F
BOS	@	1	0	1	0	2
MON		0	1	1	1	3

BOS Cheevers (0-1-0 .897 3.00) 26/29, Powerplay 0/2
MON Worsley (1-0-0 .926 2.00) 25/27, Powerplay 2/7

Goalscorers:
First Period
BOS Green (1) Awrey 11:43
Second Period
Fight BOS Green vs MON Ferguson 2:02
MON PPG Cournoyer (1) Haper, Lamaire 3:30
Third Period
MON PPG Duff (1) Lamaire 4:11
BOS Esposito (1) D Smith, Hodge 18:57
Overtime
MON Beliveau (1) Laperriere, Rousseau 1:49

Montreal leads the best-of-seven series 1-0

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Detroit Red Wings Game #1
Detroit blow a 3-1 second period lead as the Maple  Leafs built momentum for the final frame on a goal from Armstrong (1) twenty-one seconds before the buzzer. Toronto had scored the only goal in the first period through Ellis (1) but the Wings came out hard in the middle period with eighteen shots to the visitors' nine scoring three unanswered goals from Delvecchio (1), Ullman (1), and D Roberts (1).

Neither team was afraid to get down into the trenches either with a fight in both the second and third periods; the latter coming very late on with Toronto enjoying a 5-3 lead after Conacher (1), F Mahovlich (1), and Pappin (1) turned the game around by outshooting their opponents fifteen to seven through the final twenty minutes.

		1st	2nd	3rd	OT	F
TOR	@	1	1	3		5
DET		0	3	0		3

TOR Bower (1-0-0 .903 3.00) 28/31, Powerplay 1/5
DET Edwards (0-1-0 .848 5.00) 28/33, Powerplay 1/4

Goalscorers:
First Period
TOR Ellis (1) Walton 4:38
Second Period
DET Delvecchio (1) Howe, Prentice 0:23
DET PPG Ullman (1) G Jarrett 4:50
Fight TOR Stemkowski vs DET B Marshall 11:03
DET D Roberts (1) Watson, Unger 16:42
TOR Armstrong (1) Hillman, Horton 19:39
Third Period
TOR Conacher (1) Pulford 5:11
TOR PPG F Mahovlich (1) Walton 9:26
TOR Pappin (1) Stanley, Keon 13:15
Fight TOR Horton vs DET Bergman

Toronto leads the best-of-seven series 1-0

West Division
Pittsburgh Penguins @ St Louis Blues Game #1
Pittsburgh proved better at dealing with playoff nerves as they controlled much of the match and probably feel they should have put more pressure on St Louis in the series if they had won by a larger margin. There was one goal each in the first two periods, McDonald (1) for the Penguins in the first and Schock (1) shorthanded in the second for the hosts.

Outside of that second period where the Blues registered thirteen shots to Pittsburgh's eight, the home team found themselves outshot twenty-seven to sixteen through the remaining forty minutes. This advantage held the Pens in good stead, going on ti win through a late Konik (1) goal before Hicks (1) put it to bed in an empty net. 

		1st	2nd	3rd	OT	F
PIT	@	1	0	2		3
StL		0	1	0		1

PIT Binkley (1-0-0 .966 1.00) 28/29, Powerplay 0/5
StL Hall (0-1-0 .943 2.00) 34/36, Powerplay 0/2

Goalscorers:
First Period
PIT McDonald (1) Bathgate 0:11
Second Period
StL SHG Schock (1) Arbour 10:08
Third Period
PIT Konik (1) K McCreary 17:56
PIT ENG Hicks (1) Stratton, Bathgate 18:57

Pittsburgh lead the best-of-seven series 1-0

Los Angeles Kings @ Philadelphia Flyers Game #1
It was a brutal postseason debut for the Kings, and especially their netminder Sawchuk, as they were systematically destroyed by a very impressive Philadelphia performance that resulted in a six goal deficit, thanks in no small part to the hat-trick scored by Kennedy (3) as he grabbed two of the four third period Flyer goals that doubled their tally.

