Alamo Derby - San Antonio, TX
Final
Charlie Clayton, Bob Alexander, Darrell Andresen, Randy Tondreau, Randy Corson, Danny Krol, Will Murphy, Jess Yates, Darryl Lozier, Tom Gariepy, Reggie Banks, Chris Henton
Bob Alexander's (6th Arizona Derby, 3rd Lobster Nationals, 9th Texas Nationals) sixth final ends as his fifth did: pointless. Clayton, Andresen, and Murphy all struck him off the start for a quick exit before Reggie Banks (1st Firecracker Open) was also eliminated by three hits. Andresen again part of the reson, this time along with Yates and Gariepy.
After his third heat victory of the season, Danny Krol (8th Ides of March, 4th Jersey Derby, 3rd Summer Sizzler) finishes tenth for the second time in seven rounds, a revenge hit on his blindside by Murphy going a long way to knocking him out, and Charlie Clayton (7th Frostbite, 5th Texas, 8th Louisiana Invitational) stops dead after striking both Amdresen and Lozier.
After qualifying for six of seventeen finals, Darrell Andresen (4th Indy Nationals, 5th Firecracker, 5th Arkansas Derby) ends his fifth in a row with a fourth points haul in as many weeks. Stalling after delivering a blindside hit to Corson, his demise came courtesy of Chris Henton while he was prone.
It's five top ten finishes in six finals for Randy Tondreau (6th Tampa Open, 3rd Firecracker), Henton's early barrage a strong reason he was out after dishing out five hits on as many opponents, and Randy Corson's (5th Frostbite, 5th Tampa, 8th Spring Fling Derby) second final in fourteen weeks sees him just finish outside of the top five again. A revenge hit by Andresen caught Corson by surprise, throwing him off his target and careening him into the wall where Will Murphy came and crushed him.
Will Murphy's (2nd Tampa, 3rd Spring Fling, 3rd Idaho Invitational, 3rd Big Apple Smash Up) impressive record of finishing no lower than sixth continues into his tenth final appearance with an eighth top five place, and it was all the more impressive after taking fifteen hits through the second heat and consolation heats combined. Six hits struck him throughout his seven minutes of action in the final, Gariepy with two and Henton the finisher, as he delivered five shots of his own to a different opponent each time.
Back-to-back fourth place finishes, and a three week points streak that started with a runner-up position in the Arkansas Derby, keepss Spring Fling Derby winner Chris Henton's confidence up. With Darryl Lozier hitting him thrice there was no rest as Jess Yates followed up with three shots of his own, but it was Tom Gariepy who, after blindsiding him earlier, brought the finishing blow.
Jess Yates (8th Arizona, 7th Jersey, 4th Summer Sizzler) may have only appeared in four finals, but he has improved his final position each time as he reaches the podium for the first time this season. Taking only hits throughout the final, Yates forced his way through the pack indiscriminately hitting four different drivers before settling on Henton for the hat-trick, but ending his own chances of a better finish on the last shot as he continued to slow down afterwards until coming to a complete stop.
A second runner-up place of the year, and the fifth driver this year to break the one-hundred points barrier, Tom Gariepy (1st Wisconsin Invitational, 1st Arkansas Derby) started his second final in three rounds in the worst possible way by missing his intended target and plowing into the wall. He recovered well, hitting Murphy either side of his initial surprise hit on Henton, before going at Darryl Lozier who had taken it upon himself to rough-house his opponent.
That assault of three hits, with his three shots on Henton beforehand, earns Darryl Lozier his fourth title of the season, and his first in eleven events, to take a twenty-eight point lead over Will Thompson who was absent from his second final in three weeks after being eliminated early in the consolation heat. Lozier, who controversially avoided disqualification in heat two, looked well prepared for his seventeenth final, and was on form as he avoided a lot of traffic only taking five hits compared to the seven he delivered. A rare miss almost totaled his car and if he was unable to continue from that point would have finished dead last.
Race Result
1. Darryl Lozier
2. Tom Gariepy
3. Jess Yates
4. Chris Henton
5. Will Murphy
6. Randy Corson
7. Randy Tondreau
8. Darrell Andresen
9. Charlie Clayton
10. Danny Krol
11. Reggie Banks
12. Bob Alexander
Saturday, 20 April 2013
Player of the Game Hockey - NHL 1967/68, March 17th
Sunday 17th March 1968
Montreal and Boston had already booked their places in the playoffs before they faced-off today and through two periods it was an even game with the Canadiens taking a 2-1 lead into the final frame; Cournoyer (32), who also had two assists, and Backstrom (18) scoring either side of Orr's (11) effort. The third however started out all in favour of Montreal as G Tremblay (3) made it 5-1 after goals from Duff (24), who reached fifty points thanks to three assists, and Backstrom (19) again. Sather (10) and Hodge (28) brought the Bruins back within two but they have just one win in four as Savard (3) and JC Tremblay (6) insured their team's ninth straight win.
Oakland were only able to fashion eleven shots on DeJordy in the Blackhawks goal, Hicke (27) getting his effort through to make it 1-1. Mohns (21) had scored on the powerplay to give Chicago a first period lead, and Nesterenko (10) made it 2-1 with a fine unassisted effort. Back-to-back wins were assured, handing Hodge his thirtieth defeat in the Seals net, when R Hull (35) scored in the third period.
A blown lead by Minnesota still leaves them unbeaten in three games, Cullen (30) and Boudrias (24) unassisted getting the Stars out 2-0 in the third frame. P Mahovlich (20) nailed his chance on the man advantage for Detroit, and Henderson (15) tied it up at 18:59 to give the Red Wings a seven game unbeaten run, tying the Maple Leafs in the East standings.
With a third straight defeat the New York Rangers sit bottom of the East, on the very edge of playoff elimination. They did not quit though after the Penguins took a 2-0 lead through Andrea (12), both assisted by Ubriaco, but Fonteyne's (10) shorthanded goal at 18:04 in the third put down the potential comeback started by Geoffrion (4) despite Hadfield (19) scoring on that same powerplay to once again make it close again. It is a first win in six for Pittsburgh to tie them in the West with Los Angeles.
The Maple Leafs continue their slide as they have only won one game out of their last ten after being blanked by Parent and the Philadelphia Flyers. Parent's fourth shutout of the season came thanks to goals from Blackburn (7), who scored unassisted four-on-four at 2:39 in the second period, Peters (5) on the powerplay, with Suthlerand (25) and Kennedy (11) adding their tallies. It's a third win in seven for the Flyers as they kept Toronto of the board despite the visitors having six powerplays, including a five minute major to Kennedy.
MON Vachon (21-7-2 .908) 28/31, Powerplay 1/3
BOS Johnston (14-8-3 .890) 32/39, Powerplay 1/3
OAK Hodge (13-10-11 .898) 31/34, Powerplay 0/0
CHI DeJordy (23-13-9 .896) 10/11, Powerplay 1/8
DET Crozier (14-3-4 .913) 25/27, Powerplay 1/5
MIN Maniago (17-21-9 .898) 24/26, Powerplay 0/0
PIT Bassen (9-10-5 .904) 27/29, Powerplay 0/0
NYR Giacomin (21-29-9 .888) 20/23, Powerplay 1/3
TOR Gamble (12-11-4 .911) 27/31, powerplay 0/6
PHI Parent (19-20-6 .899) 19/19, Powerplay 1/3
Montreal and Boston had already booked their places in the playoffs before they faced-off today and through two periods it was an even game with the Canadiens taking a 2-1 lead into the final frame; Cournoyer (32), who also had two assists, and Backstrom (18) scoring either side of Orr's (11) effort. The third however started out all in favour of Montreal as G Tremblay (3) made it 5-1 after goals from Duff (24), who reached fifty points thanks to three assists, and Backstrom (19) again. Sather (10) and Hodge (28) brought the Bruins back within two but they have just one win in four as Savard (3) and JC Tremblay (6) insured their team's ninth straight win.
Oakland were only able to fashion eleven shots on DeJordy in the Blackhawks goal, Hicke (27) getting his effort through to make it 1-1. Mohns (21) had scored on the powerplay to give Chicago a first period lead, and Nesterenko (10) made it 2-1 with a fine unassisted effort. Back-to-back wins were assured, handing Hodge his thirtieth defeat in the Seals net, when R Hull (35) scored in the third period.
A blown lead by Minnesota still leaves them unbeaten in three games, Cullen (30) and Boudrias (24) unassisted getting the Stars out 2-0 in the third frame. P Mahovlich (20) nailed his chance on the man advantage for Detroit, and Henderson (15) tied it up at 18:59 to give the Red Wings a seven game unbeaten run, tying the Maple Leafs in the East standings.
With a third straight defeat the New York Rangers sit bottom of the East, on the very edge of playoff elimination. They did not quit though after the Penguins took a 2-0 lead through Andrea (12), both assisted by Ubriaco, but Fonteyne's (10) shorthanded goal at 18:04 in the third put down the potential comeback started by Geoffrion (4) despite Hadfield (19) scoring on that same powerplay to once again make it close again. It is a first win in six for Pittsburgh to tie them in the West with Los Angeles.
