- It's 1:30 in the morning on June 20th, 1999.
We're at Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York.
The Dallas Stars and Buffalo Sabres
are tied one-one in triple overtime of game six.
The teams have combined for nearly two full games of hockey
as each franchise continues the hunt for their first cup.
If Buffalo wins, the teams head back to Dallas
to decide the series with a seventh game.
If the Stars win, we'll be further delayed
going to bed in order to watch the trophy presentation.
What comes next will completely change
how we think about these teams,
this NHL season, and will leave us with one lasting memory
to define it all.
But what got us here?
For that, let's rewind.
In the span of three seasons,
the Minnesota North Stars
became the Minnesota Stars, which became the Dallas Stars.
While the team made the playoffs
each of their first two years in Texas,
in the seasons that followed,
the scenery wouldn't be the only thing
that received a major change.
Captained by the physical juggernaut Derian Hatcher
and led on offense by Mike Modano,
a new owner led to a new supporting cast.
To start the '95, '96 season,
they traded for veteran centers
Guy Carbonneau and Joe Nieuwendyk.
Following a first half slump, Ken Hitchcock took over
as head coach and not long after that,
they pulled off another trade,
this time for Daryl Sydor,
a defenseman on the verge of entering his prime.
After missing the playoffs and trading
their captain's brother for Surgei Zubov,
the Stars rebounded.
They won their division, recorded the franchise's first
100 point season, and became the two seed in the West.
But in the opening round against an average Oilers team,
they had to fight just to force a game seven,
and when that went to overtime,
Todd Marchant, with some help from Grant Ledyard’s
fantastic footwork ended Dallas' season.
Free agency offered a distraction when the Stars took
a disgruntled Eddie Belfour off the hands of San Jose.
The Eagle helped Dallas set another franchise best record
on their way to winning the President's trophy.
But their championship hopes were dashed
when Nieuwendyk hurt his knee in their opening round.
They got revenge on the Oilers
but their offense wasn't able
to match that of the Red Wings.
However, that offseason provided a quick fix.
With Nieuwendyk needing multiple surgeries on his knee,
they signed a decent contingency plan.
Brett Hull, despite his 70 goal seasons being behind him,
gave Dallas yet another offensive threat.
They rode that offense, gave up the fewest goals
in the league, and finished the regular season
once again atop the NHL.
By 1999, only four players remained from the team
that moved to Dallas, and for their opponents,
while Buffalo has had some turnover over the last few years,
there was a moment where it looked like their lone superstar
wasn't going to be here,
and if he wasn't here, then there's no chance
the Sabres would be.
Dominik Hasek was the brightest spot
on an otherwise mostly dim Buffalo team.
He had just capped off the sixth straight season
where he led the NHL in save percentage
and recorded a career-best average for goals against.
But just two years ago, he nearly walked.
Issues surfaced in the opening round of the 1997 playoffs.
Hasek tweaked his knee in Buffalo's third game
against the Senators.
He attempted to give it a go for game four
but didn't feel right skating around during warmups.
As his backup Steve Shields held down the fort,
Jim Kelley, a Buffalo reporter
and not the former Bill's quarterback
wrote that there was more going on than just the knee injury
that factored into Hasek sitting out.
This didn't go well for either party.
Following a Sabres loss in game five,
Hasek shoved Kelley and took a swing at the reporter.
He quickly apologized but the league investigated
and suspended the goaltender
in part because Hasek was actually healthy enough to play.
While they survived Ottawa without their star,
Philadelphia proved to be too much for the Sabres.
And although Kelley's words had also been too much
for Hasek to hear, they began to ring true.
The article shined a light on Hasek's
less than ideal relationship with Sabres coach Ted Nolan
and questioned if the goalie
had become exhausted by expectations.
While Hasek did his best to dodge the topic,
once the season was further behind him,
he opened up a bit.
At that year's NHL award ceremony,
Hasek took home the Hart and Vezina trophies
as Nolan earned coach of the year honors.
That same night, Hasek decided to drop some quotes,
saying he didn't respect Nolan
and was hoping for a new head coach.