Los Angeles, already 3-0 down less than three minutes into the second period, tried to fight back but Irvine's (1) goal was quickly cancelled out, and then after Flett (1) scored on the powerplay at the end of the frame the Kings found their momentum wiped out two minutes into the third by yet another Philadelphia goal. In addition to the trick Hannigan (1+2) also put up three points for the Flyers.

		1st	2nd	3rd	OT	F
LAK	@	0	2	0		2
PHI		2	2	4		8

LAK Sawchuk (0-1-0 .778 8.00) 28/36; Rutledge (0-0-0 1.000 0.00) 5/5, Powerplay 1/2
PHI Parent (1-0-0 .913 2.00) 21/23, Powerplay 1/2

Goalscorers:
First Period
PHI Kennedy (1) Hannigan 2:12
PHI Hoekstra (1) Sutherland, Rochefort 13:56
Second Period
PHI Hannigan (1) Blackburn 2:46
LAK Irvine (1) Joyal, Flett 5:47
PHI Miszuk (1) Johnson 8:36
LAK PPG Flett (1) Joyal, Rolfe 19:33
Third Period
PHI SHG Selby (1) Angotti 2:03
PHI PPG Kennedy (2) Blackburn, Hannigan
PHI Angotti (1) Dornhoefer, Selby 7:50
PHI Kennedy (3) Van Impe 10:45
LAK Goaltending Change: Rutledge in, Sawchuk out 10:45

Philadelphia leads best-of-seven series 1-0

Controlled Chaos - Bluegrass Derby, Heat Three

Bluegrass Derby - Louisville, KY
Heat Three
Reggie Banks, Bob Alexander, Norm Gibson, Timmy Barnes, Bambi Rogers, Bill Malbrough, Jess Yates, Joe Ramage, Lynne Higgins, Will Thompson, Phillip Ruffin, Ed Smith

Bob Alexander (6th Arizona Derby, 3rd Lobster Nationals, 9th Texas Nationals) was under attack from three fronts right off the start as Reggie Banks, Timmy Barnes, and Jess Yates converged onto his position and making him desperate enough to hit Ramage unfairly for a DQ result, and Joe Ramage (1st Valentine's Day Massacre, 1st Bryan Family Open) will drop down at least one place from his current fifth place in the standings after Scott Hutchins' victory in heat one. His elimination also coming via disqualification after taking five tough hits.

Phillip Ruffin (9th Ides of March, 8th Big Apple Smash Up, 8th Mile High Open) remains on three final appearances all year thanks to an early stall leaving him a sitting duck from attacks by the pack. His dismissal was quickly followed by those of Reggie Banks (1st Firecracker Open, 11th Alamo Derby, 10th Ohio Derby) who suffered few attacks but misjudged his own hitting attempts on five different drivers, and Bill Malbrough who started out with a stall before targeting Banks twice and eventually coming unstuck on a hit by Bambi Rogers.

The foursome who enter the consolation heat are Timmy Barnes who survived an onslaught from Gibson before battling hard with Rogers, Ed Smith who laid on eight hits to seven different drivers, Norm Gibson who was hard on Barnes and the two ladies, and Bambi Rogers after laying out an impressive nine hits while only taking five in return; Will Thompson was her favourite target striking him thrice, and Barnes was her common foe as he came back for seconds.

Despite getting blitzed for multiple hits each by Rogers (3) and Lynne Higgins (4), Will Thompson is heading into his nineteenth final, and his third in a row. Yates, Gibson, Malbrough, and Ruffin were all struck by Thompson before the heat was stopped so officials could check the secure nature of his gas tank. He passed the inspection and continued carving through the pack with his eight hits, but only Yates earning a second shot.

After he was softened up by Rogers, Thompson was put down by a trio of hard hits from Lynne Higgins after she had previously struck him. Ruffin (3), Yates (2), and Gibson (1) were also forced into contact by Higgins as she took only three hits against all through her thirteen minutes of derby.

