Controlled Chaos - Thanksgiving Derby Standings

Leading since the Big Apple Smash Up, twenty weeks ago, Darryl Lozier is finally demoted from the top spot as Will Thompson reclaims first place, qualifying for three straight finals; all of which were missed by Lozier, leaving him five points adrift.

Back-to-back absences for Scott Hutchins sees him 12.5pts behind the new leader with Joe Ramage another nineteen back after taking a podium last week, and Tom Gariepy hanging in among the top five despite one final in six events.

Thanksgiving Derby winner Jamie Eilers and runner-up Chris Henton give themselves outside chances to swoop in for the title with the final even yielding double points, but fourteen-time finalist Norm Gibson and thirteen-time finalist Ben Hadsell are out of contention with two finals in the past six events and five in fifteen respectively.

Name	Pts	Derby Wins	Heat Wins
Will Thompson	171.5	2	5
Darryl Lozier	165.5	4	4
Scott Hutchens	159	2	4
Joe Ramage	140	2	2
Tom Gariepy	138.5	3	1
Andy Bing	137	4	3
Jamie Eilers	133	3	4
Chris Henton	133	1	3
Norm Gibson	122.5	2	1
Ben Hadsell	110.5	2	5
Will Murphy	107		2
John McCrory	95	1	1
Lynne Higgins	89.5	1	4
Matt Welliver	81.5	1	4
Leo May	70		3
Danny Krol	62	1	4
Steven Redden	61.5		1
Sam Harbin	61		2
Darrell Andresen	57		7
Jess Yates	50		3
Ricky Grimes	49	1	2
John Ruiz	48	1	3
Rob Remaley	45.5		2
Randy Corson	35		2
Jason Ingle	34.5		3
Ed Smith	34		2
Charlie Clayton	32		2
Reggie Banks	27	1	1
Bobby Gallagher	27		2
Philip Ruffin	27		2
Dick Garrett	27		1
Don Davis	25		2
Bob Alexander	22		2
Randy Tondreau	22		1
Bambi Rogers	18		1
Timmy Barnes	15		1
Bill Malbrough	6		1
Billy Edgington	6		1
Kenny Rose	2		1
Tommy Miller	0

Player of the Game Hockey - 1967/68 Stanley Cup Finals Game #2

Tuesday 7th May 1968

Stanley Cup Finals Game #2

Philadelphia Flyers @ Montreal Canadiens

A shocking turnaround in the third period saw Montreal blow a three goal lead as they get burned twice while on the powerplay that had another poor outing, only managing 1-for-10 on the night. Philadelphia are 2-1 in Game #2's this season and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in back-to-back games in the Finals when Sutherland (10) and Angotti (4) tallied up early on twenty-six seconds apart.

Montreal held a thirty-two to fourteen shot advantage after two periods and they made it count by scoring five unanswered goals to take a 5-2 lead into the final frame. G Tremblay (7,8) scored to tie the game with Provost and Backstrom assisting on both, then Duff (5) gave them the lead with their only powerplay goal of the game, his fourth of the playoffs.

Rousseau (5) and Beliveau (10) had the home fans in ecstasy but a late period incident that saw Habs' netminder Worsley skate away gingerly, that was largely ignored by the crowd, would change everything.

Gauthier (2), assisted by Selby who already has four points in the finals, scored at 8:$2 of the third period on the powerplay before ill-discipline reared it's head once more and Philadelphia used the penalty box like a revolving door. With Montreal struggling to make their numerical advantage count, despite several great goalscoring chances that were denied by Parent, the Flyers were desperate enough to pile on the pressure and scored a pair of shorthanded goals - Hoekstra (5) with Montreal on a two-man advantage, and the red hot Selby (5) nailing his second shortie this postseason - to tie the game with 1:17 to play in regulation

Overtime, like the third period, was a back and forth affair that came to and end halfway through when Rochefort (7) earned his third point of the finals and first goal after Sutherland found him open for the only real scoring chance of OT to give the Flyers a 2-0 series lead on the back of their second overtime win out of three. Montreal are 2-1 in game twos, 3-2 in OT.

		1st	2nd	3rd	OT	F
PHI	@	2	0	3	1	6
MON		3	2	0	0	5

PHI Parent (7-4 .911 2.64) 43/48, Powerplay 1/3

MON Worsley (8-7 .896 3.13) 28/34, Powerplay 1/10

Goalscorers:

First Period

PHI Sutherland (10) Hoekstra 2:47

PHI Angotti (4) Selby 3:13

MON G Tremblay (7) Provost, Backstrom 7:05

MON G Tremblay (8) Provost, Backstrom 8:44

MON PPG Duff (5) Cournoyer 10:29

Second Period

MON Rousseau (5) Savard, Beliveau 2:21

MON Beliveau (10) unassisted 10:33

Third Period

PHI PPG Gauthier (2) Selby 8:42

PHI SHG Hoekstra (5) Rochefort 16:17

PHI SHG Selby (6) Dornhoefer 18:43

Overtime

PHI Rochefort (7) Sutherland 9:58

Philadelphia Flayers leads the best-of-seven series 2-0

Controlled Chaos - Thanksgiving Derby Final

Thanksgiving Derby - Pasadena, CA
Final
Billy Edgington, Timmy Barnes, Reggie Banks, Jamie Eilers, Leo May, Jason Ingle, Sam Harbin, Joe Ramage, Chris Henton, Bambi Rogers, Will Murphy, Will Thompson

Leo May (4th Wisconsin Invitational, 4th Idaho Invitational, 2nd Indy Nationals) left California with nothing to show for his first final in thirteen weeks as a hit on Edgingtonwas only followed up by a bad and damaging miss, leading to Jason Ingle's blindside attack, then Ingle (Tied-5th Lobster Nationals, 7th Louisiana Invitational, 3rd Mile High Open) failed to register a point for the fifth time in his twelve finals as he stalled out.

It's tenth place for Timmy Barnes (12th Spring Fling Derby, 4th Big Apple Smash Up, 8th Bluegrass Derby) as, after striking Thompson, Edgington and Harbin, had the pack descend upon him with great fury, and Billy Edgington (9th Firecracker Open) laid two of his five hits on Thompson before the six hits against him, led by Banks' pair, took their toll.

Reggie Banks (1st Firecracker, 10th Ohio Derby, 10 Fall Nationals) collects points for a fourth time in his sixth final after rallying from a very early Harbin blindsider, going on to tackle Edgington twice with a hit on both Eilers and Barnes as well.

It's seventh for Bambi Rogers (6th Arkansas Derby, 11th Bluegrass, 5th Halloween Open) as she changed up the tactics she employed in heat three, this time taking on all comers before Joe Ramage put her down, and Will Murphy (2nd Tampa Open, 3rd Spring Fling, 3rd Idaho, 3rd Big Apple) keeps up his very impressive record of finishing no worse than sixth in any of his twelve finals as he delivered huge hits to Banks and May but these, along with the shots to Ramage (2) and Thompson, took it out of his vehicle as well.

