led by Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita defeated the Rangers in six to set up a Montreal-Chicago East Division showdown. The Black Hawks could not provide another upset, and lost to the Canadiens in five games, giving Montreal their only defeat of the playoffs. In the West, all four teams played their first playoff series. The first-place Philadelphia Flyers lost their first-ever playoff series to the Blues, led by goaltender Glenn Hall and coached by future Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman in seven games, while the second-place Los Angeles Kings lost to the fourth-place Minnesota North Stars in seven games. The Blues would defeat the North Stars in seven games to advance to their first final. (E1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (E3) Boston Bruins (E2) New York Rangers vs. (E4) Chicago Black Hawks (W1) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (W3) St. Louis Blues (W2) Los Angeles Kings vs. (W4) Minnesota North Stars Semifinals (E1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (E4) Chicago Black Hawks (W3) St. Louis Blues vs. (W4) Minnesota North Stars Stanley Cup Finals The Blues faced the Canadiens for the Stanley Cup. Blues coach Bowman, a long-time member of the Canadiens organization was unable to spur the Blues to an upset, but they made it a hard-fought series, with each game being decided by one goal and two going to overtime. However, the Canadiens, led by Jean Beliveau and Henri Richard, were not to be denied and swept the series in four games. Despite this, the exceptional performance of the heavy underdog Blues impressed and surprised most hockey fans who were expecting an utter blowout by the Canadiens, to the point that their goaltender Glenn Hall, who helped lead the team to the Cup Finals, was named the MVP of the playoffs. Awards All-Star teams Player statistics Scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played; G Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes Source: NHL. Leading goaltenders Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts Other statistics The NHL began tracking the plus-minus statistic this season. It measures the difference between the number of goals scored by a player's team while a player is on the ice against the number of goals scored by the opposing team. Power play goals do not count toward the statistic; it