The Maple Leafs continue their slide as they have only won one game out of their last ten after being blanked by Parent and the Philadelphia Flyers. Parent's fourth shutout of the season came thanks to goals from Blackburn (7), who scored unassisted four-on-four at 2:39 in the second period, Peters (5) on the powerplay, with Suthlerand (25) and Kennedy (11) adding their tallies. It's a third win in seven for the Flyers as they kept Toronto of the board despite the visitors having six powerplays, including a five minute major to Kennedy.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| MON | @ | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| BOS | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
MON Vachon (21-7-2 .908) 28/31, Powerplay 1/3
BOS Johnston (14-8-3 .890) 32/39, Powerplay 1/3
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| OAK | @ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| CHI | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
OAK Hodge (13-10-11 .898) 31/34, Powerplay 0/0
CHI DeJordy (23-13-9 .896) 10/11, Powerplay 1/8
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| DET | @ | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| MIN | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
DET Crozier (14-3-4 .913) 25/27, Powerplay 1/5
MIN Maniago (17-21-9 .898) 24/26, Powerplay 0/0
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| PIT | @ | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| NYR | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
PIT Bassen (9-10-5 .904) 27/29, Powerplay 0/0
NYR Giacomin (21-29-9 .888) 20/23, Powerplay 1/3
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| TOR | @ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PHI | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
TOR Gamble (12-11-4 .911) 27/31, powerplay 0/6
PHI Parent (19-20-6 .899) 19/19, Powerplay 1/3
| East Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts |
| Montreal Canadiens | 68 | 41 | 19 | 8 | 90 |
| Boston Bruins | 69 | 36 | 24 | 9 | 81 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 67 | 33 | 23 | 11 | 77 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 68 | 32 | 23 | 13 | 77 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 68 | 28 | 30 | 10 | 66 |
| New York Rangers | 68 | 26 | 29 | 13 | 65 |
| West Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts |
| St Louis Blues | 67 | 29 | 28 | 10 | 68 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 68 | 28 | 32 | 8 | 64 |
| Minnesota North Stars | 68 | 23 | 29 | 16 | 62 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 68 | 26 | 34 | 8 | 60 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 67 | 24 | 31 | 12 | 60 |
| Oakland Seals | 70 | 16 | 40 | 14 | 46 |
Friday, 19 April 2013
Controlled Chaos - Alamo Derby, Consolation Heat
Alamo Derby - San Antonio, TX
Consolation Heat
Tom Gariepy, Will Thompson, Jess Yates, Phillip Ruffin, Ben Hadsell, Will Murphy, Andy Bing, John McCrory, Ricky Grimes, Scott Hutchins, Tommy Miller, Sam Harbin
Thirteenth in his final debut last week, Tommy Miller is quickly out of the consolation heat this time around as the start is delayed to examine his battery mount where officials declared it improperly fitted and he was removed from the field.
Sixteen-time finalist Will Thompson (2nd Summer Sizzler, 2nd Bryan Family Open) did get away at the start but did not last a minute as John McCrory went up and over the Arizona Derby winner, and Scott Hutchins (1st Seattle Derby, 2nd Big Apple Smash Up, 2nd Lobster Nationals) has just two finals in the last eight rounds, both third place finishes, as Ruffin, McCrory and Grimes converge on him for the fifth, sixth and seventh hits on Hutchins in the opening three minutes.
Sam Harbin (2nd Arizona, 6th Spring Fling Derby, 6th SidelineStrategy.com Derby) suffered little interference but the blindside hit by Gariepy pushed him towards Andy Bing and Grimes to knock him out in ninth, and then the Louisiana Invitiational winner Ricky Grimes (3rd Jersey Derby, 3rd Texas Nationals) was cleaned out by McCrory after a hit from Jess Yates did a lot of damage.
After blindsided Thompson in retaliation for a hit, Phillip Ruffin (9th Ides of March, 8th Smash Up) also suffered the wrath of Yates as he was twice a victim for his opponent before ten-time finalist Ben Hadsell (1st Frostbite Winter Nationals, tied-2nd Summer National Derby, 2nd Texas) lost a war with John McCrory, finishing in sixth position.
Andy Bing, winner of both the Idaho Invitational and Indy Nationals, only delivered five hits in eight minutes but his final shot resulted in a disqualification as he clearly struck the driver's side door of Will Murphy, denying him a thirteenth final appearance this season.
The final elimination was that of John McCrory who, after barely avoiding a devastating hit in heat one, went up and over Will Thompson at the start of the consolation heat as part of his six hits on five vehicles. Twice he attacked Hadsell in a real battle between the two of them but his end came sandwiched between Gariepy and Murphy.
Tom Gariepy now has seven finals to his name but two event wins and just one finish outside of the top five (11th Indy) sees him heading into the final in San Antonio looking to improve on his eighth position in the standings. Starting on Sam Harbin with two hits Gariepy would miss another target, and miss badly, to damage his car badly enough that he relied on a lot of luck to get as far as he did, but he only took three hits all heat.
Jess Yates reaches his first final in eight rounds and this will be just his fourth appearance all season, taking four hits while laying a pair on both Hadsell and Ruffin, and Will Murphy makes it ten finals on the year, matching Yates with a heat-high of seven hits delivered. Murphy is in just his second final in ten weeks after qualifying for eight out of the first twelve.
Race Result
Q. Tom Gariepy
Q. Jess yates
Q. Will Murphy
4. John McCrory
5. Andy Bing
6. Ben Hadsell
7. Phillip Ruffin
8. Ricky Grimes
9. Sam Harbin
10. Scott Hutchins
11. Will Thompson
12. Tommy Miller
Consolation Heat
Tom Gariepy, Will Thompson, Jess Yates, Phillip Ruffin, Ben Hadsell, Will Murphy, Andy Bing, John McCrory, Ricky Grimes, Scott Hutchins, Tommy Miller, Sam Harbin
Thirteenth in his final debut last week, Tommy Miller is quickly out of the consolation heat this time around as the start is delayed to examine his battery mount where officials declared it improperly fitted and he was removed from the field.
Sixteen-time finalist Will Thompson (2nd Summer Sizzler, 2nd Bryan Family Open) did get away at the start but did not last a minute as John McCrory went up and over the Arizona Derby winner, and Scott Hutchins (1st Seattle Derby, 2nd Big Apple Smash Up, 2nd Lobster Nationals) has just two finals in the last eight rounds, both third place finishes, as Ruffin, McCrory and Grimes converge on him for the fifth, sixth and seventh hits on Hutchins in the opening three minutes.
Sam Harbin (2nd Arizona, 6th Spring Fling Derby, 6th SidelineStrategy.com Derby) suffered little interference but the blindside hit by Gariepy pushed him towards Andy Bing and Grimes to knock him out in ninth, and then the Louisiana Invitiational winner Ricky Grimes (3rd Jersey Derby, 3rd Texas Nationals) was cleaned out by McCrory after a hit from Jess Yates did a lot of damage.
After blindsided Thompson in retaliation for a hit, Phillip Ruffin (9th Ides of March, 8th Smash Up) also suffered the wrath of Yates as he was twice a victim for his opponent before ten-time finalist Ben Hadsell (1st Frostbite Winter Nationals, tied-2nd Summer National Derby, 2nd Texas) lost a war with John McCrory, finishing in sixth position.
Andy Bing, winner of both the Idaho Invitational and Indy Nationals, only delivered five hits in eight minutes but his final shot resulted in a disqualification as he clearly struck the driver's side door of Will Murphy, denying him a thirteenth final appearance this season.
The final elimination was that of John McCrory who, after barely avoiding a devastating hit in heat one, went up and over Will Thompson at the start of the consolation heat as part of his six hits on five vehicles. Twice he attacked Hadsell in a real battle between the two of them but his end came sandwiched between Gariepy and Murphy.
Tom Gariepy now has seven finals to his name but two event wins and just one finish outside of the top five (11th Indy) sees him heading into the final in San Antonio looking to improve on his eighth position in the standings. Starting on Sam Harbin with two hits Gariepy would miss another target, and miss badly, to damage his car badly enough that he relied on a lot of luck to get as far as he did, but he only took three hits all heat.
Jess Yates reaches his first final in eight rounds and this will be just his fourth appearance all season, taking four hits while laying a pair on both Hadsell and Ruffin, and Will Murphy makes it ten finals on the year, matching Yates with a heat-high of seven hits delivered. Murphy is in just his second final in ten weeks after qualifying for eight out of the first twelve.
Race Result
Q. Tom Gariepy
Q. Jess yates
Q. Will Murphy
4. John McCrory
5. Andy Bing
6. Ben Hadsell
7. Phillip Ruffin
8. Ricky Grimes
9. Sam Harbin
10. Scott Hutchins
11. Will Thompson
12. Tommy Miller
Thursday, 18 April 2013
Player of the Game Hockey - NHL 1967:68, March 16th
Saturday 16th March 1968
After a scoreless first period where LA's Amadio fought the North Stars' Balon back-to-back goals from Masterons (12), one shorthanded and the other unassisted, started a run of four goals for Minnesota as Balon (11) and McCord (5) added the second period flurry. The Kings pulled a Pair back either side of the intermission, Flett (27) and Irivine (20) getting them on the board, but Boudrias (23) unassisted on the powerplay made it 5-2 to give his side two wins in a row after going ten winless, and B Smith (18) added a final goal for Los Angeles as they go on to lose a third game in four attempts.
The Kings hold on to fourth place in the West though as Pittsburgh remain two points back after a fifth winless outing, their longest bad run of the season. The Penguins took the lead through McDonald (14) shorthanded but back came Montreal with G Tremblay (29) scoring a penalty shot and T Harris (7) giving the Canadiens a 2-1 advantage. Schinkel (12) tied it up before the Habs stepped up to their higher gears, making it 6-2 thanks to two goals from Lamaire (21); Beliveau (20) and H Richard (15) also grabbing goals as the hosts take an eighth straight victory.
Detroit continue their impressive run of games by winning in St Louis for a third win in four games, suffering only three losses in their last twenty-three matches. After Delvecchio (21) put the Wings up on the powerplay, St Louis took a 3-1 lead thanks to Cameron (9) twice and then B McCreary (22). St Louis blow their advantage, taking a second win in six games, as Detroit roar back through G Jarrett (33) and Howe (40) on the powerplay, and P Mahovlich's (19) even strength game winning tally.
Toronto are just a point ahead of the Red Wings after tying their fourth game in the last five, fifth out of nine, enjoying just one victory in that same span, as they blow a 2-0 lead. Stemkowski (8) and F Mahovlich (24) doubled up on Boston in the second period, but the Bruins, who have one defeat in seven, responded in kind during the third frame when Shack (23) and McKenzie (32) scored 2:24 apart late in regulation.