The final battle with Jess Yates raged on for three of those minutes, and it was Higgins, who moves on into her eleventh final and fifth in seven, who edged the war two hits to one, but in the end what looked like a costly miss, his second miss-step in short order, by Yates turned into a blessing as he found himself in position to smartly ride the last challenge from his remaining opponent and keep moving while Higgins; vehicle gave up the ghost. Only delivering six hits while taking seven, Jess Yates takes his third heat win of the year and enters his fourth final, his second in five weeks.

Race Result
1. Jess Yates
2. Lynne Higgins
3. Will Thompson
4. Bambi Rogers
5. Norm Gibson
6. Ed Smith
7. Timmy Barnes
8. Bill Malbrough
9. Reggie Banks
10. Philip Ruffin
11. Joe Ramage
12. Bob Alexander

Controlled Chaos - Bluegrass Derby, Heat Two

Bluegrass Derby - Louisville, KY
Heat Two
John McCrory, Darrell Andresen, Steven Redden, John Ruiz, Charlie Clayton, Ben Hadsell, Darryl Lozier, Ricky Grimes, Tommy Miller, Billy Edgington Leo May, Danny Krol

It was a short stint for Ben Hadsell (1st Frostbite Winter Nationals, Tied-2nd Summer National Derby, 2nd Texas Nationals) as Darryl Lozierand Tommy Miller joined forces to imbed him into the barriers where he was counted out, and Billy Edgington (9th Firecracker Open) was hammered four times in as many minutes after he double-tapped John McCrory before trying to seek revenge against Darrell Andresen for an earlier attack.

Tommy Miller (13th Bryan Family Open) was wrecked by Ricky Grimes; John Ruiz (9th Arizona Derby, 1st Ides of March, 8th Seattle Derby) took six hits, two each from McCrory and Charlie Clayton; and Darrell Andresen (4th Indy Nationals, 5th Firecracker, 5th Arkansas Derby) hit Steven Redden three times but was eliminated in eighth place by Darryl Lozier's heavy attention, the sixth and seventh hits that struck him.

After surviving that onslaught, Steven Redden moves on into the consolation heat along with John McCrory, the man who finished the job on Redden before he succumbed to the beating handed down by Danny Krol and Leo May. Joining them in the second chance heat are Leo May who laid four of his seven hits onto Krol and Ricky Grimes, and Charlie Clayton who stalled out seconds before he would have been a finalist; his attentions drawing him to Ruiz and May for repeat custom.

Out of the three who would qualify for the final it was Ricky Grimes who had the biggest uphill battle, taking eight hits against and delivering nine. His seventh final this season started with a brief stall before going back-and-forth with Tommy Miller. He struck Ruiz either side of hits to May before going on to hit the latter two more times, all the while riding challenges with May (2) and Lozier (4) his main attackers.

Darryl Lozier and Danny Krol both doubled up on the pack by dishing out hits twice as often as taking them. Lozier, qualifying for his nineteenth final, delivered twelve shots with Clayton (2) and Grimes (4) his go-to targets. Two of the six hits against, however, came from Danny Krol whose second strike was the killer blow and earned the now eight-time finalist his fourth heat victory. Krol, also a repeat attacker on Clayton with three shots, just had to ride five hits in the fourteen minute heat with just one from Lozier who left his final assault too late.

Race Result
1. Danny Krol
2. Darryl Lozier
3. Ricky Grimes
4. Charlie Clayton
5. Leo May
6. John McCrory
7. Steven Redden
8. Darrell Andresen
9. John Ruiz
10. Tommy Miller
11. Billy Edgington
12. Ben Hadsell

