1999 Stanley Cup Finals

The 1999 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Eastern Conference champion Buffalo Sabres and the Western Conference champion Dallas Stars. It was the 106th year of the Stanley Cup. The Sabres were led by captain Michael Peca, coach Lindy Ruff and goalie Dominik Hasek. The Stars were led by captain Derian Hatcher, coach Ken Hitchcock and goalie Ed Belfour. It was the Sabres' second Stanley Cup Final appearance, the first being a loss to Philadelphia in 1975. It was the third appearance for the Stars' franchise, and their first since moving to Dallas from Minnesota in 1993. Minnesota (known at the time as the North Stars) lost in the Final to the NY Islanders in 1981 and to Pittsburgh in 1991. The Stars defeated the Sabres four games to two to win their first Stanley Cup, becoming the eighth post-1967 expansion team to earn a championship. This was the first time since 1994 that the Stanley Cup Finals did not end in a sweep.

Paths to the final

Buffalo defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-0, the Boston Bruins 4-2 and Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 to make it to the final.

Dallas defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-0, the St. Louis Blues 4-2 and the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 to advance to the final.

The series

Game one

The opening games was in Dallas and it was the visiting Buffalo Sabres who struck first, winning 3–2 in overtime. Dallas led 1-0 on a power play goal by Brett Hull, but Stu Barnes and Wayne Primeau scored 5:04 apart in the third to give Buffalo a 2-1 lead. Jere Lehtinen tied the game in the final minute of the third period, but Jason Woolley scored at 15:30 of overtime to give the Sabres the series lead.

Scoring summary

First period

Brett Hull 6 (pp) (Modano, Lehtinen), 10:17

Second period
none

Third period
Buf Barnes 5 (Juneau, Smehlik), 8:33
Buf Primeau 3 (pp) (Zhitnik, Smehlik), 13:37
Dal Lehtinen 8 (Modano, Zubov), 19:11

Overtime
Buf Woolley 4 (Brown), 15:30

Game two

Dallas struck back in the second game, winning 4–2. After a scoreless opening period, the teams traded goals in the middle frame. Craig Ludwig's first goal in 102 playoff games gave Dallas its first lead of the game in the third period, but Alexei Zhitnik tied the game 71 seconds later. Brett Hull scored on a slap shot with 2:50 remaining in the game, and Derian Hatcher's empty net goal sealed the win for Dallas, and evened the series at 1 game apiece. Mike Modano left the game with approximately ten minutes to play after suffering a broken wrist.

Scoring summary

First period
No scoring

Second period
Buf Peca 5 (pp) (Woolley, Satan), 7:22.
Dal Langenbrunner 10 (Matvichuk, Nieuwendyk), 18:26.

Third period
Dal Ludwig 1 (Skrudland), 4:25.
Buf Zhitnik 4 (power play) (unassisted), 5:36.
Dal Hull 7 (Hrkac, Chambers), 17:10.
Dal Hatcher 1 (empty net) (Zubov), 19:34.

Game three

The series shifted to Buffalo for games three and four. It was the visiting Dallas Stars turn to win one on the road, winning 2–1. With Modano hampered by his wrist injury, and Hull leaving the game with a groin injury, Joe Nieuwendyk's two goals, including his sixth game-winner of the playoffs, led Dallas to the win.

Scoring summary

First period
No scoring

Second period
Buf Barnes 6 (Smehlik, B Holzinger), 7:51.
Dal Nieuwendyk 10 (Reid, Langenbrunner), 15:33.

Third period
Dal Nieuwendyk 11 (Langenbrunner, Reid), 9:35.

Game four

Facing a two games to one deficit in the series and a must-win situation in game four, the Sabres came through with a 2–1 victory.

Scoring summary

First period
Buf Sanderson 4 (unassisted), 8:09.
Dal Lehtinen 9 (power play) (Modano, Hatcher), 10:14.

Second period
Buf Ward 7 (unassisted), 7:37.