LAK Rutledge (20-20-4 .893) 35/40, Powerplay 0/1
MIN Bauman (7-8-6 .889) 29/32, Powerplay 1/7
PIT Binkley (15-20-7 .903) 39/45, Powerplay 0/0
MON Worsley (20-12-6 .912) 21/24, Powerplay 0/3
DET Edwards (14-19-9 .892) 28/31, Powerplay 3/7
StL Hall (20-18-7 .893) 26/30, Powerplay 0/4
BOS Cheevers (22-16-6 .898) 31/33, Powerplay 0/0
TOR Bower (21-12-7 .915) 20/22, Powerplay 0/5
After a scoreless first period where LA's Amadio fought the North Stars' Balon back-to-back goals from Masterons (12), one shorthanded and the other unassisted, started a run of four goals for Minnesota as Balon (11) and McCord (5) added the second period flurry. The Kings pulled a Pair back either side of the intermission, Flett (27) and Irivine (20) getting them on the board, but Boudrias (23) unassisted on the powerplay made it 5-2 to give his side two wins in a row after going ten winless, and B Smith (18) added a final goal for Los Angeles as they go on to lose a third game in four attempts.
The Kings hold on to fourth place in the West though as Pittsburgh remain two points back after a fifth winless outing, their longest bad run of the season. The Penguins took the lead through McDonald (14) shorthanded but back came Montreal with G Tremblay (29) scoring a penalty shot and T Harris (7) giving the Canadiens a 2-1 advantage. Schinkel (12) tied it up before the Habs stepped up to their higher gears, making it 6-2 thanks to two goals from Lamaire (21); Beliveau (20) and H Richard (15) also grabbing goals as the hosts take an eighth straight victory.
Detroit continue their impressive run of games by winning in St Louis for a third win in four games, suffering only three losses in their last twenty-three matches. After Delvecchio (21) put the Wings up on the powerplay, St Louis took a 3-1 lead thanks to Cameron (9) twice and then B McCreary (22). St Louis blow their advantage, taking a second win in six games, as Detroit roar back through G Jarrett (33) and Howe (40) on the powerplay, and P Mahovlich's (19) even strength game winning tally.
Toronto are just a point ahead of the Red Wings after tying their fourth game in the last five, fifth out of nine, enjoying just one victory in that same span, as they blow a 2-0 lead. Stemkowski (8) and F Mahovlich (24) doubled up on Boston in the second period, but the Bruins, who have one defeat in seven, responded in kind during the third frame when Shack (23) and McKenzie (32) scored 2:24 apart late in regulation.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| LAK | @ | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| MIN | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
LAK Rutledge (20-20-4 .893) 35/40, Powerplay 0/1
MIN Bauman (7-8-6 .889) 29/32, Powerplay 1/7
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| PIT | @ | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| MON | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
PIT Binkley (15-20-7 .903) 39/45, Powerplay 0/0
MON Worsley (20-12-6 .912) 21/24, Powerplay 0/3
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| DET | @ | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| StL | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
DET Edwards (14-19-9 .892) 28/31, Powerplay 3/7
StL Hall (20-18-7 .893) 26/30, Powerplay 0/4
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| BOS | @ | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| TOR | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
BOS Cheevers (22-16-6 .898) 31/33, Powerplay 0/0
TOR Bower (21-12-7 .915) 20/22, Powerplay 0/5
| East Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts |
| Montreal Canadiens | 67 | 40 | 19 | 8 | 88 |
| Boston Bruins | 68 | 36 | 23 | 9 | 81 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 66 | 33 | 22 | 11 | 77 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 67 | 32 | 23 | 12 | 76 |
| New York Rangers | 67 | 26 | 28 | 13 | 65 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 67 | 27 | 30 | 10 | 64 |
| West Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts |
| St Louis Blues | 67 | 29 | 28 | 10 | 68 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 67 | 27 | 32 | 8 | 62 |
| Minnesota North Stars | 67 | 23 | 29 | 15 | 61 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 68 | 26 | 34 | 8 | 60 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 66 | 23 | 31 | 12 | 58 |
| Oakland Seals | 69 | 16 | 39 | 14 | 46 |
Controlled Chaos - Alamo Derby, Heat Three
Alamo Derby - San Antonio, TX
Heat Three
Bill Malbrough, Randy Corson, Randy Tondreau, Danny Krol, Ed Smith, Sam Harbin, Will Thompson, Jess Yates, Matt Welliver, Andy Bing, Kenny Rose, John Ruiz
After four minutes of leading a free-for-all on Andy Bing with three hits, the final driver yet to qualify for a final Bill Malbrough took seven hits in the same span with two coming from Harbin and the finishing blow coming from Kenny Rose, and two minutes later Matt Welliver (6th Big Apple Smash Up, tied-7th Texas Nationals) chased after Tondreau before two shots from Jess Yates ended the day of the SidelineStartegy.com Derby winner.
John Ruiz's (9th Arizona Derby, 1st Ides of March, 8th Seattle Derby) twelfth place last week was his first final in eleven rounds and he misses another after struggling through his heat where he stalled, missed a target, and was caught hopelessly off guard by Andy Bing, the first of six shots against him.
Kenny Rose is back to the sidelines after his ninth place finish here as Steven Redden is due back next week, the three-times finalist where he finished twelfth in all of them was one who took it to Bing early on but failed to pick his spots well and take advantage of little attention on his own vehicle from the pack, and Ed Smith (11th Texas Nationals) bounced off of Danny Krol and embedded himself into the barriers.
Jess Yates, blindsided by Bing; Sam Harbin, double-teamed by Corson and Krol while stalled; Will Thompson, another Bing victim after double-tapping him; and then Andy Bing himself, surviving ten hits while delivering eight, including two blindsides, all move through to the consolation heat.
Randy Corson, entering his fifth final and his second in fourteen weeks, suffered a fire midway through the contest, hitting opponents five times either side of the incident that was started by a hit from John Ruiz. Welliver was his target on two occasions early on, then Randy Tondreau was targeted three times late on prior to Corson's elimination at the hands of Krol.
After Corson had blindsided him at the very start, Randy Tondreau would be hit unawares at the very end as Danny Krol went on to claim his third heat victory of the year. Both drivers went back and forth on each other five minutes in and would reunite their rivalry towards the finish. Both men had a missed target at almost the same time and then they both stalled, first Tondreau, then Krol, and then Tondreau again during their finale. In one last coincidence, both drivers qualify for their sixth final, but while Krol enters his first for six weeks, this is Tondreau's third straight appearance.
Race Result
1. Danny Krol
2. Randy Tondreau
3. Randy Corson
4. Andy Bing
5. Will Thompson
6. Sam Harbin
7. Jess Yates
8. Ed Smith
9. Kenny Rose
10. John Ruiz
11. Will Murphy
12. Bill Malbrough
Heat Three
Bill Malbrough, Randy Corson, Randy Tondreau, Danny Krol, Ed Smith, Sam Harbin, Will Thompson, Jess Yates, Matt Welliver, Andy Bing, Kenny Rose, John Ruiz
After four minutes of leading a free-for-all on Andy Bing with three hits, the final driver yet to qualify for a final Bill Malbrough took seven hits in the same span with two coming from Harbin and the finishing blow coming from Kenny Rose, and two minutes later Matt Welliver (6th Big Apple Smash Up, tied-7th Texas Nationals) chased after Tondreau before two shots from Jess Yates ended the day of the SidelineStartegy.com Derby winner.
John Ruiz's (9th Arizona Derby, 1st Ides of March, 8th Seattle Derby) twelfth place last week was his first final in eleven rounds and he misses another after struggling through his heat where he stalled, missed a target, and was caught hopelessly off guard by Andy Bing, the first of six shots against him.
Kenny Rose is back to the sidelines after his ninth place finish here as Steven Redden is due back next week, the three-times finalist where he finished twelfth in all of them was one who took it to Bing early on but failed to pick his spots well and take advantage of little attention on his own vehicle from the pack, and Ed Smith (11th Texas Nationals) bounced off of Danny Krol and embedded himself into the barriers.
Jess Yates, blindsided by Bing; Sam Harbin, double-teamed by Corson and Krol while stalled; Will Thompson, another Bing victim after double-tapping him; and then Andy Bing himself, surviving ten hits while delivering eight, including two blindsides, all move through to the consolation heat.
Randy Corson, entering his fifth final and his second in fourteen weeks, suffered a fire midway through the contest, hitting opponents five times either side of the incident that was started by a hit from John Ruiz. Welliver was his target on two occasions early on, then Randy Tondreau was targeted three times late on prior to Corson's elimination at the hands of Krol.
After Corson had blindsided him at the very start, Randy Tondreau would be hit unawares at the very end as Danny Krol went on to claim his third heat victory of the year. Both drivers went back and forth on each other five minutes in and would reunite their rivalry towards the finish. Both men had a missed target at almost the same time and then they both stalled, first Tondreau, then Krol, and then Tondreau again during their finale. In one last coincidence, both drivers qualify for their sixth final, but while Krol enters his first for six weeks, this is Tondreau's third straight appearance.
Race Result
1. Danny Krol
2. Randy Tondreau
3. Randy Corson
4. Andy Bing
5. Will Thompson
6. Sam Harbin
7. Jess Yates
8. Ed Smith
9. Kenny Rose
10. John Ruiz
11. Will Murphy
12. Bill Malbrough
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
Controlled Chaos - Alamo Derby, Heat Two
Alamo Derby - San Antonio, TX
Heat Two
Leo May, Scott Hutchins, Phillip Ruffin, Jason Ingle, Tom Gariepy, Timmy Barnes, Will Murphy, Dick Garrett, Bob Alexander, Billy Edgington, Reggie Banks, Darryl Lozier
Heat two began with drama and controversy in the opening seconds as eight-time finalist Jason Ingle (tied-5th Lobster Nationals, 7th Louisiana Invitational) missed his intended target, crashed into the wall and watched the smoke billow from his engine. The most controversial part of the derby, and possibly the season, came when Darryl Lozier crashed into the driver's side of Billy Edgington but there was no disqualification forthcoming and the officials allowed the heat to continue.