Player of the Game Hockey - NHL 1967/68, Playoff Preview

Eastern Division
Montreal Canadiens (1) vs Boston Bruins (3)
Oct. 15th 1967, Montreal 2-4 Boston (H Richard [2];; Sanderson, Hodge, Esposito, Williams)
Oct. 21st 1967, Boston 1-5 Montreal (Hodge;; Cournoyer, Lamaire, G Trembley, Beliveau, Savard)
Nov. 25th 1967, Boston 3-5 Montreal (Hodge, Esposito, Lonsberry;; Lamaire [3], Cournoyer, Provost)
Dec. 3rd 1967, Montreal 3-4 Boston (Lamaire, G Tremblay [2];; Hodge, Bucyk [3])
Dec, 13th 1967, Montreal 2-4 Boston (H Richard, Duff;; Williams, D Smith, Westfall, Hodge)
Jan. 13th 1968, Boston 3-2 Montreal (H Richard, Rousseau;; Lonsberry, McKenzie [2])
Jan. 25th 1968, Montreal 6-3 Boston (Lamaire [2], JC Tremblay, Cournoyer [2], Redmond;; Orr, Krake, Avery)
Jan. 27th 1968, Boston 1-3 Montreal (Krake; Beliveau, Backstrom, Duff)
Mar. 17th 1968, Montreal 7-3 Boston (Cournoyer, Backstrom [2], Duff, G Tremblay, Savard, JC Tremblay;; Orr, Sather, Hodge)
Mar. 30th 1968, Boston 4-6 Montreal (Esposito, Westfall, Stanfield, Shack;; Rousseau [2], Ferguson, Lapierriere, Cournoyer [2])

Montreal won the season series six games to four. Lamaire (MON, 7), Cournoyer (MON, 6) and Hodge (BOS, 6) scored the most goals as the Canadiens outscored their opponents 41-30.

Detroit Red Wings (2) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (4)
Oct. 18th 1967, Detroit 1-4 Toronto (F Smith;; Keon, Ellis, Walton, Oliver)
Nov. 2nd 1967, Toronto 5-2 Detroit (Walton [2], F Mahovlich, Armstrong, Ellis;; Delvecchio, G Jarrett)
Nov. 25th 1967, Detroit 1-4 Toronto (Henderson;; Walton, Keon [2], F Mahovlich)
Nov.30th 1967, Toronto 3-3 Detroit (Carleton, Walton, Ellis;; G Jarrett [2], Howe)
Dec. 23rd 1967, Detroit 5-2 Toronto (T Hampson, Howe [2], F Smith, Prentice;; Oliver, F Mahovlich)
Dec. 25th 1967, Toronto 2-4 Detroit (Ellis, Keon;; F Smith, G Jarrett, Henderson, P Mahovlich)
Jan. 10th 1968, Detroit 2-3 Toronto (Bergman [2];; Pappin, F Mahovlich, Oliver)
Jan. 21st 1968, Toronto 4-2 Detroit (Pulford, Walton, Keon, Conacher;; P Mahovlich, MacGregor)
Mar. 9th 1968, Detroit 4-4 Toronto (Prentice, Howe [2], Ullman;; Conacher, Ellis [2], Pappin)
Mar. 21st 1968, Toronto 0-2 Detroit (G Jarrett, Ullman)

Toronto took the series with five wins and two ties. Ellis (TOR, 6), Walton (TOR, 5) Keon (TOR, 5) G Jarrett (DET, 5) Howe (DET, 5) the top scorers. Detroit were outscored 31-26.

Western Division
St Louis Blues (1) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (3)
Oct. 13th 1967, Pittsburgh 2-2 St Louis (Schinkel, Fonteyne;; McKenney, R Stewart)
Oct. 14th 1967, St Louis 3-3 Pittsburgh (Sabourin [2]. St Marseille;; Konik, MacNeil, Dea)
Nov. 11th 1967, St Louis 2-1 Pittsburgh (D Moore, Berenson;; Bathgate)
Nov. 18th. 1967, Pittsburgh 3-5 St Louis (Bathgate, Schinkel, K McCreary;; J Roberts, N Picard, Cameron, McKenney [2])
Dec. 29th 1967, Pittsburgh 2-2 St Louis (Rivard, K McCreary;; Melnyk, Sabourin)
Jan. 31st 1968, Pittsburgh 1-3 St Louis (Stratton;; B McCreary, McKenney, Arbour)
Feb. 1st 1968, St Louis 2-4 Pittsburgh (Sabourin, McKenney;; Boivin, Price, Speer, McDonald)
Feb. 16th 1968, St Louis 4-2 Pittsburgh (Ecclestone, McKenney, B McCreary, Cameron;; Ubriaco, Stratton)
Mar. 6th 1968, Pittsburgh 2-6 St Louis (Konik, Andrea;; Berenson, R Stewart, J Roberts, Melnyk, Schock, Crisp)
Mar. 20th 1968, St Louis 1-3 Pittsburgh (B McCreary;; Bathgate [2], Boivin)

