No Goal: The Forgotten Anniversary

June 19, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

Ten years ago yesterday (June 19, 1999) marked the forgotten Anniversary. Oh. But not by Buffalo Sabre fans, who had their hearts ripped out by one of the dumbest rule interpretations ever. To be honest, the whole crease rule which even my team benefited from in a 1997 second round upset of the Devils was one of the worst rules ever. Hold your applause for Gary Bettman.

Of course, we’re referring to what forever became known in Buffalo lore as No Goal. Need a quick refresher? Brett Hull scores in triple overtime beating Dominik Hasek to send the Dallas Stars to their first ever Stanley Cup at HSBC Arena. Or did he? The silly rule stated “no player could have any part of their skate in the crease when a goal was scored.” Funny but ain’t that exactly what happened here:

Notice how NHL Network conveniently ignored the controversy. We wonder where that order came from…Here, Hockey Night In Canada’s Ron MacLean gets a bizarre explanation from referee manager Bettman Kool Aid drinker Bryan Lewis:

Don’t you just love MacLean’s expression afterwards? Even all this time later, it’s still humiliating. Even more noticeable at the beginning of the video was an irate Lindy Ruff on the Sabre bench as Dallas celebrated.

So, why did this controversy come to a forefront? Because everyone’s favorite network ESPN discovered it and replayed the controversial goal many times. I could just see Versus doing that. That’s if their silly production truck could find the right replay for See No Evil tandem Keith Jones and Bryan Engblom to go over.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years. I can recall spending many nights watching and rooting for the Sabres with our Buffalo blogger. As fate had it, it wouldn’t be the last controversy for the city of Buffalo that year.

I can only imagine where Brian’s thoughts are now. Sometimes, life really can be cruel. But all these years later, don’t blame Brett Hull for what happened.