Billy Edgington (9th Firecracker Open) clearly felt aggrieved after Lozier's brutality was followed up by a double-tap by Timmy Barnes, two of the seven hits he took, and he was dismissed in eleventh position five minutes in.
Dick Garrett (6th Ides of March, 5th Seattle Derby) suffered a long stall after two hits from Murphy only to re-fire and take one more shot from his adversary, and Leo May (4th Wisconsin Invitational, 4th Idaho Invitational, 2nd Indy Nationals) was all over Timmy Barnes, hitting him three times without a revenge attack, but goes down in ninth place to miss his fourth final in a row, and tenth in thirteen, as Alexander and Banks sandwich him into submission.
Timmy Barnes (12th Spring Fling Derby, 4th Big Apple Smash Up) would go on to miss out on a place in the consolation heat as Tom Gariepy took off where May left, but Scott Hutchins scrapes through to the second chance race as his stall started late enough to be counted out after the elimination of Barnes.
Will Murphy, a big attacker of Garrett earlier in the heat, went on to finish sixth after getting banged around by a pack of four, Bob Alexander leading the way with two hits on him, and both Phillip Ruffin and Tom Gariepy also move into the consolation heat. Ruffin was relentlessly attacking Gariepy, striking him five times, but his final shot disqualified him and took down his opponent.
That means it is a sixth final this year for Bob Alexander, his third in the last seven weeks, after hitting seven cars a total of nine times including the blindside hit on Banks that disabled the latter before a second shot took the pair of them out; Banks qualifying for just his second final with the first a round win in the Firecracker Open.
So, after his controversial reprieve from the race officials and a sudden finish where he started a chain of seven eliminations by finishing off Hutchins, Darryl Lozier wins his fourth heat and goes through to a seventeenth final through twenty-two attempts. His lucky escape on striking Edgington was followed up by another hit on the Brit, then a pair to the vehicle of Leo May with Will Murphy suffering a shot in between. He rode his luck again when he very nearly stalled out in eighth position, but re-fired and, after striking Hutchins, watched the rest of the pack disintegrate in a matter of seconds.
Race Result
1. Darryl Lozier
2. Reggie Banks
2. Bob Alexander
4. Tom Gariepy
5. Phillip Ruffin
6. Will Murphy
7. Scott Hutchins
8. Timmy Barnes
9. Leo May
10. Dick Garrett
11. Billy Edgington
12. Jason Ingle
Heat Two
Leo May, Scott Hutchins, Phillip Ruffin, Jason Ingle, Tom Gariepy, Timmy Barnes, Will Murphy, Dick Garrett, Bob Alexander, Billy Edgington, Reggie Banks, Darryl Lozier
Heat two began with drama and controversy in the opening seconds as eight-time finalist Jason Ingle (tied-5th Lobster Nationals, 7th Louisiana Invitational) missed his intended target, crashed into the wall and watched the smoke billow from his engine. The most controversial part of the derby, and possibly the season, came when Darryl Lozier crashed into the driver's side of Billy Edgington but there was no disqualification forthcoming and the officials allowed the heat to continue.
Billy Edgington (9th Firecracker Open) clearly felt aggrieved after Lozier's brutality was followed up by a double-tap by Timmy Barnes, two of the seven hits he took, and he was dismissed in eleventh position five minutes in.
Dick Garrett (6th Ides of March, 5th Seattle Derby) suffered a long stall after two hits from Murphy only to re-fire and take one more shot from his adversary, and Leo May (4th Wisconsin Invitational, 4th Idaho Invitational, 2nd Indy Nationals) was all over Timmy Barnes, hitting him three times without a revenge attack, but goes down in ninth place to miss his fourth final in a row, and tenth in thirteen, as Alexander and Banks sandwich him into submission.
Timmy Barnes (12th Spring Fling Derby, 4th Big Apple Smash Up) would go on to miss out on a place in the consolation heat as Tom Gariepy took off where May left, but Scott Hutchins scrapes through to the second chance race as his stall started late enough to be counted out after the elimination of Barnes.
Will Murphy, a big attacker of Garrett earlier in the heat, went on to finish sixth after getting banged around by a pack of four, Bob Alexander leading the way with two hits on him, and both Phillip Ruffin and Tom Gariepy also move into the consolation heat. Ruffin was relentlessly attacking Gariepy, striking him five times, but his final shot disqualified him and took down his opponent.
That means it is a sixth final this year for Bob Alexander, his third in the last seven weeks, after hitting seven cars a total of nine times including the blindside hit on Banks that disabled the latter before a second shot took the pair of them out; Banks qualifying for just his second final with the first a round win in the Firecracker Open.
So, after his controversial reprieve from the race officials and a sudden finish where he started a chain of seven eliminations by finishing off Hutchins, Darryl Lozier wins his fourth heat and goes through to a seventeenth final through twenty-two attempts. His lucky escape on striking Edgington was followed up by another hit on the Brit, then a pair to the vehicle of Leo May with Will Murphy suffering a shot in between. He rode his luck again when he very nearly stalled out in eighth position, but re-fired and, after striking Hutchins, watched the rest of the pack disintegrate in a matter of seconds.
Race Result
1. Darryl Lozier
2. Reggie Banks
2. Bob Alexander
4. Tom Gariepy
5. Phillip Ruffin
6. Will Murphy
7. Scott Hutchins
8. Timmy Barnes
9. Leo May
10. Dick Garrett
11. Billy Edgington
12. Jason Ingle
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
(R15) Player of the Game Hockey - NHL 1967/68, March 15th
Friday 15th March 1968
With a fourth win in five outings St Louis open up a six point gap at the top of the West and still hold a game in hand over their nearest rivals in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The Blues took the lead in the first period when Cameron (7) found the twine, and in the second period both Hucul (2) and D Moore (8) nailed their powerplay chances; two of the ten opportunities St Louis had with the man advantage.
T Hampson (5) pulled one back in the final frame for Oakland who would then make it a one goal game when Hicke (26) scored, but the Seals cannot complete the comeback and suffer their sixth defeat in eight games.
OAK- T Hampson (5) ppg, Hicke (26), 6th loss in 8,
StL- Cameron (7), Hucul (2) ppg, D Moore (8) pp gwg, 3-0, 4th win in 5,
OAK Hodge (13-29-11 .897) 28/31, Powerplay 1/8
StL Martin (9-10-3 .902) 24/26, Powerplay 2/10
With a fourth win in five outings St Louis open up a six point gap at the top of the West and still hold a game in hand over their nearest rivals in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The Blues took the lead in the first period when Cameron (7) found the twine, and in the second period both Hucul (2) and D Moore (8) nailed their powerplay chances; two of the ten opportunities St Louis had with the man advantage.
T Hampson (5) pulled one back in the final frame for Oakland who would then make it a one goal game when Hicke (26) scored, but the Seals cannot complete the comeback and suffer their sixth defeat in eight games.
OAK- T Hampson (5) ppg, Hicke (26), 6th loss in 8,
StL- Cameron (7), Hucul (2) ppg, D Moore (8) pp gwg, 3-0, 4th win in 5,
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| OAK | @ | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| StL | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
OAK Hodge (13-29-11 .897) 28/31, Powerplay 1/8
StL Martin (9-10-3 .902) 24/26, Powerplay 2/10
| East Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts |
| Montreal Canadiens | 66 | 39 | 19 | 8 | 86 |
| Boston Bruins | 67 | 36 | 23 | 8 | 80 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 65 | 33 | 22 | 10 | 76 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 66 | 31 | 23 | 12 | 74 |
| New York Rangers | 67 | 26 | 28 | 13 | 65 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 67 | 27 | 30 | 10 | 64 |
| West Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts |
| St Louis Blues | 66 | 29 | 27 | 10 | 68 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 67 | 27 | 32 | 8 | 62 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 67 | 26 | 33 | 8 | 60 |
| Minnesota North Stars | 66 | 22 | 29 | 15 | 59 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 65 | 23 | 30 | 12 | 58 |
| Oakland Seals | 69 | 16 | 39 | 14 | 46 |
Controlled Chaos - Alamo Derby, Heat One
Alamo Derby - San Antonio, TX
Heat One
Joe Ramage, Lynne Higgins, Norm Gibson, John McCrory, Charlie Clayton, Ben Hadsell, Tommy Miller, Jamie Eilers, Chris Henton, Darrell Andresen, Ricky Grimes, Bambi Rogers
With a win in Milwaukee last week and a runner-up finish in St Louis two weeks before, Joe Ramage would have been forgiven if he thought his season had turned around from one final in nine weeks to his aforementioned good times. But, it was not to be as he finished dead last in the opening heat here. Only suffering two hits again, Ramage (1st Valentine's Day Massacre) did not help his cause by casually striking Miller and Higgins, bringing about a lot of damage to his own vehicle.
Since becoming champion of both the Summer Sizzler and Summer National Derby, Jamie EIlers has finished fourth (Louisiana Invitational), eighth (Arkansas Derby) and sixth (Bryen Family Open) but stalling out in San Antonio means he misses a fourth final in the last seven weeks, and Bambi Rogers (6th Arkansas, 11th Bryan) fails to make it three in a row as a hit to the blindside was the first of two shots from Ricky Grimes that finished her off.
Lynne Higgins (4th Arkansas) was right behind in ninth place after taking five shots, becoming stuck on the barriers and waiting for Grimes to get involved again to finish the job, and Norm Gibson (1st Lobster Nationals, 1st Texas Nationals) misses his second final in four on a tag-team sequence from Grimes and Hadsell.