For the longest time Darryl Lozier has led the championship but now, heading into the final round of the year, Will Thompson (1st Arizona Derby, 2nd Summer Sizzler, 2nd Bryan Family Open, 1st Halloween) is atop the standings after taking his tenth top five finish in his twenty-third final; only failing to pick up points once (Tied-11th Mile High) in any of them. Two hits on Ingle and Barnes made up the majority of his six shots (Edgington, Henton) while seven came against him with most of these coming later in his final.

Sam Harbin (2nd Arizona, 5th Ohio, 2nd Mile High) had two awful misses early on but he rallied, going on to strike his first victim Joe Ramage two more times, but Ramage got the last word in and that was the difference between finishing on the podium or not.

Joe Ramage (1st Valentine's Day Massacre, 1st Bryan Family) then moves up two spots in the standings to stay very much in the title hunt but was almost pointless this week after barely re-firing his engine off the start before the race officials counted him out. Only five hits dished out by the four-time runner-up, taking seven back from the pack, but he picked his spots smartly to earn top spot in the standings with one big event to go.

Jamie Eilers (2nd Frostbite, 2nd Ides of March, 1st Summer Sizzler, 1st Summer National) and Chris Henton (1st Spring Fling, 2nd Arknsas, 2nd Bluegrass, 2nd Hickory Derby) combine for twenty-eight finals and ten podiums this season, and thirteen hits today.

With Eilers carving through the pack and Henton doing likewise there was no interaction between the final pairing until the closing stages where Eilers struck his opponent who turned around and laid three hits in revenge. Yet despite this onslaught, a blindside hit from Ramage, and a miss, Jamie Eilers takes his third event win of the season. Both men are tied on points in the standings and have an outside chance of glory next week.

Race Result
1. Jamie Eilers
2. Chris Henton
3. Joe Ramage
4. Sam Harbin
5. Will Thompson
6. Will Murphy
7. Bambi Rogers
8. Reggie Banks
9. Billy Edgington
10. Timmy Barnes
11. Jason Ingle
12. Leo May

Controlled Chaos - Thanksgiving Derby, Consolation Heat

Thanksgiving Derby - Pasadena, CA
Consolation Heat
Steven Redden, Jess Yates, Timmy Barnes, John McCrory, Tom Gariepy, Randy Corson, Will Murphy, Bob Alexander, Randy Tondreau, Norm Gibson, Andy Bing, Leo May

It took three minutes for the field to lose it's first two entrants as eight-time finalist Randy Corson (5th Frostbite, 5th Tampa Open) was offline on an attack run, sending him into the wall, and six-time finalist Jess Yates (4th Summer Sizzler, 3rd Alamo Derby, 3rd Halloween Open) was hunted down by John McCrory.

Another costly saw Tom Gariepy (1st Wisconsin Invitational, Arkansas Derby, Mile High Open) fall by the wayside, crippling his title aspirations with just one final appearance out of the last six (4th Fall Nationals), and Bob Alexander delivered five hits to four cars (McCrory 2) with the final shot earning him a disqualification to demolish his own chances of qualification as he was struck just two times in return.

Another title seeker Andy Bing (1st Idaho Invitational, Indy Nationals, Ohio Derby, Golden Gate Invitational) has just one point in his last six outings, dismissal coming in Pasadena when Norm Gibson and he battled, causing each other to stall before Gibson (1st Lobster Nationals, Tied-2nd Summer National Derby, 1st Texas Nationals, 2nd Louisiana Invitational) re-fired first and finished the conflict before he too was taking out as he blindsided Tondreau only to run straight into May.

Steven Redden (Tied-2nd Valentine's Day Massacre, 3rd Indy) now has just one final in the last fourteen weeks as Leo May's hat-trick did for him, while Randy Tondreau (6th Tampa, 3rd Firecracker Open, 7th Alamo) has nine straight failed qualifications in a row.

The final entrant to miss out is last week's co-winner John McCrory (2nd Ohio, 2nd Halloween, Tied-1st Indiana Open) was looking good in the consolation heat with seven hits, with a pair landing on May and Murphy, but Timmy Barnes cemented his place in his fourth final of the year by returning to strike McCrory and complete the h at-trick on him.

Barnes, who had just one appearance in the previous nineteen events, gets to another final the hard earned way with the remainder of his six hits striking Murphy, Tondreau and May, re-firing from an early stall and saving a situation where he almost shot himself into the wall at the very end.

Will Murphy enters his twelfth final but this will be his first appearance in seven weeks and fourth in nineteen. An almost faultless heat had two minor mistakes where he missed his intended target but no injury came to his vehicle in either incident. Redden, Gariepy and Barnes were all early victims of Murphy before he turned it all onto Randy Tondreau, nailing him thrice.

Finally, Leo May qualifies for his first final in thirteen tries, making it nine appearances this year, with Steven Redden taking the brunt of three of his attacks; Bing, Gariepy, Gibson and Murphy one each.

Race Result
Q. Timmy Barnes
Q. Will Murphy
Q. Leo May
4. John McCrory
5. Randy Tondreau
6. Steven Redden
7. Norm Gibson
8. Andy Bing
9. Bob Alexander
10. Tom Gariepy
11. Jess Yates
12. Randy Corson

Player of the Game Hockey - 1967/68 Stanley Cup Finals Game #1

Sunday 5th May 1968
Stanley Cup Finals Game #1
Philadelphia Flyers @ Montreal Canadiens

A very slow start for the Canadiens saw them out-shot ten to three after twenty minutes, nineteen to ten after forty, but worse still they fell behind at 8:11 when Sutherland (9) tied Beliveau for the scoring lead in the playoffs. The lead was doubled 1:29 later when Selby (5) beat Worsley in the Montreal net.

It was a surprising 3-0 lead when Dornhoefer (6) and Selby grabbed their second points of the night less than two minutes into the middle frame, but the Habs got a breakthrough at 5:55 of the same period through the powerplay when Redmond (2) scored unassisted.

Montreal turned it on for the third period with twelve shots against five from the Flyers but Parent was strong in goal and turned aside all challenges. This change in momentum came about when Philadelphia lost their discipline but Montreal only went 1-for-6 on the man advantage, dropping the opening game of a series this year while the Flyers are perfect in game ones.

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

PHI Parent (6-4 .914 2.40) 21/22, Powerplay 0/0
MON Worsley (8-6 .902 2.93) 21/24, Powerplay 1/6
Goalscorers:
First Period
PHI Sutherland (9) Rochefort 8:12
PHI Selby (5) Dornhoefer 9:41
Second Period
PHI Dornhoefer (6) Angotti, Selby 1:51
MON PPG Redmond (2) unassisted 5:55
Third Period
No Scoring

Philadelphia Flyers leads the best-of-seven series 1-0

Controlled Chaos - Thanksgiving Derby, Heat Three

Thanksgiving Derby - Pasadena, CA
Heat Three
Bob Alexander, Bambi Rogers, Scott Hutchins, John Ruiz, Timmy Barnes, Ricky Grimes, Randy Tondreau, Charlie Clayton, Sam Harbin, Ed Smith, Jess Yates, Billy Edgington

With only Hutchins representing the title contenders in this heat, there was opportunity for positioning as only the top twenty will feature in next week's season finale event. Four minutes in and Ed Smith (4th Mile High Open, 3rd Indiana Open) was forced out by a fire, then Scott Hutchins' (1st Seattle Derby, 2nd Big Apple Smash Up, 2nd Lobster Nationals, 1st Bluegrass Derby) title aspirations took a blow as he stalled out due to the attentions of Bambi Rogers.