A month later, the goalie got his wish.
With Lindy Ruff at the helm
and a theoretically happier Hasek,
the Sabres returned to the playoffs
where they dropped just one game in their first two series.
But having made it out of the second round
for the first time since 1980, their luck stopped.
They fell to the Capitals in six games,
but with three overtime losses,
the team was close.
And although they dropped down to the sixth seed
in the 1999 playoffs,
they had a few more threats on offense.
Michael Peca and Miraslov Satan
led the way and took some pressure off of their goalie.
But in game six, as Hasek had proved all series long,
if the team was going to win the Cup,
it would be because of him.
To do that they'll have to survive tonight.
Or this morning, whatever.
The trouble with that is, tied one-one
with nearly six full periods in the books,
ending it won't be easy.
And the way this series has gone, that fits.
By now, Dallas' four-two win in game two
seems like an aberration.
Granted, one of those came on an empty net.
But when there's been a goalie between the pipes,
it's been anyone's game.
Game one had to be settled in overtime
where the Sabres stole home ice advantage
thanks to Jason Woolley 15 minutes in.
The Stars tied up the series in game two,
but also made it their mission to rattle Hasek.
As the first period came to a close,
Nieuwendyk introduced himself to the opposing goalie
and managed to knock aside his stick in the process.
Not long after that, Modano stuck out a skate
as he went by Hasek, which sent the goalie to the ice
and brought the teams together as the horn sounded.
The tactics would pay off for that night,
but the biggest hit came to the Stars.
Mike Modano injured his wrist
and while he'd continue to play,
he'd get some company during medical treatment
following game three.
The Stars got the win to lead the series,
but with their two leading scorers
of the regular season banged up,
their offense slowed down.
The teams traded games four and five
with two goals being the magic number needed to win.
And for the fourth straight time,
that would be the case tonight.
You can thank Hasek and Belfour
for the lack of scoring.
They have been otherworldly,
both in this series and in the regular season.
But just in case they needed a little help,
the NHL looked to make their lives a bit easier.
It began in 1991.
Goalies had vocally sought protections
to prevent opponents from being able to barrel into them,
which was a reasonable ask.
The league finally heard them and made some changes.
That season the goaltender's crease
would be expanded and penalties were introduced
for crease infringement and unnecessary contact
with the goalie.
In addition to that, goals would be disallowed
if the puck entered the net while a player
of the attacking team was standing on the crease,
was in the goal crease, or placed their stick in the crease.
And while it sounded too good to be true
for the guys in net,
once the season began and the league
actually adhered to the rule changes,
the goalies were happy.
For everyone else on the ice,
the reaction was not as positive.
While everyone got used to it,
league scoring went down as a result.
They attempted to find some middle ground,
and the league tweaked some things
ahead of the '98, '99 season.
Among these was adjusting the edges of the crease
with the hope of fewer goals disallowed,
due to players on the sides of the goal
who weren't necessarily affecting the play.
It was viewed as anti-goalie,
but even Hasek agreed it was the right move.
The league wasn't done though.
Once the season was underway,
they circulated a memo to all the teams
expanding on some of the crease-related language.
If a player controlled the puck, entered the crease,
and scored, the goal would stand.
But if there was a change of possession
and the player remained in the crease then scored,
it would be disallowed.
For whatever reason, they didn't make that memo
public knowledge at the time.
Why am I even telling you that?
Sometimes I just say things.
Look, triple overtime, how'd they do that?
Desperate to force a game seven,
the Sabres opened tonight by controlling the pace.
But the Stars and their physical defense
weathered the early storm before a little offensive luck
rolled their way.
As Nieuwendyk warded off a pair of Sabres,
he threw the puck at Hasek,
it hit the back of his leg, and bounced into the net.
The Stars got on the board with a goal you rarely saw
Hasek give up.
It turned out to be extra fortunate for Dallas
as they managed just one more shot in the first period
to bring their total to five.
Buffalo continued to outshoot the Stars
through the second, and blew past their series average
well before the period ended.