Tommy Miller has a taste of the final now despite finishing thirteenth in last week's contest, but to repeat he will have to go through the consolation heat along with Ricky Grimes, John McCrory and Ben Hadsell. Out of this group it was McCrory who had the biggest adventure as Hadsell was inches away from destroying him, and he was shoved into the driver's side door of Grimes to earn a tough DQ.
Charlie Clayton reaches his seventh final of the year, a first in five rounds, after he raged on McCrory with three hits, battled with Hadsell and was ultimately dumped by Darrell Andresen who caught his opponent unawares.
Andresen would be unstoppable in the end with Chris Henton, finishing second as another blindside victim of the heat winner, making his way into a eighth final and third in a row. Henton was crushed hard by that surprise hit but he continued and tried to pass the pain on to McCrory who barely evaded a full speed collision that would have surely left at least one of the vehicles involved crippled.
It's a sixth heat win for Andresen and he improves his final streak to five for an eleventh appearance this season. His path was one of variety, laying eight hits on seven cars, but his day started on the wrong foot as Ben Hadsell caught him on the hop and nudged him hard from behind before shaking loose the cobwebs and taking two points for the win.
Race Result
1. Darrell Andresen
2. Chris Henton
3. Charlie Clayton
4. Ben Hadsell
5. John McCrory
6. Ricky Grimes
7. Tommy Miller
8. Norm Gibson
9. Lynne Higgins
10. Bambi Rogers
11. Jamie Eilers
12. Joe Ramage
Heat One
Joe Ramage, Lynne Higgins, Norm Gibson, John McCrory, Charlie Clayton, Ben Hadsell, Tommy Miller, Jamie Eilers, Chris Henton, Darrell Andresen, Ricky Grimes, Bambi Rogers
With a win in Milwaukee last week and a runner-up finish in St Louis two weeks before, Joe Ramage would have been forgiven if he thought his season had turned around from one final in nine weeks to his aforementioned good times. But, it was not to be as he finished dead last in the opening heat here. Only suffering two hits again, Ramage (1st Valentine's Day Massacre) did not help his cause by casually striking Miller and Higgins, bringing about a lot of damage to his own vehicle.
Since becoming champion of both the Summer Sizzler and Summer National Derby, Jamie EIlers has finished fourth (Louisiana Invitational), eighth (Arkansas Derby) and sixth (Bryen Family Open) but stalling out in San Antonio means he misses a fourth final in the last seven weeks, and Bambi Rogers (6th Arkansas, 11th Bryan) fails to make it three in a row as a hit to the blindside was the first of two shots from Ricky Grimes that finished her off.
Lynne Higgins (4th Arkansas) was right behind in ninth place after taking five shots, becoming stuck on the barriers and waiting for Grimes to get involved again to finish the job, and Norm Gibson (1st Lobster Nationals, 1st Texas Nationals) misses his second final in four on a tag-team sequence from Grimes and Hadsell.
Tommy Miller has a taste of the final now despite finishing thirteenth in last week's contest, but to repeat he will have to go through the consolation heat along with Ricky Grimes, John McCrory and Ben Hadsell. Out of this group it was McCrory who had the biggest adventure as Hadsell was inches away from destroying him, and he was shoved into the driver's side door of Grimes to earn a tough DQ.
Charlie Clayton reaches his seventh final of the year, a first in five rounds, after he raged on McCrory with three hits, battled with Hadsell and was ultimately dumped by Darrell Andresen who caught his opponent unawares.
Andresen would be unstoppable in the end with Chris Henton, finishing second as another blindside victim of the heat winner, making his way into a eighth final and third in a row. Henton was crushed hard by that surprise hit but he continued and tried to pass the pain on to McCrory who barely evaded a full speed collision that would have surely left at least one of the vehicles involved crippled.
It's a sixth heat win for Andresen and he improves his final streak to five for an eleventh appearance this season. His path was one of variety, laying eight hits on seven cars, but his day started on the wrong foot as Ben Hadsell caught him on the hop and nudged him hard from behind before shaking loose the cobwebs and taking two points for the win.
Race Result
1. Darrell Andresen
2. Chris Henton
3. Charlie Clayton
4. Ben Hadsell
5. John McCrory
6. Ricky Grimes
7. Tommy Miller
8. Norm Gibson
9. Lynne Higgins
10. Bambi Rogers
11. Jamie Eilers
12. Joe Ramage
Monday, 15 April 2013
Controlled Chaos - Alamo Derby Preview
The drivers who finished first and third at last week's Byran Family Open are together in the first heat of event twenty-two. Joe Ramage won his second event of the year while Norm Gibson took his sixth podium finish this season, and both men will go against double event winner Jamie Eilers and one-time champ Ben Hadsell.
Darryl Lozier continues to search for the form he enjoyed earlier in the season as he enters the event in San Antonio, Texas, with no wins in ten weeks and a best result of fourth place in that span. The good news for him is that the fourth place finish came in this state at the Teas Nationals. Joining him in heat two are Scott Hutchins who has two finals, both third place finishes, in the last seven rounds; Tom Gariepy who won the Arkansas Derby a fortnight ago; and Will Murphy who hangs in the top ten despite just one final appearance, sixth at the Firecracker Open, in the past nine weeks.
Finally, the current occupier of second spot in the standings goes in heat three as Will Thompson, fresh off his runner-up place in Milwaukee, looks to keep the pressure on Lozier at the top. His main rival here will be Andy Bing who has missed three of the last six finals and has finished outside of the points in two of those he did qualify for.
Darryl Lozier continues to search for the form he enjoyed earlier in the season as he enters the event in San Antonio, Texas, with no wins in ten weeks and a best result of fourth place in that span. The good news for him is that the fourth place finish came in this state at the Teas Nationals. Joining him in heat two are Scott Hutchins who has two finals, both third place finishes, in the last seven rounds; Tom Gariepy who won the Arkansas Derby a fortnight ago; and Will Murphy who hangs in the top ten despite just one final appearance, sixth at the Firecracker Open, in the past nine weeks.
Finally, the current occupier of second spot in the standings goes in heat three as Will Thompson, fresh off his runner-up place in Milwaukee, looks to keep the pressure on Lozier at the top. His main rival here will be Andy Bing who has missed three of the last six finals and has finished outside of the points in two of those he did qualify for.
Sunday, 14 April 2013
Player of the Game Hockey - NHL 1967/68, March 14th
Thursday 14th March 1967
As Montreal take their current winning streak to seven games the New York Rangers suffer back-to-back losses, and in the process have been outscored 10-3 by the opposition. Beliveau (18) and Ferguson (12) gave the Habs a lead but Ratelle (30) tied up the game both times in the second period. Redmond (8) and a second from Beliveau (19) put Montreal over the top, New York only able to counter with a goal from Gilbert (28) as part of his three-point night, and Cournoyer (31) added an empty netter late on.
A goal in each period secured LA's third win in five games to move them up to third in the West, just two points back of the Flyers who have just one victory in five attempts. Irvine (19) scored on the powerplay in the first period and then, in the second frame, Labossierre's (21) first goal gave the Kings a 2-0 advantage. Rochefort (19) and Sutherland (24) assisted on each others' goals to tie the game in the third but Labossierre stole both points for his team with thirty-eight seconds left to play.
NYR Giacomin (21-28-9 .889) 23/27, Powerplay 0/0
MON Vachon (20-7-2 .908) 35/38, Powerplay 0/0
LAK Rutledge (20-19-4 .893) 16/18, Powerplay 1/8
PHI Parent (18-20-6 .897) 23/26, Powerplay 0/6
As Montreal take their current winning streak to seven games the New York Rangers suffer back-to-back losses, and in the process have been outscored 10-3 by the opposition. Beliveau (18) and Ferguson (12) gave the Habs a lead but Ratelle (30) tied up the game both times in the second period. Redmond (8) and a second from Beliveau (19) put Montreal over the top, New York only able to counter with a goal from Gilbert (28) as part of his three-point night, and Cournoyer (31) added an empty netter late on.
A goal in each period secured LA's third win in five games to move them up to third in the West, just two points back of the Flyers who have just one victory in five attempts. Irvine (19) scored on the powerplay in the first period and then, in the second frame, Labossierre's (21) first goal gave the Kings a 2-0 advantage. Rochefort (19) and Sutherland (24) assisted on each others' goals to tie the game in the third but Labossierre stole both points for his team with thirty-eight seconds left to play.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| NYR | @ | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| MON | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
NYR Giacomin (21-28-9 .889) 23/27, Powerplay 0/0
MON Vachon (20-7-2 .908) 35/38, Powerplay 0/0
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| LAK | @ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| PHI | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
LAK Rutledge (20-19-4 .893) 16/18, Powerplay 1/8
PHI Parent (18-20-6 .897) 23/26, Powerplay 0/6
| East Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts |
| Montreal Canadiens | 66 | 39 | 19 | 8 | 86 |
| Boston Bruins | 67 | 36 | 23 | 8 | 80 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 65 | 33 | 22 | 10 | 76 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 66 | 31 | 23 | 12 | 74 |
| New York Rangers | 67 | 26 | 28 | 13 | 65 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 67 | 27 | 30 | 10 | 64 |
| West Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts |
| St Louis Blues | 65 | 28 | 27 | 10 | 66 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 67 | 27 | 32 | 8 | 62 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 67 | 26 | 33 | 8 | 60 |
| Minnesota North Stars | 66 | 22 | 29 | 15 | 59 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 65 | 23 | 30 | 12 | 58 |
| Oakland Seals | 68 | 16 | 38 | 14 | 46 |
Controlled Chaos - The Bryan Family Open Standings
With Darryl Lozier suffering a bad run of form where he has one top five finish (4th Texas Nationals) in the past nine weeks, a ninth spot in Milwaukee was not what he needed. This result allowed Will Thompson to move within six points after his third top two finish this year, and a further 6.5pts back is The Bryan Family Open winner Joe Ramage.