Charlie Clayton (5th Texas Nationals, 6th Ohio Derby, 6th Bluegrass) missed two targets while being hounded by Rogers, and John Ruiz (1st Ides of March, 8th Seattle, 2nd Fall Nationals) became yet another victim to the stall before Ricky Grimes (3rd Jersey, 3rd Texas, 1st Louisiana Invitational)was blasted by a seventh hit as Yates and Edgington laid four on him between them.

Jess Yates (8), Timmy Barnes (6), Bob Alexander (6) and Randy Tondreau (6) all fell into the consolation heat after delivering their mass of hits to leave Sam Harbin to move on into his tenth final of the year. Harbin, enjoying back-to-back appearances for the third time this year, was looking dangerous with hits on Grimes, Ruiz, Yates, Edgington, and a trio of shots on Timmy Barnes, but a bit mistake made him not only miss his final target but smashed him into the wall where his heat was over.

Bambi Rogers now has four finals, and Billy Edgington two as the unlikely duo battled for the heat win. Rogers was electric throughout as she stayed with her preferred target until they were summarily dismissed from the field. Hutchins and Clayton were double-tapped before Timmy Barnes and Sam Harbin received the same treatment. Only Bill Edgington survived more than two hits from Rogers as he took a third before completing his own hat-trick to claim victory.

Hitting several drivers once before moving on Edgington earned his first ever heat win by changint tack and adopting the Bambi style of carnage by hitting Grimes and Alexander twice each, then laying all of his focus onto Rogers  for the finale. Even while stuck in the barriers Edgington was able to survive the constant attacks, free himself, and win with a smart hit; his ninth of the day.

Race Result
1. Billy Edgington
2. Bambi Rogers
3. Sam Harbin
4. Randy Tondreau
5. Bob Alexander
6. Timmy Barnes
7. Jess Yates
8. Ricky Grimes
9. John Ruiz
10. Charlie Clayton
11. Scott Hutchins
12. Ed Smith

Controlled Chaos - Thanksgiving Derby, Heat Two

Thanksgiving Derby - Pasadena, CA
Heat Two
Bill Malbrough, Lynne Higgins, Norm Gibson, Ben Hadsell, Danny Krol, Randy Corson, Phillip Ruffin, Tom Gariepy, Joe Ramage, Jamie Eilers, Will Thompson, Leo May

Seconds after the starting horn sounded Ben Hadsell (1st Frostbite, Tied-2nd Summer National Derby, 2nd Texas Nationals, 1st Fall Nationals) blindsided Norm Gibson and earned a disqualification for his troubles, leaving him with five finals in fifteen, then three minutes in Bill Malbrough (11th Halloween Open, 6th Indiana Open) took his seventh hit against; all coming from a different opponent.

Two of Malbrough's attackers were out next as Danny Krol (4th Jersey Derby, 3rd Summer Sizzler, 4th Bluegrass Derby, 1st Hickory Derby) and Phillip Ruffin (5th Hickory, 5th Fall) both stalled out, and Lynne Higgins (3rd Bluegrass Derby, Tied-1st Indiana) struck Gibson twice before her own stall left her open to a double-tap from Jamie Eilers causing her to miss just her third final in twelve weeks.

Recovering from his blindside attack that earned Hadsell a DQ result Norm Gibson went on a charge, hitting Malbrough, Ramage and Gariepy before a double-tap on Corson heavily damaged him which allowed his final victim to gain revenge with a finishing blow that rolled him over. He joins Tom Gariepy, Leo May and Randy Corson in the consolation heat after this trio accumulated twenty-four hits with their ends coming seconds apart as they all came together for a final bash.

That leaves Will Thompson to march through into his twenty-second final where he hopes to take full advantage of an absent Darryl Lozier in his quest to take over the championship lead in the penultimate event of the season. Like Leo May before him Thompson suffered a near fatal stall that came either side of hitting May, but a successful re-firing allowed him to reach nine targets hit with May (3) and Eilers (2) his favourites.

Making his way into just his fourteenth final and keeping himself in the title chase is Joe Ramage who, with ten hits to his credit, was keenest to get on top of Eilers with five shots during the sixteen minute battle. Higgins (2), Malbrough, Gibson and Thompson made up the rest of his targets as he was never far from the action and was struck nine times in return.

And taking his fourth heat victory Jamie Eilers, with twelve hits on just five opponents, makes it twelve finals on the year with a fourth back-to-back situation. Higgins (2), Thompson (4), Gariepy (2), Gibson (2) and Ramage (2) all suffered at his hands with only two very short stalls disrupting his impressive rhythm.

Race Result
1. Jamie Eilers
2. Joe Ramage
3. Will Thompson
4. Randy Corson
5. Leo May
6. Tom Gariepy
7. Norm Gibson
8. Lynne Higgins
9. Danny Krol
10. Phillip Ruffin
11. Bill Malbrough
12. Ben Hadsell

Player of the Game Hockey - 1967/68 Stanley Cup Finals Preview

Montreal Canadiens (8-6) vs Philadelphia Flyers (8-5)
Nov. 4th 1967, Philadelphia 0-3 Montreal (Duff, Backstrom, T Harris)
Nov. 5th 1967, Montreal 1-3 Philadelphia (Duff;; Selby, Sutherland, Dornhoefer)
Jan. 11th 1968, Montreal 1-0 Philadelphia (Laperriere)
Feb. 7th 1968, Philadelphia 0-3 Montreal (Lamaire, Rousseau, Provost)

The teams are finally set and the very short history between the teams has been examined and then thrown away as the playoffs do not care how things went during the regular season as Montreal's hard road to the finals after running away with the league can show.

The Flyers had one less game in their playoff debut but managed to register more goals than the Canadiens with forty-nine to the Hab's forty-six. Against a rough and tumble team like Philadelphia the Canadiens will be hoping for plenty of opportunities to utilise a powerplay that has gone 9-for-48 (18.75%) in the postseason; the Flyers not too shabby at 5-for-31 (16.10%).

Both teams have a single shorthanded goal in the playoffs as the PK units of both teams shut down a lot of opponent PP chances with Philadelphia's percentage at 82.6% (38/46) and Montreal at 88.00% (44/50)

Both Flyer netminders earned a shutout while Montreal had no clean sheets in the previous rounds, and Philadelphia also bring a superior goals against average (2.38 vs 3.00) and save percentage (.914 vs .901) into the series.

