The infamous ending to the 1999 Stanley Cup Final.
Now before everyone gets all excited, there are some key points few people know about.
I recently watched an upload of entire telecast on YouTube, and during the Stars’ celebration, a representative of the league’s officials/rules, Brian Lewis, was at the arena and came on the telecast to explain:
Brett Hull, the attacking player, maintained possession while his foot was in the crease. This was after a midseason amendment to the crease rule, as players were skating it all the way in on empty net/insurance goals, only to have them waved off as they went into the crease. As per the amendment and official rules at the time, it was, in fact a good goal.
The crease rule and changes was a confusing saga in the NHL and the rule has long since been removed.
Sabres fans will forever chant “No Goal!” and you really can’t blame them. It’s an awful way to lose in the Final after all the drama with the crease rule.
The other thing a lot of people seem to conveniently forget, or perhaps even ignore, is that this was Game 6. What if Hull hadn’t scored, but another Star did in a more concise manner? How do we know Buffalo would have scored and forced a Game 7? And how do we know who would have won said hypothetical Game 7? There’s too many other factors to proclaim that the Sabres would have won the Cup.
by Clerkdidnothingwrong
23 Comments
Side note: The Buffalo Bills had lost back to back Super Bowls to the Dallas Cowboys earlier that very decade, so Buffalo sports fans were already steamed with Dallas.
And it’s still a good goal 🙂
I was 11 and had fallen asleep on the floor as the overtime’s went on. I woke up to my dad screaming, I instantly jumped up and threw my hands into the air in celebration, then asked my dad what just happened. A moment I will never forget.
Show anyone that is anti-video challenge this footage
Also, show anyone that is pro-video challenge this footage
God those old Star jerseys slap SO much harder then the garbage they wear now. I’ll die on this hill
Why is he celebrating?
Didn’t Hasek state something along the lines that he was too tired to keep playing anyways?
Foot was in the crease.
To this day, I find it amusing that the Norwide / Basswood wide right redux 2024 / Music City Miracle / 13 seconds crew deny that the mid-season rule tweak ever happened.
Ah those jerseys bring back memories
I don’t recall this ever happening. Brett Hull never played for Dallas.
When the league misses calls so badly it changes the rules immediately……
Foot in the crease!
I’m not a fan of either team, but I feel the Sabers were robbed. ‘Maintaining possession’ had not been strictly applied all year, and the league only has themselves to blame for this fiasco.
Thanks for adding the good goal context in your OP. It often gets lost when people just want to punch air and yell “NO GOAL”, but by all intents and purposes, it was a good goal since Hull maintained possession from his initial shot until he ended it.
I was 14 when my Dad took me to that game with my best friend and my little brother, My brother fell asleep somewhere in the 2nd overtime. Still bitter and heartbroken over that. NO GOAL!
No goal…we had so many disallowed goals that year and this happens
NO GOAL!!!
Don’t diss our expansion bros like that
Wow, that 1999 Sabres team did not have any star players outside of Hasek. The only other players I remember are Peca and Satan.
If Hasek was a few years younger, his prime would have overlapped with the stacked mid-2000s Sabres, which had Briere, Drury, Vanek, Campbell, etc. Though Ryan Miller was very good as well, too.
Ok now I feel old.
My dad was furious, he was a big Hasek fan. That cup is the first cup that I remember vividly. I was rooting for the stars, Modano and Belfour were awesome.
Ah yes. Dallas’ stolen cup. Let’s make a rule, call it religiously all season, except the most important time in the entire season. You’ve got half your body in the crease… Good goal!