Five wins and three ties saw the Blues claim victory over their ten games with Pittsburgh as the Penguins blew leads in almost every game. McKenney (StL, 6), Sabourin (StL, 4), Bathgate (PIT, 4) led the way as St Louis scored more goals by a 30-23 margin.

Philadelphia Flyers (2) vs Los Angeles Kings (4)
Oct. 14th 1967, Philadelphia 3-4 Los Angeles (Blackburn, Sutherland, Hicks;; Labossierre, White, McDonald, Joyal)
Nov. 26th 1967, Los Angeles 1-5 Philadelphia (B Smith;; Kennedy [2], Gauthier, Dornhoefer, Hannigan)
Dec. 8th 1967, Philadelphia 10-4 Los Angeles (Kennedy, LaForge, Hannigan [3], Rochefort [2], Hoekstra, Sutherland, J Johnson;; Robinson, Irvine, Flett, Menard)
Dec. 30th 1967, Philadelphia 5-3 Los Angeles (LaForge, Sutherland, Lacroix [2], Hoekstra;; Gray, Flett, R Lemieux)
Dec. 31st 1967, Los Angeles 0-1 Philadelphia (Miszuk)
Jan. 28th 1968, Los Angeles 3-6 Philadelphia (Campbell, Joyal, L MacDonald;; Sutherland, Dornhoefer, Hannigan, Rochefort [2], Peters)
Feb. 16th 1968, Philadelphia 1-6 Los Angeles (Sutherland;; Irvine [2], Gray, Flett, Joyal, R Lemieux)
Feb. 29th 1968, Los Angeles 4-2 Philadelphia (Labossierre, Joyal, Irvine, B Smith;; Selby, Angotti)
Mar. 14th 1968, Los Angeles 3-2 Philadelphia (Irvine, Labossierre [2];; Rochefort, Sutherland)
Mar. 23rd 1968, Philadelphia 1-4 Los Angeles (Rochefort;; B Smith, R Lemieux, Irvine, Robinson)

After losing the opening game of the series the Flyers took five in a row before Los Angeles ended with four straight. Sutherland (PHI, 6), Rochefort (PHI, 6), Irvine (LAK, 6) Hannigan (PHI, 5) scored the most as Philadelphia scored thirty-six to the Kings' thirty-two.

Controlled Chaos - Bluegrass Derby, Heat One

Bluegrass Derby - Louisville, KY
Heat One
Dick Garrett, Jason Ingle, Tom Gariepy, Jamie Eilers, Andy Bing, Scott Harbin, Will Murphy, Chris Henton, Scott Hutchins, Randy Tondreau, Randy Corson, Matt Welliver

Dick Garrett (6th Ides of March, 7th Wisconsin Invitational, 5th Seattle Derby) was an early favourite of the pack, but his dismissal was spectacular as after Jason Ingle struck him, Matt Welliver crashed into him for a second time, spinning him around for Ingle to return and fly up and over Garrett.

After removing Garrett safely from his vehicle free of injury, Randy Tondreau (6th Tampa Open, 3rd Firecracker Open, 7th Alamo Derby), the other whipping boy through the first five minutes, was finished off by Sam Harbin after a double-tap from Chris Henton, and Matt Welliver (6th Big Apple Smash Up, 1st SidelineStrategy.com Derby, 2nd Golden Gate Invitational) failes to make it four finals in a row as he stalled straight after making contact with Garrett again.