Scoring leaders
Goals:
MON Beliveau (9)
PHI Sutherland (8)
MON Cournoyer (6)
MON G Tremblay (6)
PHI Rochefort (6)

Assists:
MON Lamaire (9)
MON Rousseau (9)
PHI Angotti (7)
PHI JC Watson (6)

Points:
MON Beliveau (15)
MON Rousseau (13)
PHI Sutherland (12)
PHI Rochefort (11)
PHI Angotti (10)
PHI Dornhoefer (10)
MON Ferguson (10)
MON Lamaire (10)

Penalty Minutes:
MON Ferguson (51)
PHI Dornhoefer (24)
PHI Van Impe (19)
MON Harper (18)

Controlled Chaos - Thanksgiving Derby, Heat One

Thanksgiving Derby - Pasadena, CA
Heat One
Matt Welliver, Darryl Lozier, Dick Garrett, Will Murphy, Jason Ingle, Chris Henton, Steven Redden, John McCrory, Andy Bing, Darrell Andresen, Rob Remaley, Reggie Banks

With everyone heavily involved throughout the first heat, no one competitor taking more shots than their opponents, it took over four minutes for the first casualty and that was Matt Welliver (1st Summer National Derby, 2nd  Golden Gate Invitational, 3rd Fall Nationals) who was forced to leave early due to a minor injury he picked up in a collision with Reggie Banks.

Quickly following that Darrell Andresen (4th Indy Nationals, 5th Firecracker Open, 5th Arkansas Derby) was double-teamed by Bing and Remaley, then Darryl Lozier (1st Tampa Open, Jersey Derby, Big Apple Smash Up, Alamo Derby) continues to fade away since his last victory as a stall caused by Chris Henton's hit forces him to miss a third straight final to leave him with ten points picked up in nine weeks.

There was a lull in the eliminations, but certainly not the carnage, after the dismissal of Dick Garrett (6th Ides of March, 7th Wisconsin Invitational, 5th Seattle Derby, 7th Indy) who was double-tapped by Andy Bing to take him out of a final for the eighteenth straight time, and the clock ticked from six minutes to ten before another flurry of exits occurred.

Along with Chris Henton who was the only one of this group to continue there were four back-to-back hits on Rob Remaley (3rd Ides, 4th Seattle, Tied-4th Summer National) that took him out in eighth place, taking his final-less streak to thirteen weeks, but also saw his other three attackers - Steven Redden, John McCrory, Andy Bing - all follow him out immediately after. Redden was forced to re-fire several stalls; McCrory smartly avoided two blindside attempts while striking Bing twice; and then Andy Bing tagged seven cars nine times with Garrett and Remaley suffering through a pair each.

Joining them in the consolation heat and missing an automatic place in the final is Will Murphy (2nd Tampa, 3rd Spring Fling, 3rd Idaho Invitational, 3rd Big Apple) who balanced the seven hits he took with ten he delivered with three striking Banks. A small fire halted proceedings and, after two shots on Jason Ingle, finally succumbed to the damage he had endured.

After surviving that late assault Jason Ingle then makes his way into his twelfth final with his third back-to-back. His nine hits were all well placed with a pair on both Garrett and Remaley, but in the end he was unable to escape the attentions of Chris Henton who qualifies for the fifteenth time, just missing out on a fourth heat victory.

Henton, who makes it ten finals out of twelve, was forced into the wall by Remaley at the very start of the heat, freeing himself with the help of a hit by Andresen and then getting down to work. Landing ten hits on eight opponents, and only taking four in return, Henton was keenest to get at Ingle with a hat-trick of shots on him.

Despite a final miss that left him wide open to attack Reggie Banks is into his sixth final of the year, and second out of the last six weeks, as Henton's final blow did more damage to the attacker than it's victim. Andresen, Bing and Remaley all took shots from Banks after he too started in the scenery off a double-attack by Bing and Garrett. A blindside from Murphy then led into attacks on Redden and Ingle before John McCrory became his main focus prior to the finale where he claimed his debut heat victory.

Race Result
1. Reggie Banks
2. Chris Henton
3. Jason Ingle
4. Will Murphy
5. Andy Bing
6. John McCrory
7. Steven Redden
8. Rob Remaley
9. Dick Garrett
10. Darryl Lozier
11. Darrell Andresen
12. Matt Welliver

Controlled Chaos - Thanksgiving Derby Preview

Darryl Lozier has misses half of the previous eight finals with only a tenth (Bluegrass Derby) and a fourth (Hickory Derby) to show for it. Yet he remains ahead of the rest in the standings and goes this week in heat one along with Andy Bing and Chris Henton. Bing has hit on his own hard times with four final appearances in ten weeks and just a single point since winning the Ohio Derby and Golden Gate Invitational a fortnight apart, and Henton snapped his two week absence after a string of eight straight showings, but could only manage dead last in the  final at Winslow.

In heat two current runner-up Will Thompson, who has six finals out of the last seven, leads a stacked field that includes Tom Gariepy, Joe Ramage, Norm Gibson, Jamie Eilers and Ben Hadsell who all combine for eleven event wins and twenty-podiums in sixty-two appearances. The joint winner of last week Lynne Higgins also goes in this heat. John McCrory, the other winner, goes in heat one.

After his final streak was snapped at five weeks Scott Hutchins in a prime position to make a big splash in heat three as he heads a relatively weak field as his closest rival in the standings is Sam Harbin who sits in nineteenth position.

Player of the Game Hockey - NHL 1967/68 NHL Playoff SF's, May 3rd

Friday 3rd May 1968
East Division
Toronto Maple Leafs @ Montreal Canadiens Game #7
Laperriere's missed penalty shot less than two minutes into the game contributed to a scoreless first period that contained just ten shots. In the second frame both teams came out with an attacking mindset, combining for twenty-seven efforts on goal with three of them beating the netminders.

Toronto scored first for the fourth time in the series where, with the exception of game one, they have gone on to win each time. It was Oliver (3) on the powerplay that broke through 5:31 into the second frame, but unlike their previous winning efforts they did not score the second goal. That tally went to G Tremblay (6) at 8:10 of the second period to tie it up for Montreal.

At 14:36 the game had turned around with the Canadiens celebrating Cournoyer's (6) go ahead goal. The final period saw the hosts shut it down expertly, limiting the Leafs to just five shots on Worsley and the game, along with the series, was capped off by Grant (1) scoring an empty netter in the final minute of play, booking their place in the finals to face Philadelphia. 

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

TOR Bower (6-3 .899 2.78) 28/30, Powerplay 1/3
MON Worsley (8-5 .904 2.92) 23/24, Powerplay 0/1

Goalscorers:
1st Period
MON Laperriere MISSED Penalty Shot 1:55
2nd Period 
TOR PPG Oliver (3) F Mahovlich 5:31
MON G Tremblay (6) T Harris 8:10
MON Cournoyer (6) Lamaire 14:36
3rd Period
MON ENG Grant (1) Redmond, H Richard 19:11

Montreal wins the best-of-seven series 4-3

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open Standings

After back-to-back absences and only ten points in a possible eight finals Darryl Lozier continues to cling on to the lead with two events remaining on the calender. Will Thompson's seventh place in Winslow closes the gap to just two points with Scott Hutchins remaining a few points further back after he failed to qualify for the Indiana Open final.

Co-winners in Indiana John McCrory and Lynne Higgins only move up one place each with Ed Smith rounding out the unlikely podium, moving him up four spots but keeping him closer to the bottom than anywhere.

