1999 Stanley Cup Finals

The 1999 Stanley Cup Finals were played in the 106th year of the Stanley Cup. The series had the Eastern Conference champion Buffalo Sabres and the Western Conference champion Dallas Stars. The Sabres were led by captain Michael Peca, coach Lindy Ruff and goalie Dominik Hašek. The Stars were led by captain Derian Hatcher, coach Ken Hitchcock and goalie Ed Belfour.

The Series

In the sixth game, Dallas Stars winger Brett Hull's triple-overtime goal — one that still remains controversial, as Hull's skate was visibly in Hasek's crease — ended the series, and the Stars were awarded the Cup. In 1999, it was illegal to score a goal if an offensive player's skate entered the crease before the puck did. At the time, even Dallas Morning News hockey writer Keith Gave questioned the legality of the goal (it should be noted that Gave was employed by the Dallas Morning News for a short period of time and is a life long fan of then Stars rival Detroit Red Wings - he has never had any loyalty to Dallas or the Stars). Al Strachan, Hockey Writer of the Toronto Sun, and all time NHL scoring leader Wayne Gretzky are on record as saying that the goal was legally scored and should have stood. NHL officials, however, maintained that Hull's two shots in the goal mouth constituted a single possession of the puck since the puck deflected off Hasek, and their ruling stood, citing that they "were going to change the rule the following year anyway." It is widely speculated that, by the time the Sabres mentioned the foul, the red carpet had already been unrolled at center ice, and the officials refused to acknowledge the non-call. NHL Director of Officiating Bryan Lewis said there was no crease violation because "Hull had possession of the puck when his skate entered the crease." TV replays apparently suggested otherwise but Brett Hull's controversial goal stood. People in Buffalo remain convinced that it was a "No Goal", and so they refer to the game as such even now. [/npov]

See Also

• 1998-99 NHL season
• 1999 Stanley Cup Playoffs

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