With two minutes left in the second,
Stu Barnes finally got one by Belfour.
Going high stick side to tie it up.
If all the shots weren't enough for the Sabres
to remind Belfour that they weren't going anywhere,
they found new ways to say hello in the third.
Less than five minutes in,
Belfour was playing the puck from behind the net
when Satan tripped him up.
Not long after Belfour got back to his feet
and picked up his stick,
Varada forgot about the new rules
and drove straight into the Eagle.
It didn't work out great for the Sabre.
Once the teams entered overtime,
both offenses pulled off the gas a bit.
Buffalo managed the first shot of the period
after nearly eight minutes of play.
And Dallas didn't get their first for another four.
Better chances came in the second for both sides.
The Sabres' Rhett Warrener made a play
to block Nieuwendyk's shot during a two on one break.
And a minute later, Buffalo nearly ended it,
but James Patrick could only find the crossbar
behind Belfour.
With the third overtime coming to a close,
Belfour has made 53 saves while Hasek
has nearly kept pace with 48.
But something's gotta give,
and someone's gotta score,
and right now, the Stars have some good options on the ice.
Modano, Hull, and Jere Lehtinen
have worked wonders for Dallas this year.
They all eclipsed the 50 point mark
and took turns playing the hero.
But while Modano and Lehtinen were home-grown talents
who looked to carry the only franchise
they'd ever known to a new height,
Hull was the new guy, trying to do his part.
And just like the other guys,
he was looking for his first Stanley Cup.
He came to Dallas after a somewhat messy end
to his time in St. Louis.
As a member of the Blues, he had blossomed
into a perennial goal scorer
who led the league from 1989 to 1992.
But in recent years,
injuries played a part and a drop in numbers.
This first year in Dallas was no different.
He averaged a point per game
for the first half of the season.
Then missed nearly a month with a groin injury.
He returned for the final stretch
and was good for the playoffs,
but when he reaggravated it on his third shift
of game three, it looked like the Stars
would once again be without a key offensive piece
when they needed it most.
He missed game four and saw limited ice time in game five,
and while he's managed 25 minutes tonight,
that pales in comparison to the guys
that are out there with him.
But all it takes is one shift.
By the end of this series, one of these teams
will win the first Stanley Cup
in their franchise's history.
It's been neck and neck since game one,
so the need for triple overtime fits the battle
they've been through.
Thanks to the guys in net,
nothing has come easy, and there's no reason
that should change now.
So with it being past all of our bedtimes,
welcome to a moment in history.
- [Television Announcer] The net!
Hasek down.
Score!
It's over.
Brett Hull and Mike Modano were there in overtime.
The Dallas Stars are the 1999 Stanley Cup champions.
- [Narrator] Okay, sorry, wait.
This needs an extra moment.
The immediate replays showed Hull in the crease
when he knocked home the winning goal.
Although the teams shook hands and the Stars celebrated,
many believed it was an illegal goal,
and as ESPN reported, the Sabres were waiting
on word from the league.
- Lindy Ruff, or none of the players are available
until Brian Lewis comes down from the National Hockey League
and explains to them the situation
on why this goal should count.
Stay tuned, I haven't the faintest clue
what's gonna happen at this point.
- [Narrator] Once the NHL spoke to Buffalo, it all came down
to the language in the memo circulated by the league.
Although Hull was in the crease,
his initial shot went off Hasek,
and had not resulted in a change of possession,
therefore Hull was still considered the puck handler
and was allowed to be in the crease.
It was a tough ruling backed by a rule
that the league was already looking to change
in the off season.
And even though the Sabres knew where the blame lay,
for them it was an unforgettable ending
in the worst way.
But controversy or not, the Dallas Stars
won the Stanley Cup, and Brett Hull
finally got his chance to lift the trophy.
Okay, show's over.
Thanks for watching,
and as we sign off every video, sorry Buffalo fans.
To ease the pain, here's a different franchise's demise
under a magnifying glass.
Or check out the rest of our hockey content here.
Subscribe to SB Nation and we'll see you soon.