Name	Pts	Derby Wins	Heat Wins
Darryl Lozier	165.5	4	4
Will Thompson	163.5	2	5
Scott Hutchens	159	2	4
Tom Gariepy	138.5	3	1
Andy Bing	137	4	3
Joe Ramage	130	2	2
Norm Gibson	122.5	2	1
Chris Henton	118	1	3
Jamie Eilers	111	2	3
Ben Hadsell	110.5	2	5
Will Murphy	102		2
John McCrory	95		1
Lynne Higgins	89.5		4
Matt Welliver	81.5	1	4
Leo May	70		3
Danny Krol	62	1	4
Steven Redden	61.5		1
Darrell Andresen	57		7
Sam Harbin	52		2
Jess Yates	50		3
Ricky Grimes	49	1	2
John Ruiz	48	1	3
Rob Remaley	45.5		2
Randy Corson	35		2
Jason Ingle	34.5		3
Ed Smith	34		2
Charlie Clayton	32		2
Bobby Gallagher	27		2
Philip Ruffin	27		2
Dick Garrett	27		1
Don Davis	25		2
Reggie Banks	22	1
Bob Alexander	22		2
Randy Tondreau	22		1
Timmy Barnes	14		1
Bambi Rogers	14		1
Bill Malbrough	6		1
Kenny Rose	2		1
Billy Edgington	2
Tommy Miller	0

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open Final

Indiana Open - Winslow, IN
Final
Chris Henton, Bill Malbrough, Lynne Higgins, Joe Ramage, Norm Gibson, Jamie Eilers, John McCrory, Will Thompson, Ed Smith, Jason Ingle, Sam Harbin, Andy Bing

He managed to strike Ingle, Thompson and Eilers but Chris Henton (1st Spring Fling Derby, 2nd Arkansas Derby, 2nd Bluegrass Derby, 2nd Hickory Derby) failed to register a point for the third time in his fourteen finals as Malbrough and Smith both dealt with his presence, and a trio of eliminations started with Sam Harbin (2nd Arizona Derby, 5th Ohio Derby, 2nd Mile High Open) took six shots with Norm Gibson's huge hit causing massive damage by itself.

Andy Bing (1st Idaho Invitational, Indy Nationals, Ohio, Golden Gate Invitational) scrapes his first point in five weeks with John McCrory's blindside one of the three hits on Bing, and Jason Ingle (Tied-5th Lobster Nationals, 7th Louisiana Invitational, 3rd Mile High) finishes his third final in twelve weeks with a ninth place finish as Smith and McCrory hit him twice each.

Norm Gibson (1st Lobster, 1st Texas Nationals, 2nd Louisiana) was rocked by a surprise hit from Eilers at the very start of the final but, after tearing apart Harbin, went on to exact some revenge with a double-tap before a trio of opponents waded in, then Will Thompson (1st Arizona Derby, 2nd Summer Sizzler, 2nd Bryan Family Open, 1st Halloween Open) moves within two points of championship leader Darryl Lozier as stalls and an untimely miss conspire to keep him down in seventh place as McCrory helped him along with three straight shots.

After six hits on as many competitors Bill Malbrough (11th Halloween) adds to his debut point earned as co-winner of heat three, finishing in sixth place when Ingle, Ramage and Smith struck him in turn, and Joe Ramage (1st Valentine's Day Massacre, 1st Bryan Family Open) collects his first set of final points for nine weeks with two hits on both Gibson and Malbrough. In return Ramage took seven shots with Higgins and Harbin delivering a pair each.

Jamie Eilers (2nd Frostbite, 2nd Ides of March, 1st Sizzler, 1st Summer National Derby) claims his sixth top four finish this year with a stal ending his run, but not before taking it to some of the bigger names in the final with Gibson, Bing, McCrory (2) and Ramage all feeling his wrath, and Ed Smith (7th Ohio Derby, 4th Mile High, 7th Hickory, 7th Halloween) continues to impress as the season winds down as, in his fifth final out of the last eight, he did not shy away from anyone, running through the pack with impunity with eight hits for and five against; two from McCrory deciding his fate.

That left Lynne Higgins and John McCrory battling it out for the win. Four times a fifth place finisher Higgins (4th Arkansas, 3rd Bluegrass), heading for her best result whatever the outcome, warred hard with Joe Ramage and Jamie Eilers, only striking McCrory late on with the pack thinned out.

McCrory (3rd Seattle, 2nd Ohio, 2nd Halloween), one of those who  came out of the consolation heat, took down several entrants with Ingle, Thompson and Smith all taking multiple hits and, like his final opponent, only initiated contact with Higgins very late one with their only contacts resulting in a dead heat handing both drivers their first event victory.

Race Result
1. Lynne Higgins
1. John McCrory
3. Ed Smith
4. Jamie Eilers
5. Joe Ramage
6. Bill Malbrough
7. Will Thompson
8. Norm Gibson
9. Jason Ingle
10. Andy Bing
11. Sam Harbin
12. Chris Henton

Player of the Game Hockey - NHL 1967/68 Playoff SF's, May 1st

Wednesday 1st May 1968
East Division
Montreal Canadiens @ Toronto Maple Leafs Game #6
It was May Day for two teams today as both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Pittsburgh Penguins faced elimination. The Eastern matchup had fireworks at the very start when Harper and Stemkowski dropped the gloves, but the game, like the series as a whole, had very few penalties.

Toronto took the lead through Pappin (2) on the powerplay but were then forced to change netminders when Gamble went down with an injury after stopping all six shots, allowing Bower to make his return after being lit up in game three.

It was 2-0 when Pulford (1) went in unobstructed late in the first period, then becoming 3-0 on Pappin's (3) second of the night as Keon picked up his second assist. Keon (5) had his favours returned by Pappin for a 4-0 lead in the third but Beliveau (9) spoiled the shutout with four minutes and change left to play.

Game seven will be in Montreal in two days time.

		1st	2nd	3rd	OT	F
MON	@	0	0	1		1
TOR		2	1	1		4

MON Worsley (7-5 .900 3.08) 31/35, Powerplay 0/0
TOR Gamble (1-2 .913 2.25) 6/6; Bower (6-2 .894 2.88) 13/14, Powerplay 1/3

Goalscorers:
1st Period
Fight MON Harper vs TOT Stemkowski 1:38
TOR PPG Pappin (2) Keon, M Pronovost 4:26
INJ TOR Gamble 12:20
TOR Pulford (1) unassisted 19:05
2nd Period
TOR Pappin (3) Keon, Horton 8:58
3rd Period
TOR Keon (5) Pappin 11:10
MON Beliveau (9) Rousseau, JC Tremblay 15:46

The best-of-seven series is tied 3-3

West Division
Philadelphia Flyers @ Pittsburgh Penguins Game #6
Bassen started his third straight game after helping to stave off elimination for games four and five, including a sixteen shot shutout in the most recent contest. In game six Bassen was left out to dry all too often by his defence as he was bombarded with thirty-six shots; twenty-seven of them coming in the first forty minutes.

Parent, keeping his place as he was not to blame for the shutout defeat of game five, stopped all ten shots in the opening frame, including a blinding save, and, along with his opposite number's twelve saves, kept the game scoreless after the first period.