Sam Harbin (2nd Arizona Derby, 5th Ohio Derby, 2nd Mile High Open) played his part in early eliminations, but his own came in ninth place after Will Murphy returned to finish the job he started with a blindside hit, and Tom Gariepy (1st Wisconsin, 1st Arkansas Derby, 1st Mile High) cannot extend his season-high two finals in a row as he took on Jamie Eilers and Andy Bing, hitting them twice each, before Henton took his scalp; just the fourth hit Gariepy had taken.

Andy Bing was blindsided twice by Murphy, the second hit resulting in an undisclosed injury; Jason Ingle's aggression was ended by a hard shot from Randy Corson; after laying on nine hits, three of them blindsiders, Will Murphy had struck Bing and Eilers twice before the latter houned him to the ground over several minutes; and Jamie Eilers then missed out on an automatic place in the final as Scott Hutchins nudged him off his line when he was charging at Corson, damaging the attacker too much to continue. All four drivers with the exception of a slightly injured Andy Bing move on into the consolation heat.

That means after taking ten hits, delivering eight of his own,  Randy Corson qualifies for his seventh final of the year, but just his third in eighteen events. In the early going Corson took just four shots, but the second half of the heat saw him under heavy attack by his eventual co-finalists as Chris Henton went for him twice before Scott Hutchins rounded on him four times; his last two shots eliminating Corson in third position.

The final two came together sieven times with Chris Henton, who moves on into his twelfth final this season and seventh in a row, initiating contact no less than five of those times. Starting out with a double-tap to Randy Tondreau, Henton went through Murphy, Hutchins, Corson twice, and Gariepy before he began his crusade on Hutchins where an untimely miss and crash into the wall was his undoing.

Scott Hutchins' thirteenth final appearance marks the first time he has qualified for back-to-back appearances since his seven in a row came to and end twelve weeks ago. Since then he has finished third twice, and taken fifth in the Night of Champions. Claiming his fourth heat victory, Hutchins did not have a smooth path to the end with two misses he escaped serious damage on and a stall which could have finished him off in tenth spot but for a successful re-firing. Bing, Henton, Ingle, Eilers, and Corson four times made up his nine hits, with Henton's assault making up four of the five hits against the heat winner.

Race Result
1. Scott Hutchins
2. Chris Henton
3. Randy Corson
4. Jamie Eilers
5. Will Murphy
6. Jason Ingle
7. Andy Bing
8. Tom Gariepy
9. Sam Harbin
10. Matt Welliver
11. Randy Tondreau
12. Dick Garrett

Controlled Chaos - Bluegrass Derby Preview

After winning at the Night of Champions, Andy Bing leads the pack into Louisville, Kentucky, for the twenty-fifth round of the Controlled Chaos championship where the only absentee continues to be Rob Remaley., leaving his understudy, Tommy Miller, standing in for the injured party.

Half of the top go in heat one, including four-time event winner Andy Bing who heads into the Bluegrass Derby 19.5pts back of the leading Darryl Lozier. Tom Gariepy, Scott Hutchins, Jamie Eilers, Will Murphy, and Chris Henton are the other big names to feature in the first race, combining for a total of seven event wins with Gariepy winning as recently as a fortnight ago.

Heat two looks like a cakewalk for Darryl Lozier as his nearest rival in the standings is Ben Hadsell, the eleventh place man who won the inaugural round of the season in Edmonton. Other event winners in the second heat are Ricky Grimes and John Ruiz.

The final heat contains Will Thompson who has managed two scoring finals in the last six weeks, Joe Ramage and his pair of points hauls in the past seventeen rounds that includes his win in the Bryan Family Open, and Norm Gibson who has gone from no finals in the first ten weeks to twelve in the next fifteen. 

Player of the Game Hockey - NHL 1967/68, Season Stats

After an unbeaten month 12-0-2, the one-hundred point season of the Montreal Canadiens caps off a terrific season as they head into the Stanley Cup Playoffs as favourites, going against the third placed Boston Bruins who ended their campaign with an average month of 5-5-2. The Detroit Red Wings, going 8-2-4 through March, claim second spot and have home ice advantage in their series against the Toronto Maple Leafs who limped into the postseason with a 9-10-6 record in the final two months.