Scott Hutchins loses out two places in the standings by failing to qualify out of the consolation heat by one place and Andy Bing, also absent after entering the second chance race, is usurped in fifth place by Norm Gibson and his third place finish.
Scott Hutchins loses out two places in the standings by failing to qualify out of the consolation heat by one place and Andy Bing, also absent after entering the second chance race, is usurped in fifth place by Norm Gibson and his third place finish.
| Name | Pts | Derby Wins | Heat Wins |
| Darryl Lozier | 133.5 | 3 | 3 |
| Will Thompson | 127.5 | 1 | 3 |
| Joe Ramage | 121 | 2 | 1 |
| Scott Hutchens | 113 | 1 | 3 |
| Norm Gibson | 98.5 | 2 | 1 |
| Andy Bing | 96 | 2 | 3 |
| Jamie Eilers | 96 | 2 | 2 |
| Tom Gariepy | 90.5 | 2 | |
| Will Murphy | 86 | 2 | |
| Ben Hadsell | 83.5 | 1 | 4 |
| Leo May | 70 | 3 | |
| Chris Henton | 60 | 1 | 1 |
| Steven Redden | 57.5 | 1 | |
| Lynne Higgins | 50 | 2 | |
| Darrell Andresen | 47 | 5 | |
| Rob Remaley | 45.5 | 2 | |
| Ricky Grimes | 44 | 1 | 2 |
| John McCrory | 42.8 | 1 | |
| Matt Welliver | 31.5 | 1 | 2 |
| John Ruiz | 29 | 1 | 2 |
| Danny Krol | 28 | 2 | |
| Bobby Gallagher | 27 | 2 | |
| Dick Garrett | 27 | 1 | |
| Don Davis | 25 | 2 | |
| Sam Harbin | 25 | ||
| Randy Corson | 23 | 2 | |
| Bob Alexander | 22 | 2 | |
| Jason Ingle | 20.5 | 2 | |
| Reggie Banks | 20 | 1 | |
| Jess Yates | 20 | 2 | |
| Charlie Clayton | 18 | 1 | |
| Randy Tondreau | 18 | 1 | |
| Timmy Barnes | 11 | 1 | |
| Philip Ruffin | 5 | ||
| Bambi Rogers | 5 | ||
| Kenny Rose | 2 | 1 | |
| Ed Smith | 2 | 1 | |
| Billy Edgington | 2 | ||
| Tommy Miller | 0 |
Saturday, 13 April 2013
Controlled Chaos - The Bryan Family Open Final
The Bryan Family Open - Milwaukee, WI
Final
John Ruiz, Jamie Eilers, Chris Henton, Will Thompson, John McCrory, Tommy Miller, Joe Ramage, Lynne Higgins, Norm Gibson, Bambi Rogers, Darryl Lozier, Ben Hadsell
The debut of Tommy Miller was very short lived as he came in to his first ever final over-excited and slammed straight into the drivers' door of Lynne Higgins, and John Ruiz's (9th Arizona Derby, 1st Ides of March, 8th Seattle Derby) first final after being absent in the previous ten ends with him taking home no points after five hits, two from John McCrory, put him down in twelfth.
Bambi Rogers (6th Arkansas Derby) would also take nothing away from her work in The Bryan Family Open event as she went straight for the top dog in Darryl Lozier, hitting him four times but was put down by Norm Gibson who came looking for revenge after she caught him unawares previously.
Lynne Higgins reaches the five-oh in points with a tenth place finish in Milwaukee to give the four-time fifth place girl ten points in the last two events, elimination today coming in the eighth minute of a twelve minute final at the hands of Thompson delivering the seventh against her.
In his previous three events Darryl Lozier (1st Tampa Open, Jersey Derby, Big Apple Smash Up) has finished 10th, 7th and then failed to qualify for the final, not winning any of the last ten events with a single top five finish in that time, and the heat one winner has backed this up with a lowly ninth position that came largely thanks to Rogers' relentless assault.
Darrell Andresen (4th Indy Nationals, 5th Firecracker Open, 5th Arkansas Derby) was out right behind the championship leader after Ben Hadsell rounded out a three-way attack by pushing him into the barriers where he would end his fourth final in a row in eighth place.
John McCrory (3rd Seattle, 5th Indy Nationals, tied-4th SidelineStrategy.com Derby) is able to close in on Andresen by a point, his hit on that opponent his final act before eventually slowing to a halt, and Jamie EIlers started a frantic finale where five cars were eliminated in the last four minutes. Eilers (1st Summer Sizzler, 1st Summer National Derby) only took three hits while delivering seven, including a blindside attack on Hadsell after avoiding an attempt at a surprise attack from the latter.
That and a second attack later on from Eilers damaged his vehicle enough that a hit on Ramage condemned Ben Hadsell to his exit but he enjoys a fifth top-five finish this season. Hadsell (1st Frostbite, tied-2nd Summer National, 2nd Texas Nationals) had previously gone for Ramage twice, giving knocks to Gibson and Andresen in between.
Chris Henton (5th Summer National) backs up his runner-up finish last week with a fourth spot here as the Spring Fling Derby winner saw off little challenge from the pack while he mowed down the opposition with nine hits, two each going to McCrory and Thompson, but Ramage was the one who eventually caught up to him to crash him against the wall.
A sixth podium place in his nine finals gives Norm Gibson another bump up the standings. Starting with a hit on Lozier he then had his revenge on Rogers who caught him on his blindside before avoiding another surprise hit, hitting Thompson and then stalling. It was touch and go for a while whether or not he would re-fire but he found success and repeated the avoid hit-hit Thompson tactic only for Ramage to return for a second time and lay him clean out.
Will Thompson, whose only event win this season came in the second week in Arizona, struck Joe Ramage just once throughout the final but the latter's fourth attack on Thompson decided who would take the victory and five extra points. Thompson can be content to even get this far as he suffered a fire at the beginning of the consolation heat to take eleven shots in the final before the twelfth pushed him to within six points of Darryl Lozier.
Joe Ramage himself is now only 12.5pts back of the leader with his second event victory this year, the first coming in his first final in the Valentine's Day Massacre. That win started a run of five straight finals, three of ending in runner-up spot, but he would have just one appearance (11th Indy Nationals) in the next nine weeks before another runner-up finish in the SidelineStrategy.com Derby put him back on track. Two more absences and then this victory that comes from a slow start where Higgins caught him by surprise and then he was almost caught out again straight after.
Race Result
1. Joe Ramage
2. Will Thompson
3. Norm Gibson
4. Chris Henton
5. Ben Hadsell
6. Jamie Eilers
7. John McCrory
8. Darrell Andresen
9. Darryl Lozier
10. Lynne Higgins
11. Bambi Rogers
12. John Ruiz
13. Tommy Miller
Final
John Ruiz, Jamie Eilers, Chris Henton, Will Thompson, John McCrory, Tommy Miller, Joe Ramage, Lynne Higgins, Norm Gibson, Bambi Rogers, Darryl Lozier, Ben Hadsell
The debut of Tommy Miller was very short lived as he came in to his first ever final over-excited and slammed straight into the drivers' door of Lynne Higgins, and John Ruiz's (9th Arizona Derby, 1st Ides of March, 8th Seattle Derby) first final after being absent in the previous ten ends with him taking home no points after five hits, two from John McCrory, put him down in twelfth.
Bambi Rogers (6th Arkansas Derby) would also take nothing away from her work in The Bryan Family Open event as she went straight for the top dog in Darryl Lozier, hitting him four times but was put down by Norm Gibson who came looking for revenge after she caught him unawares previously.
Lynne Higgins reaches the five-oh in points with a tenth place finish in Milwaukee to give the four-time fifth place girl ten points in the last two events, elimination today coming in the eighth minute of a twelve minute final at the hands of Thompson delivering the seventh against her.
In his previous three events Darryl Lozier (1st Tampa Open, Jersey Derby, Big Apple Smash Up) has finished 10th, 7th and then failed to qualify for the final, not winning any of the last ten events with a single top five finish in that time, and the heat one winner has backed this up with a lowly ninth position that came largely thanks to Rogers' relentless assault.
Darrell Andresen (4th Indy Nationals, 5th Firecracker Open, 5th Arkansas Derby) was out right behind the championship leader after Ben Hadsell rounded out a three-way attack by pushing him into the barriers where he would end his fourth final in a row in eighth place.
John McCrory (3rd Seattle, 5th Indy Nationals, tied-4th SidelineStrategy.com Derby) is able to close in on Andresen by a point, his hit on that opponent his final act before eventually slowing to a halt, and Jamie EIlers started a frantic finale where five cars were eliminated in the last four minutes. Eilers (1st Summer Sizzler, 1st Summer National Derby) only took three hits while delivering seven, including a blindside attack on Hadsell after avoiding an attempt at a surprise attack from the latter.
That and a second attack later on from Eilers damaged his vehicle enough that a hit on Ramage condemned Ben Hadsell to his exit but he enjoys a fifth top-five finish this season. Hadsell (1st Frostbite, tied-2nd Summer National, 2nd Texas Nationals) had previously gone for Ramage twice, giving knocks to Gibson and Andresen in between.
Chris Henton (5th Summer National) backs up his runner-up finish last week with a fourth spot here as the Spring Fling Derby winner saw off little challenge from the pack while he mowed down the opposition with nine hits, two each going to McCrory and Thompson, but Ramage was the one who eventually caught up to him to crash him against the wall.
A sixth podium place in his nine finals gives Norm Gibson another bump up the standings. Starting with a hit on Lozier he then had his revenge on Rogers who caught him on his blindside before avoiding another surprise hit, hitting Thompson and then stalling. It was touch and go for a while whether or not he would re-fire but he found success and repeated the avoid hit-hit Thompson tactic only for Ramage to return for a second time and lay him clean out.