The rink was sloped in favour of Philadelphia throughout the second period as they outshot the Pens 15-4 and making the breakthrough 7:58 into the frame when Miszuk (2) found the net. 1:06 later it was 2-0, Sutherland (8) piling on the pain of the home crowd.

A fight between Dornhoefer and Boivin failed to get Pittsburgh fired up and went into the final period down 3-0 when Selby (4) scored his third of the series. Hoekstra (4) tallied early in that last frame and, after one final fight when Dornhoefer dropped the gloves with MacNeil, the Philadelphia Flyers finish their state rivals at the third time of asking to become the first expansion team to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.

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

PHI Parent (5-4 .911 2.56) 19/19, Powerplay 0/0
PIT Bassen (2-1 .909 2.33) 32/36, Powerplay 0/0

Goalscorers:
1st Period
No SCoring
2nd Period
PHI Miszuk (2) JC Watson, Selby 7:58
PHI Sutherland (8) Hoekstra, Rochefort 9:04
Fight PHI Dornhoefer vs PIT Boivin 11:23
PHI Selby (4) Dornhoefer, Angotti 17:26
3rd Period
PHI Hoekstra (4) Sutherland 4:07
Fight PHI Dornhoefer vs PIT MacNeil 9:16

Philadelphia Flyers win the best-of-seven series 4-2

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open, Consolation Heat

Indiana Open - Winslow, IN
Consolation Heat
Tom Gariepy, Reggie Banks, Leo May, Don Davis, Randy Tondreau, Will Murphy, Charlie Clayton,  Chris Henton, Rob Remaley, Andy Bing, John McCrory, Bob Alexander

With Bob Alexander (6th Arizona Derby, 3th Lobster Nationals, 9th Texas Nationals) unfit to participate Charlie Clayton became the first real elimination when he was shunted offline in his blindside attempt on Randy Tondreau by Leo May at the three minute mark, then six minutes in Leo May (4th Wisconsin Invitational, 4th Idaho Invitational, 2nd Indy Nationals) misses his twelfth straight final after Reggie Banks set him up for Don Davis (2nd Jersey Derby,7th Summer Sizzler, 9th Arkansas Derby) blindside that took them both out.

Hot on the heels of these eliminations Randy Tondreau (6th Tampa Open, 3rd Firecracker Open, 7th Alamo Derby) was forced to leave the arena of carnage with a slight leg injury, his battle with McCrory the cause of the hurt, and Tom Gariepy (1st Wisconsin,, 1st Arkansas, 1st Mile High Open)stalled out after tapping Reggie Banks (1st Firecracker, 10th Ohio Derby, 10th Fall Nationals) twice before the latter then took back-to-back blindsides from Bing and then Murphy.

The domino effect continued all the way down until only the three qualifiers remained and it was Rob Remaley (3rd Ides of March, 4th Seattle Derby, Tied-4th SidelineStrategy.com Derby) falling in fifth place thanks to Chris Henton's unrelenting triple assault with fourth spot going to Will Murphy (2nd Tampa, 3rd Spring Fling Derby, 3rd Idaho, 3rd Big Apple Smash Up) who misses his sixth final in a row, with just three appearances in eighteen, with both McCrory and Bing tag-teaming him at the very end.

Chris Henton makes it fourteen finals this year and, after back-to-back absences, returns to his first since his eight week final run. With hits on May, Banks, and three on Rob Remaley, Henton took just two hits, both from Bing that caused a stall he was able to salvage.

Andy Bing rolled into his sixteenth final, but just his fourth in ten weeks, on the back of seven hits with McCrory and Henton both taking a pair. Only Remaley at the very start of proceedings was able to make contact with the four-time event winner as he was otherwise untouched throughout.

Finally, John McCrory is heading into his thirteenth final this season, and third in a month, with a troubling stall interrupting his progress. Hits on Remaley and Tondreau came either side of the delay, with Murphy taking a late double-tap. McCrory took six shots as Bing and Tondreau both laid it on him twice each.

Race Result
Q. Chris Henton
Q. Andy Bing
Q. John McCrory
4. Will Murphy
5. Rob Remaley
6. Reggie Banks
7. Tom Gariepy
8. Randy Tondreau
9. Don Davis
10. Leo May
11. Charlie Clayton
12. Bob Alexander (DNS)

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open, Heat Three

Indiana Open - Winslow, IN
Heat Three
Steven Redden, Charlie Clayton, John McCrory, Phillip Ruffin, Lynne Higgins, Dick Garrett, Ricky Grimes, Bill Malbrough, Joe Ramage, Rob Remaley, Randy Corson, Chris Henton

Only Dick Garrett (6th Ides of March, 7th Wisconsin Invitational, 5th Seattle Derby, 7th Indy Nationals), who suffered five hits in the opening two minutes to force him to miss a seventeenth straight final, was eliminated after six minutes of the third heat, with seven-time finalist Ricky Grimes (3rd Jersey Derby, 3rd Texas Nationals, 1st Louisiana Invitational) starting a run of four exits after he was involved with eight collisions.

It's four finals in twenty-two weeks now for Randy Corson (5th Frostbite, 5th Tampa Open, 6th Alamo Derby, 6th Fall Nationals) as he re-fired a lengthy stall only for Rob Remaley to return from an early hit to finish what he started, and, after Steven Redden came in to break up the attached Charlie Clayton and Phillip Ruffin just prior to the clock counting down on the both of them, Ruffin (8th Big Apple Smash Up, 8th Mile High Open, 5th Hickory Derby, 5th Fall) finally fell to the abuse handed down by John McCrory.

After his charitable work ten-time finalist Steven Redden (Tied-2nd Valentine's Day Massacre, 3rd Indy), who now has one appearance in the last thirteen finals (7th Fall), took a fourth consecutive hit from Chris Henton who, as a result of this brutality, claimed the seventh spot, moving him on to the consolation heat and leaving Redden nowhere.

John McCrory, who laid five of his eight hits on Ruffin (3) and Lynne Higgins (2), ended up smashed into the wall after a terrible miss, and he joins both Rob Remaley and Charlie Clayton who combined for fourteen hits with Corson and McCrory taking three each.

It's fourteen finals on the year for Lynne Higgins with her eighth in eleven weeks. Starting out with a short stall Higgins went on to strike Garrett, Redden and Corson before Remaley took a pair. A return to Redden and Remaley led into Malbrough, then Ramage twice, taking punishment. In return she rode ten hits with her final two victims sandwiching her at the end.

After so long without an appearance this season Bill Malbrough makes it back-to-back finals, with Joe Ramage making it thirteen. Malbrough spent a lot of the fourteen minute contest chasing after Ramage striking him six times, with Higgins and McCrory taking a pair each, all while his final opponent was merrily carving through the whole pack as only Clayton (3) and Remaley (2) experiencing multiple attacks. In the end it was the sixth hit from Malbrough while Ramage was stalled that caused both vehicles to call it day, resulting in Malbrough picking up his first ever point; Ramage in comparison earns his one-hundred-and-twenty-second.