Out West it's the St Louis Blues who take the top spot after bouncing back from a miserable February, and they will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins who just miss out on taking second place in the division as the Philadelphia Flyers won two more games than their Pennsylvanian rivals. That leaves the Los Angeles Kings facing the Flyers, and the Minnesota North Stars staying home after a dismal final two months of the season where they picked up just five wins in twenty-six matches.

Howe of Detroit finished top in the league on points with eighty-two; the ten goals he scored this month also earned him top goalscorer on the year.

October Stats
November Stats
December Stats
January Stats
February Stats

East Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	GD	PP%	PK%	Home	Away	L10	Streak
Montreal Canadiens	74	45	19	10	100	262	174	88	23.12	84.82	29-5-3	16-14-7	8-0-2	Won 2
Detroit Red Wings	74	37	24	13	87	277	245	32	23.48	86.67	20-10-7	17-14-6	7-1-2	Won 4
Boston Bruins	74	37	27	10	84	280	240	40	23.21	77.48	23-10-4	14-17-6	3-5-2	Won 1
Toronto Maple Leafs	74	35	27	12	82	208	178	30	16.82	81.77	23-8-6	12-19-6	2-6-2	Lost 2
Chicago Blackhawks	74	31	32	11	73	205	225	-20	19.25	81.33	15-17-5	16-15-6	5-3-2	Lost 1
New York Rangers	74	26	34	14	66	210	233	-23	21.65	79.41	13-14-9	13-20-5	1-8-1	Lost 2
West Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	GD	PP%	PK%	Home	Away	L10	Streak
St Louis Blues	74	32	31	11	75	210	225	-15	22.13	74.53	23-11-3	9-20-8	5-4-1	Won 2
Philadelphia Flyers	74	30	34	10	70	197	210	-13	18.18	74.34	19-13-4	11-21-5	4-4-2	Lost 1
Pittsburgh Penguins	74	28	32	14	70	196	211	-15	17.98	80.36	19-13-6	9-19-8	5-3-2	Won 1
Los Angeles Kings	74	29	35	10	68	221	248	-27	19.11	75.19	18-13-6	11-22-4	4-4-2	Tied 1
Minnesota North Stars	74	24	32	18	66	225	241	-16	20.67	82.91	15-10-12	9-22-6	3-4-3	Lost 2
Oakland Seals	74	16	43	15	47	176	237	-61	20.27	81.53	11-18-8	6-25-7	1-7-2	Tied 1

	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar
Boston Bruins	3-3-1	9-1-3	6-7-1	7-6-1	7-5-2	5-5-2
Chicago Blackhawks	4-4-1	3-7-3	7-7-1	7-4-1	4-5-3	6-5-2
Detroit Red Wings	4-4-1	6-5-2	7-5-1	6-6-1	6-2-4	8-2-4
Los Angeles Kings	3-6-0	3-6-3	6-7-2	4-6-2	7-4-1	6-6-2
Minnesota North Stars	3-2-2	4-3-6	6-7-1	6-7-1	2-7-4	3-6-4
Montreal Canadiens	3-4-1	7-5-2	8-5-1	8-2-1	7-3-3	12-0-2
New York Rangers	5-4-0	3-5-3	5-6-4	5-6-1	4-5-4	4-8-2
Oakland Seals	3-5-1	4-7-3	2-9-2	3-7-3	3-5-4	1-10-2
Philadelphia Flyers	4-3-0	8-6-0	7-3-3	2-9-2	4-7-2	5-6-3
Pittsburgh Penguins	3-2-5	3-7-1	4-7-3	5-6-2	7-5-0	6-5-3
St Louis Blues	2-3-3	7-4-1	6-5-4	7-4-1	3-8-1	7-7-1
Toronto Maple Leafs	5-2-1	5-6-3	8-4-1	8-5-0	6-4-2	3-6-4