Will Thompson, whose only event win this season came in the second week in Arizona, struck Joe Ramage just once throughout the final but the latter's fourth attack on Thompson decided who would take the victory and five extra points. Thompson can be content to even get this far as he suffered a fire at the beginning of the consolation heat to take eleven shots in the final before the twelfth pushed him to within six points of Darryl Lozier.
Joe Ramage himself is now only 12.5pts back of the leader with his second event victory this year, the first coming in his first final in the Valentine's Day Massacre. That win started a run of five straight finals, three of ending in runner-up spot, but he would have just one appearance (11th Indy Nationals) in the next nine weeks before another runner-up finish in the SidelineStrategy.com Derby put him back on track. Two more absences and then this victory that comes from a slow start where Higgins caught him by surprise and then he was almost caught out again straight after.
Race Result
1. Joe Ramage
2. Will Thompson
3. Norm Gibson
4. Chris Henton
5. Ben Hadsell
6. Jamie Eilers
7. John McCrory
8. Darrell Andresen
9. Darryl Lozier
10. Lynne Higgins
11. Bambi Rogers
12. John Ruiz
13. Tommy Miller
Friday, 12 April 2013
Player of the Game Hockey - NHL 1967/68, March 13th
Wednesday 13th March 1968
Pittsburgh's playoff hopes take another knock as they lose a fourth straight game, Stratton (17) and Fonteyne (9) scoring for the Pens, but the Chicago Blackhawks take their first win in five with R Hull's (34) eighth game winning goal of the season in the third period, rounding out his team's scoring with Wharram (24) and Nesterenko (9) tallying in the opening frame, giving the Hawks a 3-0 lead.
The Flyers are 2-8-2 in their last ten matches as, after Sutherland (23) scored unassisted at 5:19 in the first period to tie the game at 1-1, they get run over by six unanswered Minnesota goals. Collins (9), who opened the games' scoring at 3:50, scored twice on the powerplay with Connelly (39) credited with the game winner. Two goals from Balon (20) added to those from Marcetta (5) and P MacDonald (20), the latter going down in history as the North Stars' two-hundredth goal, as they move up into third place out West, leapfrogging both Los Angeles and Pittsburgh.
Boston find the answers to end New York's nine game undefeated streak, Cheevers shutting them out 5-0 for his second clean sheet this season. Shack (22), Westfall (8), back-to-back efforts from Stanfield (21), and Sanderson (16) all scored to give the Bruins a fifth win in six games.
Detroit and Oakland saw out a 1-1 tie, the hosts taking the lead in the first frame through Swarbrick (14), assisted by T Hampson, on the powerplay, the Wings tying it up in period number two when Henderson (14) scored unassisted meaning Detroit have lost once in their last fourteen.
Oliver (16) scored the first period's only goal to give Toronto the lead, but the Leafs have just one win in eight and are only two points ahead of the Wings after St Louis came back to win their third game in four tries. D Moore (7) evened it up in the second period and then, with the teams playing four-on-four hockey, Keenan (14) scored the game winner with 1:14 left in regulation moments after a big-time save from Hall shorthanded.
PIT Binkley (15-19-7 .905) 27/30, Powerplay 0/3
CHI DeJordy (22-13-9 .896) 23/25, Powerplay 0/0
PHI Favell (9-12-2 .894) 35/42, Powerplay 0/0
MIN Maniago (17-21-8 .898) 22/23, Powerplay 4/9
BOS Cheevers (22-16-5 .897) 15/15, Powerplay 0/2
NYR Giacomin (21-27-9 .889) 20/25, Powerplay 0/0
DET Crozier (14-3-3 .912) 27/28, Powerplay 0/1
OAK Hodge (13-28-11 .897) 38/39, Powerplay 1/4
TOR Bower (21-12-6 .915) 20/22, Powerplay 0/2
StL Hall (20-17-7 .894) 24/25, Powerplay 0/4
Pittsburgh's playoff hopes take another knock as they lose a fourth straight game, Stratton (17) and Fonteyne (9) scoring for the Pens, but the Chicago Blackhawks take their first win in five with R Hull's (34) eighth game winning goal of the season in the third period, rounding out his team's scoring with Wharram (24) and Nesterenko (9) tallying in the opening frame, giving the Hawks a 3-0 lead.
The Flyers are 2-8-2 in their last ten matches as, after Sutherland (23) scored unassisted at 5:19 in the first period to tie the game at 1-1, they get run over by six unanswered Minnesota goals. Collins (9), who opened the games' scoring at 3:50, scored twice on the powerplay with Connelly (39) credited with the game winner. Two goals from Balon (20) added to those from Marcetta (5) and P MacDonald (20), the latter going down in history as the North Stars' two-hundredth goal, as they move up into third place out West, leapfrogging both Los Angeles and Pittsburgh.
Boston find the answers to end New York's nine game undefeated streak, Cheevers shutting them out 5-0 for his second clean sheet this season. Shack (22), Westfall (8), back-to-back efforts from Stanfield (21), and Sanderson (16) all scored to give the Bruins a fifth win in six games.
Detroit and Oakland saw out a 1-1 tie, the hosts taking the lead in the first frame through Swarbrick (14), assisted by T Hampson, on the powerplay, the Wings tying it up in period number two when Henderson (14) scored unassisted meaning Detroit have lost once in their last fourteen.
Oliver (16) scored the first period's only goal to give Toronto the lead, but the Leafs have just one win in eight and are only two points ahead of the Wings after St Louis came back to win their third game in four tries. D Moore (7) evened it up in the second period and then, with the teams playing four-on-four hockey, Keenan (14) scored the game winner with 1:14 left in regulation moments after a big-time save from Hall shorthanded.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| PIT | @ | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| CHI | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
PIT Binkley (15-19-7 .905) 27/30, Powerplay 0/3
CHI DeJordy (22-13-9 .896) 23/25, Powerplay 0/0
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| PHI | @ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MIN | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
PHI Favell (9-12-2 .894) 35/42, Powerplay 0/0
MIN Maniago (17-21-8 .898) 22/23, Powerplay 4/9
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| BOS | @ | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| NYR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
BOS Cheevers (22-16-5 .897) 15/15, Powerplay 0/2
NYR Giacomin (21-27-9 .889) 20/25, Powerplay 0/0
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| DET | @ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| OAK | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
DET Crozier (14-3-3 .912) 27/28, Powerplay 0/1
OAK Hodge (13-28-11 .897) 38/39, Powerplay 1/4
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | F | ||
| TOR | @ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| StL | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
TOR Bower (21-12-6 .915) 20/22, Powerplay 0/2
StL Hall (20-17-7 .894) 24/25, Powerplay 0/4
| East Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts |
| Montreal Canadiens | 65 | 38 | 19 | 8 | 84 |
| Boston Bruins | 67 | 36 | 23 | 8 | 80 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 65 | 33 | 22 | 10 | 76 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 66 | 31 | 23 | 12 | 74 |
| New York Rangers | 66 | 26 | 27 | 13 | 65 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 67 | 27 | 30 | 10 | 64 |
| West Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts |
| St Louis Blues | 65 | 28 | 27 | 10 | 66 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 66 | 27 | 31 | 8 | 62 |
| Minnesota North Stars | 66 | 22 | 29 | 15 | 59 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 65 | 23 | 30 | 12 | 58 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 66 | 25 | 33 | 8 | 58 |
| Oakland Seals | 68 | 16 | 38 | 14 | 46 |
Controlled Chaos - The Bryan Family Open, Consolation Heat
The Bryan Family Open
Consolation Heat
Jess Yates, Matt Welliver, Lynne Higgins, Andy Bing, Will Thompson, Leo May, John Ruiz, Scott Hutchins, Jason Ingle, Phillip Ruffin, Ton Gariepy
An eight minute dash began with just eleven drivers thanks to the tie for third place in heat three, and it started with a bang when Will Thompson's car caught fire but he was allowed to continue.
The first elimination came when Phillip Ruffin (9th Ides of March, 8th Big Apple Smash Up) was slammed around by four opponents inside the opening two minutes, and Jess Yates (8th Arizona Derby, 7th Jersey Derby, 4th Summer Sizzler) also took four shots from different drivers; Tom Gariepy with the finishing blow.
Leo May (4th Wisconsin Invitational, 4th Idaho Invitational, 2nd Indy Nationals) misses a sixth final out of the last eight events after Andy Bing's hit caused a stall, and Tom Gariepy (tied-2nd Valentine's Day Massacre, 1st Wisconsin Invitational) cannot follow up his victory in Little Rock, Arkansas as six of the pack went out of their way to take him out in eighth place.
Jason Ingle (tied-5th Lobster Nationals, 7th Louisiana Invitational) has not missed atthree finals in a row since before he qualified seven times in twelve weeks, but his five hits in the heat, two of which struck Hutchins, were not enough to see him through here.
The ending went from six competitors to three in the space of a minute starting with the elimination of SidelineStrategy.com Derby winner Matt Welliver (6th Big Apple Smash Up, tied-7th Texas Nationals) who only took four hits but it was the final two from Ruiz and Hutchins that did the lion's share of damage.
Then quick as a flash Andy Bing (1st Idaho Invitational, 1st Indy Nationals) was eliminated by two hits from Lynne Higgins, and then Scott Hutchins shambles along after his own encounter with Higgins until he stopped altogether.
That puts Lynne Higgins into back-to-back finals for the third time this year, her eighth final overall, after finishing a season-high fourth in Arkansas, her progress coming in Milwaukee came at a minimal cost as she was only struck twice, both times by Will Thompson who also moves on.
Thompson makes it sixteen finals on the year and with second place Scott Hutchins out in fourth place it is the ideal time to retake second place while he attempts to catch up on Darryl Lozier at the top of the standings. Once the officials gave him the green light to continue from his fire a brief stall nearly took him out anyway, but he went on to strike Higgins twice and Ruiz four times as all three go through.