Race Result
1. Joe Ramage
1. Bill Malbrough
3. Lynne Higgins
4. Charlie Clayton
5. Rob Remaley
6. John McCrory
7. Chris Henton
8. Steven Redden
9. Phillip Ruffin
10. Randy Corson
11. Ricky Grimes
12. Dick Garrett

Player of the Game Hockey - NHL 1967/68 Playoff SF's, April 29th 1968

Mon 29th April 1968
East Division
Toronto Maple Leafs @ Montreal Canadiens Game #5
After two periods there were just twenty-two shots and a single goal on the scoreboard as Cournoyer's (5) tally at 2:15 in the first period held out until 6:44 in the third where Ellis (8) scored his fifth goal of the series while the Leafs were shorthanded.

T Harris (3) restored Montreal's lead on that same powerplay and only an F Mahovlich (5) finish eighteen seconds from time prevented the Habs from taking a 3-2 series lead back to Toronto. WHile the Leafs spent the final frame of  regulation on the ascendancy with fourteen shots to Montreal's eight, it was the Canadiens who controlled OT with twelve shots against one. The relentless pressure finally broke Toronto and at 3:39 of the extra period G Tremblay (5) finished off what his brother started to get that series lead for a third time.

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

TOR Gamble (1-2 .908 3.00) 30/33, Powerplay 0/0
MON Worsley (7-4 .902 3.00) 21/23, Powerplay 1/3

Goalscorers:
1st Period
MON Cournoyer (5) Duff 2:15
2nd Period
No Scoring
3rd Period
TOR SHG Ellis (8) Stranley 6:44
MON PPG T Harris (3) Duff, Lamaire 7:02
TOR F Mahovlich (5) L Hillman, Walton 19:42
Overtime
MON G Tremblay (5) JC Tremblay 3:39

Montreal leads the best-of-seven series 3-2

West Division
Pittsburgh Penguins @ Philadelphia Flyers Game #5
While the Penguins stuck with game four winner Bassen in goal Philadelphia went back to Parent as they once again tried to close out the series. Eight shots a piece in the opening frame yielded no success as both netminders stood firm, but Ingarfield (2) carried on from his OT winner last time out by breaking the deadlock midway though the second period on the powerplay.

K McCreary (1) was then set up by MacNeil (2) with the latter scoring himself in the final period with Pittsburgh on their sixth man advantage as Bassen stops all sixteen shots that came his way, becoming the third goalie to keep a clean sheet in the playoffs and the second Pen to do so. The series heads back to Pittsburgh for game six where Philadelphia have a third chance to book their place in the finals.

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

PIT Bassen (2-0 .927 1.50) 16/16, Powerplay 2/6
PHI Parent (4-4 .903 2.88) 28/31, Powerplay 0/o

Goalscorers:
1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
PIT PPG Ingarfield (2) Schinkel, Price 8:13
PIT K McCreary (1) MacNeil 13:24
3rd Period
PIT PPG MacNeil (2) Ingarfield, Fonteyne 14:52

Philadelphia leads the best-of-seven series 3-2

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open, Heat Two

Indiana Open - Winslow, IN
Heat Two
Jess Yates, Reggie Banks, Danny Krol, Jason Ingle, Tom Gariepy, Bob Alexander, Norm Gibson, Will Thompson, Scott Hutchins, Bambi Rogers, John Ruiz, Randy Tondreau

Almost six minutes had passed in the second heat in Winslow before Scott Hutchins (1st Seattle Derby, 2nd Big Apple Smash Up, 2nd Lobster Nationals, 1st Bluegrass Derby) blew a huge chance to take over the lead in the championship, missing his first final in six weeks as Banks, Tondreau and Krol all conspired against him, knocking him out after he had struck Ruiz, Yates, Tondreau, and his title rival Will Thompson.

That was the first of a string of eliminations where Jess Yates (4th Summer Sizzler, 3rd Alamo Derby, 3rd Halloween Open) was knocked around by the pack, Bambi Rogers (6th Arknsas Derby, 11th Bryan Family Open, 5th Halloween) tried to hunt down John Ruiz before Thompson charged in with a devastating blindsider, and then Ruiz (1st Ides of March, 8th Seattle Derby, 2nd Fall Nationals) unsurprisingly succumbed to the nine shots he took with Thompson finishing the job on a double-tap, keeping his poor record going with just three finals out of the last twenty.

With Danny Krol (4th Jersey Derby, 3rd Sizzler, 4th Bluegrass, 1st Hickory) taken out by just three hits - his five shots on as many opponents causing as much damage to himself as to anyone else - the consolation heat entrants were Reggie Banks, who carved through seven different competitors, Randy Tondreau, who survived a stall and rampaged over Reggie Banks to take him down, with Tom Gariepy and Bob Alexander both heading out together when the former flew up and over Alexander.

While Gariepy was stalling and requiring the marshall's help in putting out a small fire Bob Alexander was warring with Rogers and then helped to soften up Banks before his nemesis of the day paid heavy attention to him. The second hit laid on by Gariepy saw his car crush the roof of his opponent while he somersaulted onto his own back, eliminating the pair.

When Will Thompson and Norm Gibson came together for the eighth time in the heat that was it for both drivers, forcing them to share runner-up spot. Thompson, who trails championship leader Darryl Lozier by just six points, heads into his twenty-second final after chasing after Ingle and Gibson, but it was a hit to Bambi Rogers that started off his heat. Hutchins then came in with a blindside early in his ill-fated day before passing it on, then he struck his two victims once each, double-tapped Ruiz, then laid five more hits on Ingle (2) and Gibson (3).

That final hit left Gibson stranded along with his attacker, but it's fourteenth final for him; just his second in five weeks. Also suffering an early blindside - from who else but Thompson? - their ten minute war raged on with Alexander earning a couple of shots along the way; Yates and Rogers one each.

Jason Ingle therefore takes his third heat win this year as he moves on into eleventh final of his season, third in twelve. Almost falling at the start when his car stalled for a long time Ingle re-fired and struck both Alexander and Banks, avoiding a hit to his blindside as well, before suffering yet another tough stall. Again he had seconds to spare when he eventually re-fired the engine, but with everyone else preoccupied he suffered only six hits against throughout the heat. Laying a shot each into Gariepy and Alexander before their cataclysmal finale, he then rode the final challenges to take the win,.

Race Result
1. Jason Ingle
2. Norm Gibson
2. Will Thompson
4. Tom Gariepy
4. Bob Alexander
6. Randy Tondreau
7. Reggie Banks
8. Danny Krol
9. John Ruiz
10. Bambi Rogers
11. Jess Yates
12. Scott Hutchins

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open, Heat One

Indiana Open - Winslow, IN
Heat One
Jamie Eilers, Ben Hadsell, Ed Smith, Matt Welliver, Sam Harbin, Andy Bing, Leo May, Will Murphy, Timmy Barnes, Darrell Andresen, Darryl Lozier, Don Davis

Ben Hadsell (1st Frostbite, Tied-2nd Summer National Derby, 2nd Texas Nationals, 1st Fall Nationals) went from hitting Ed Smith to colliding with Matt Welliver, jarring him enough to force him out very early on with a knock, and Darrell Andresen (4th Indy Nationals, 5th Firecracker Open, 5th Arknsas Derby) has two finals out of the last eight as he and Darryl Lozier tangled leaving the former stalled out.