SKATERS
GOALS					ASSISTS					POINTS
Howe	DET	44	(10)		Esposito	BOS	46	(6)		Howe	DET	85	(19)
Connelly	MIN	43	(7)		Gilbert	NYR	45	(10)		Bucyk	BOS	78	(8)
Mikita	CHI	40	(5)		Stanfield	BOS	44	(8)		Esposito	BOS	77	(11)
R Hull	CHI	37	(7)		Walton	TOR	43	(10)		Mikita	CHI	75	(9)
Bucyk	BOS	36	(3)		Pilote	CHI	43	(7)		Walton	TOR	74	(12)
G Jarrett	DET	36	(6)		Bucyk	BOS	42	(5)		Gilbert	NYR	73	(14)
Cournoyer	MON	36	(9)		Howe	DET	41	(9)		R Hull	CHI	70	(15)
Ellis	TOR	35	(10)		Wharram	CHI	39	(4)		Cullen	MIN	69	(13)
McKenzie	BOS	34	(7)		T Hampson	DeOk	39	(5)		Cournoyer	MON	67	(20)
Cullen	MIN	34	(6)		Balon	MIN	38	(6)		Stanfield	BOS	66	(13)

PIMS					POWERPLAY GOALS					GAME WINNING GOALS
N Picard	StL	153	(12)		Howe	DET	11	(3)		R Hull	CHI	9	(2)
Dornhoefer	PHI	152	(14)		Cournoyer	MON	9	(0)		Ratelle	NYR	7	(1)
K Douglas	DeOK	123	(21)		Ellis	TOR	9	(3)		Lamaire	MON	7	(2)
Kennedy	PHI	103	(35)		Hannigan	PHI	8	(0)		Williams	BOS	7	(1)
McKenzie	BOS	98	(11)		B McCreary	StL	8	(1)		Connelly	MIN	6	(1)
White	LAK	94	(10)		Melnyk	StL	8	(0)		Esposito	BOS	6	(0)
Ferguson	MON	93	(13)		Flett	LAK	7	(3)		Duff	MON	6	(2)
Green	BOS	90	(18)		Hicke	OAK	7	(1)		Ellis	TOR	5	(0)
Bergman	DET	84	(4)		Mikita	CHI	7	(1)		Walton	TOR	5	(1)
Sanderson	BOS	80	(13)		Sutherland	PHI	7	(2)		F Mahovlich	TOR	5	(1)
T Pratt	OAK	80	(2)		Masterson	MIN	7	(1)		Four Others	NHL	5	(-)

Shorthanded Goals
Dornhoefer	3	PHI
Ratelle	2	NYR
Williams	2	BOS
Joyal	2	LAK
Konik	2	PIT
Robinson	2	LAK
Connelly	1	MIN
Esposito	1	BOS
Duff	1	MON
Melnyk	1	StL
Twenty-Seven	27	NHL
Others

GOALTENDERS
WINS				GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE						SAVE PERCENTAGE
DeJordy	CHI	24	(4)		Bower	TOR	2.09	(1.50)		Bower	TOR	0.916	(.932)
Cheevers	BOS	23	(4)		Worsley	MON	2.18	(1.83)		Worsley	MON	0.913	(.921)
Vachon	MON	23	(6)		Bassen	PIT	2.43	(2.00)		Gamble	TOR	0.909	(.888)
Bower	TOR	22	(2)		Vachon	MON	2.56	(2.87)		Crozier	DET	0.908	(.892)
Hall	StL	22	(5)		Favell	PHI	2.59	(2.83)		Bassen	PIT	0.907	(.914)
Rutledge	LAK	22	(5)		Gamble	TOR	2.68	(3.66)		Vachon	MON	0.907	(.904)
Worsley	MON	22	(6)		Martin	StL	2.77	(3.00		Binkley	PIT	0.903	(.876)
Giacomin	NYR	21	(4)		Parent	PHI	2.81	(1.87)		Favell	PHI	0.900	(.896)
Parent	PHI	19	(3)		Binkley	PIT	2.89	(4.25)		Martin	StL	0.900	(.892)
Maniago	MIN	18	(2)		Hall	StL	2.9	(2.55)		Maniago	MIN	0.900	(.908)