John Ruiz has missed ten finals in a row after qualifying for three straight and he had to fight through not just Thompson's rampancy but also a long stall midway through that would have taken him out long ago in order to reach his sixth final this season.
Race Result
Q. Lynne Higgins
Q. Will Thompson
Q. John Ruiz
4. Scott Hutchins
5. Andy Bing
6. Matt Welliver
7. Jason Ingle
8. Tom Gariepy
9. Leo May
10. Jess Yates
11. Phillip Ruffin
Consolation Heat
Jess Yates, Matt Welliver, Lynne Higgins, Andy Bing, Will Thompson, Leo May, John Ruiz, Scott Hutchins, Jason Ingle, Phillip Ruffin, Ton Gariepy
An eight minute dash began with just eleven drivers thanks to the tie for third place in heat three, and it started with a bang when Will Thompson's car caught fire but he was allowed to continue.
The first elimination came when Phillip Ruffin (9th Ides of March, 8th Big Apple Smash Up) was slammed around by four opponents inside the opening two minutes, and Jess Yates (8th Arizona Derby, 7th Jersey Derby, 4th Summer Sizzler) also took four shots from different drivers; Tom Gariepy with the finishing blow.
Leo May (4th Wisconsin Invitational, 4th Idaho Invitational, 2nd Indy Nationals) misses a sixth final out of the last eight events after Andy Bing's hit caused a stall, and Tom Gariepy (tied-2nd Valentine's Day Massacre, 1st Wisconsin Invitational) cannot follow up his victory in Little Rock, Arkansas as six of the pack went out of their way to take him out in eighth place.
Jason Ingle (tied-5th Lobster Nationals, 7th Louisiana Invitational) has not missed atthree finals in a row since before he qualified seven times in twelve weeks, but his five hits in the heat, two of which struck Hutchins, were not enough to see him through here.
The ending went from six competitors to three in the space of a minute starting with the elimination of SidelineStrategy.com Derby winner Matt Welliver (6th Big Apple Smash Up, tied-7th Texas Nationals) who only took four hits but it was the final two from Ruiz and Hutchins that did the lion's share of damage.
Then quick as a flash Andy Bing (1st Idaho Invitational, 1st Indy Nationals) was eliminated by two hits from Lynne Higgins, and then Scott Hutchins shambles along after his own encounter with Higgins until he stopped altogether.
That puts Lynne Higgins into back-to-back finals for the third time this year, her eighth final overall, after finishing a season-high fourth in Arkansas, her progress coming in Milwaukee came at a minimal cost as she was only struck twice, both times by Will Thompson who also moves on.
Thompson makes it sixteen finals on the year and with second place Scott Hutchins out in fourth place it is the ideal time to retake second place while he attempts to catch up on Darryl Lozier at the top of the standings. Once the officials gave him the green light to continue from his fire a brief stall nearly took him out anyway, but he went on to strike Higgins twice and Ruiz four times as all three go through.
John Ruiz has missed ten finals in a row after qualifying for three straight and he had to fight through not just Thompson's rampancy but also a long stall midway through that would have taken him out long ago in order to reach his sixth final this season.
Race Result
Q. Lynne Higgins
Q. Will Thompson
Q. John Ruiz
4. Scott Hutchins
5. Andy Bing
6. Matt Welliver
7. Jason Ingle
8. Tom Gariepy
9. Leo May
10. Jess Yates
11. Phillip Ruffin
Thursday, 11 April 2013
Controlled Chaos - The Bryan Family Open, Heat Three
The Bryan Family Open - Milwaukee, WI
Heat Three
Billy Edgington, Chris Henton, Jamie Eilers, Ricky Grimes, John Ruiz, Scott Hutchins, Randy Tondreau, Darrell Andresen, Danny Krol, Matt Welliver, Ed Smith, Joe Ramage
The longest heat of the round lasted sixteen minutes and the first elimination didn't come until the seventh minute of action when Ricky Grimes (3rd Jersey Derby, 3rd Texas Nationals) misses his fourth final since winning the Louisiana Invitational thanks to a double-bump from Jamie Eilers causing a fatal stall.
Ed Smith (11th Texas) stalled himself early on but re-fired only to crash into a wall when he missed his intended target, Krol, Welliver and Ruiz all pouncing on their prone opponent, and then Danny Krol (8thIdes of March, 4th Jersey, 3rd Summer Sizzler)was pushed offline by Chris Henton and suffered the worst when he collided with Welliver.
A single hit on Henton was all Billy Edgington (9th Firecracker Open) had to show for his seven minutes as he had to suffer through a lot of engine problems before finally succumbing to them, then Randy Tondreau fails to make it three finals in a row as he took himself out of any further action this week when his ninth hit of the heat struck Eilers. Tondreau's best performance was a fortnight ago in Daytona where he finished third.
John Ruiz and Scott Hutchins go down in seventh and sixth respectively to march on into the consolation heat, Eilers for Ruiz and a fire for Hutchins ended their quests, and Matt Welliver joins them as despite a pair of misses he struck Smith thrice and Ramage twice before Eilers and Andresen made up for their opponent avoiding a lot of the early traffic.
A collision between Chris Henton and Jamie EIlers made the officials job tough and it was dicided that they finished joint third, so barring injury there will be thirteen entrants going into this week's final with eleven drivers competing in the consolation heat. Both men had been going back and forth throughout the heat as they combined for twenty-three hits on ten different cars; John Ruiz taking five of them and Henton, qualifying for his sixth final, winning the personal battle between them by striking Eilers, ninth final upcoming, four times to two.
That left Darrell Andresen and Joe Ramage dusting it up for the two points a heat victory will get you. The only contact they had with each other prior to the finale was when Ramage hit Andresen five minutes in after avoiding a hit on his blindside and barely re-firing from a long stall. While Ramage went on to tackle Edgington twice and Henton three times, his final opponent was happy to take on all-comers before he suffered his own stall that threatened to cut his heat short. But he also managed to re-fire and was focused on Scott Hutchins for three shots before another stall nearly took him out in fifth place and a sneak attack on Ramage with his victim's attention committed to Henton decided the result.
Joe Ramage qualifies for just his third final in thirteen, but it's two in four after his runner-up finish at the SidelineStrategy.com Derby, and Darrell Andresen is back to bring the sole occupier of most heat victories with five as he heads into his tenth final, this his fourth in a row.
Race Result
1. Darrell Andresen
2. Joe Ramage
3. Chris Henton
3. Jamie Eilers
5. Matt Welliver
6. Scott Hutchins
7. John Ruiz
8. Randy Tondreau
9. Billy Edgington
10. Danny Krol
11. Ed Smith
12. Ricky Grimes
Heat Three
Billy Edgington, Chris Henton, Jamie Eilers, Ricky Grimes, John Ruiz, Scott Hutchins, Randy Tondreau, Darrell Andresen, Danny Krol, Matt Welliver, Ed Smith, Joe Ramage
The longest heat of the round lasted sixteen minutes and the first elimination didn't come until the seventh minute of action when Ricky Grimes (3rd Jersey Derby, 3rd Texas Nationals) misses his fourth final since winning the Louisiana Invitational thanks to a double-bump from Jamie Eilers causing a fatal stall.
Ed Smith (11th Texas) stalled himself early on but re-fired only to crash into a wall when he missed his intended target, Krol, Welliver and Ruiz all pouncing on their prone opponent, and then Danny Krol (8thIdes of March, 4th Jersey, 3rd Summer Sizzler)was pushed offline by Chris Henton and suffered the worst when he collided with Welliver.
A single hit on Henton was all Billy Edgington (9th Firecracker Open) had to show for his seven minutes as he had to suffer through a lot of engine problems before finally succumbing to them, then Randy Tondreau fails to make it three finals in a row as he took himself out of any further action this week when his ninth hit of the heat struck Eilers. Tondreau's best performance was a fortnight ago in Daytona where he finished third.
John Ruiz and Scott Hutchins go down in seventh and sixth respectively to march on into the consolation heat, Eilers for Ruiz and a fire for Hutchins ended their quests, and Matt Welliver joins them as despite a pair of misses he struck Smith thrice and Ramage twice before Eilers and Andresen made up for their opponent avoiding a lot of the early traffic.
A collision between Chris Henton and Jamie EIlers made the officials job tough and it was dicided that they finished joint third, so barring injury there will be thirteen entrants going into this week's final with eleven drivers competing in the consolation heat. Both men had been going back and forth throughout the heat as they combined for twenty-three hits on ten different cars; John Ruiz taking five of them and Henton, qualifying for his sixth final, winning the personal battle between them by striking Eilers, ninth final upcoming, four times to two.
That left Darrell Andresen and Joe Ramage dusting it up for the two points a heat victory will get you. The only contact they had with each other prior to the finale was when Ramage hit Andresen five minutes in after avoiding a hit on his blindside and barely re-firing from a long stall. While Ramage went on to tackle Edgington twice and Henton three times, his final opponent was happy to take on all-comers before he suffered his own stall that threatened to cut his heat short. But he also managed to re-fire and was focused on Scott Hutchins for three shots before another stall nearly took him out in fifth place and a sneak attack on Ramage with his victim's attention committed to Henton decided the result.
Joe Ramage qualifies for just his third final in thirteen, but it's two in four after his runner-up finish at the SidelineStrategy.com Derby, and Darrell Andresen is back to bring the sole occupier of most heat victories with five as he heads into his tenth final, this his fourth in a row.
Race Result
1. Darrell Andresen
2. Joe Ramage
3. Chris Henton
3. Jamie Eilers
5. Matt Welliver
6. Scott Hutchins
7. John Ruiz
8. Randy Tondreau
9. Billy Edgington
10. Danny Krol
11. Ed Smith
12. Ricky Grimes
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