It's no finals in four and with only three all year Timmy Barnes (12th Spring Fling Derby, 4th Big Apple Smash Up, 8th Bluegrass Derby) endures another hard luck round with five hits against him in quick order, two of them coming from Jamie Eilers, and the fall of the long-term standings leader Darryl Lozier (1st Tampa Open, Jersey Derby, Big Apple, Alamo Derby) continues as his battle with Ed Smith leaves him stalled and unable to re-fire in ninth position. This is the second time in two months he has missed back-to-back finals with only a 10th in the Bluegrass Derby and 4th at Hickory making up his points hauls in that time.

Matt Welliver (1st SidelineStrategy.com Derby, 2nd Golden Gate Invitational, 3rd Fall Nationals) is unable to continue his good form of late where he has four top four finishes in the last seven rounds, Andy Bing finishing with a blindside what Smith started with a double-attack, and then Bing creeps into the consolation heat after Welliver freed him and Harbin from a locked-bumper situation, going on to be crushed by a trio of assailants to take his total of hits against into double figures.

After looking in good form by taking it to five drivers Will Murphy suffered from a terrible miss that ended his heat in a wall, but he moves onto the second chance race along with Leo May who became locked up with Hadsell before Bing freed them, and Don Davis who warred hard with both Bing and Eilers with the latter ending it with a surprise hit after missing an earlier blindside attempt.

It's a fifth final in eight for Ed Smith who only enjoyed a single pointless appearance through the first twenty-two rounds. With eight hits for and only three against he was a repeat visitor to Bing, Welliver and May with two hits each as Hadsell, Lozier and May failed in their attempts to cause enough damage.

Jamie Eilers qualifies for his first final in five as he threw all of his efforts into striking Timmy Barnes, Andy Bing and Don Davis multiple shots on each. Avoiding much of the trouble he eventually ran out of places to hide and the pack descended upon him with Sam Harbin laying on the final hit.

Harbin's ninth final appearance, and first in six weeks, comes after taking his second heat victory this season. Another keen attacker of Andy Bing with three early shots which briefly locked them together Sam Harbin went through Lozier, Davis, May and then Eilers for the win, taking just three hits in the ten minute heat.

Race Result
1. Sam Harbin
2. Jamie Eilers
3. Ed Smith
4. Don Davis
5. Leo May
6. Will Murphy
7. Andy Bing
8. Matt Welliver
9. Darryl Lozier
10. Timmy Barnes
11. Darrell Andresen
12. Ben Hadsell

Player of the Game Hockey - NHL 1967/68 Playoff SF's, April 28th 1968

Sun 28th April 1968
East Division
Montreal Canadiens @ Toronto Maple Leafs Game #4
After Bower was lit up in game three the Maple Leafs turn to Gamble for the second time this postseason and he faced only twenty-three shots as Montreal fail to take home a 3-1 series lead.

Toronto got off on the right foot through Ellis (7) midway through the first period, then, after a fight between Ferguson and Horton, doubled their lead when Armstrong (2) nailed his chance in the second period. Redmond (1) slashed the advantage in half less than three minutes later but Walton (7) restored the two goal cushion late on.

F Mahovlich (4) on the powerplay, completing Walton's three pointer on an assist, and Armstrong (3) with his second of the game sealed a 5-1 Leafs victory. The game ended with another bout between Ferguson and Horton, the former racking up over fifty penalty minutes in eleven playoff games.

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

MON Worsley (6-4 .901 3.10) 32/37, Powerplay 0/4
TOR Gamble (1-1 .908 3.00) 22/23, Powerplay 1/6

Goalscorers:
1st Period
TOR Ellis (7) L Hillman, Walton 10:04
2nd Period
Fight MON Ferguson vs TOR Horton 6:55
TOR Armstrong (2) Conacher 8:07
MON Redmond (1) Harper, H Richard 10:51
TOR Walton (7) Ellis, Horton 18:32
3rd Period
TOR PPG F Mahovlich (4) Walton 5:40
TOR Armstrong (3) Pulford 7:07
Fight MON Ferguson vs TOR Horton 16:51

The best-of-seven series is tied 2-2

Controlled Chaos - Indiana Open Preview

Don Davis continues as understudy with Billy Edgington still sidelined, but Darryl Lozier is back from the knock that kept him out of action last week; Kenny Rose making way.

Since winning the Ohio Derby and Golden Gate Invitational two weeks apart Andy Bing has qualified for just one final (11th Fall Nationals) in the past month and he goes against Lozier in heat one. Ben Hadsell, coming off back-to-back appearances with a win at the Fall Nationals and sixth last week, joins them along with Jamie Eilers who is final-less in five weeks.

After his win in Akron Will Thompson will look to take charge of the standings but he has Scott Hutchins with him in the second heat in Winslow, and he will certainly have the same idea. Tom Gariepy has only one final in five (4th Fall) and Norm Gibson one in four (10th Halloween Open), but they both go in this heat as well.

Joe Ramage and Chris Henton are the big names going into the third heat with the former not enjoying a points scoring final in nine weeks since he won the Bryan Family Open, and Henton missing two straight after an eight-week run that contained six top four finishes and three runner-up spots.

Controlled Chaos - Halloween Derby Standings

After missing out this week due to a slight injury, making it five pointless rounds out of the last seven, Darryl Lozier's lead is now a slender six points after Will Thompson claimed his second event victory in Akron, and Scott Hutchins is just half a point back after back-to-back eighth place finishes.

Halloween Open runner-up John McCrory moves on up as does third place Jess Yates but both men remain entrenched in the middle of the standings. Tom Gariepy and Andy Bing keep hold of their top five positions with Joe Ramage (12th) and Norm Gibson (10th) making little noise; Chris Henton also misses out on making a splash by failing to qualify  for the final for the second straight time since making eight in a row.

Name	Pts	Derby Wins	Heat Wins
Darryl Lozier	165.5	4	4
Will Thompson	159.5	2	5
Scott Hutchens	159	2	4
Tom Gariepy	138.5	3	1
Andy Bing	136	4	3
Joe Ramage	121	2	1
Norm Gibson	119.5	2	1
Chris Henton	118	1	3
Ben Hadsell	110.5	2	5
Jamie Eilers	102	2	3
Will Murphy	102		2
Matt Welliver	81.5	1	4
John McCrory	77.5		1
Lynne Higgins	72		4
Leo May	70		3
Danny Krol	62	1	4
Steven Redden	61.5		1
Darrell Andresen	57		7
Jess Yates	50		3
Sam Harbin	50		1
Ricky Grimes	49	1	2
John Ruiz	48	1	3
Rob Remaley	45.5		2
Randy Corson	35		2
Charlie Clayton	32		2
Jason Ingle	30.5		2
Bobby Gallagher	27		2
Philip Ruffin	27		2
Dick Garrett	27		1
Don Davis	25		2
Ed Smith	24		2
Reggie Banks	22	1
Bob Alexander	22		2
Randy Tondreau	22		1
Timmy Barnes	14		1
Bambi Rogers	14		1
Kenny Rose	2		1
Billy Edgington	2
Tommy Miller	0
Bill Malbrough	0