Third period
No scoring.

Game five

With the series tied at two games apiece and returning to Dallas, Ed Belfour made 23 saves to shut out the Sabres, and move Dallas within one win of the Stanley Cup.

Scoring summary

First period
No scoring.

Second period
Dal Sydor 3 (power play) (Modano, Zubov), 2:23.

Third period
Dal Verbeek 3 (Matvichuk, Modano), 15:21.

Game six

The series shifted back to Marine Midland Arena for the sixth game on June 19, 1999, where the Dallas Stars would seek their first Stanley Cup, while the Buffalo Sabres would fight for a win to extend the series to a seventh and final game.

Dallas, which allowed the first goal in the earlier two games played at Marine Midland Arena, took a 1-0 lead on one of its few scoring chances in the first period when Lehtinen scored his tenth goal of the playoffs at 8:09. The Sabres tied the game with their first goal since the third period of Game 4 when Barnes' wrist shot eluded Belfour with 1:39 to play in the second period.

The game remained tied at 1 through the third period and the first two overtime periods, despite several chances by both teams to score. At 14:51 of the third overtime period, Brett Hull scored on a rebound from inside the crease over a sprawling Dominik Hasek to end the series and award Dallas their first Stanley Cup.

It was the longest Cup-winning game in Finals history, and the second-longest Finals game overall, after Game 1 of the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals, which ended at 15:13 of the third overtime.

Scoring summary

First period
Dal Lehtinen 10 (Modano, Ludwig), 8:09.

Second period
Buf Barnes 7 (Primeau, Zhitnik), 18:21.

Third period
No scoring.

First Overtime
No scoring.

Second Overtime
No scoring.

Third Overtime
Brett Hull 8 (Lehtinen, Modano), 14:51.

"No Goal"

The phrase "No Goal" is associated with a controversial goal scored by Brett Hull of the Dallas Stars in the 1999 Stanley Cup Final. When Hull scored his series-clinching goal in triple overtime of game six his foot was in the crease but the puck was not. Near the end of the season the NHL sent out a memo clarifying the "skate in the crease" rule that allowed goals in instances where the goalscorer maintained control (not possession) of the puck prior to entering the crease. On this play Hull kicked the puck with his left skate (while still outside of the crease) into a shooting position. Others have pointed out that similar plays were called differently during the regular season. Many Buffalo fans felt that this call was incorrectly made and the term "No Goal!" became their rallying cry. The rule that led to this controversy no longer exists in the NHL, however, as shortly after it was removed from the rule book.

Hull's goal ended the series and the Stars were awarded the Stanley Cup. At the time, even Dallas Morning News hockey writer Keith Gave questioned the legality of the goal. NHL officials, however, maintained that Hull's two shots at the goal constituted a single possession of the puck since the puck deflected off Hasek, and their ruling stood, noting that they were going to change the rule the following year anyway. Al Strachan, hockey columnist for 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 Director of Officiating Bryan Lewis said there was no crease violation because "Hull had possession of the puck when his skate entered the crease."

Dallas Stars - 1999 Stanley Cup Champions

Roster

Stanley Cup engraving

• ††Brent Severyn played only 30 games, missing 22 regular season games due to injuries, and was a healthy scratch for the playoffs. Dallas included him on the Stanley Cup, because he spent the whole season with Dallas.
• † Members were included on the 1999 Stanley Cup Picture, but were not engraved on the cup.
• In February, Dallas added Doug Lidster from the Canadian National Team, and Brad Lukowich, from the minor league Kalamazoo Wings. Lidster played 17 regular season and 4 playoff games. Lukowich played 14 regular season and 8 playoff games (2 games in conference finals). They were left off the cup even though they played in the playoffs.
• Mike Modano, Shawn Chambers were the only players on the roster remaining from 1991 Minnesota North Stars. However Chambers left the Stars. He won the Stanley Cup in 1995 with New Jersey, before rejoining the Stars. Team was coached by Bob Gainey (now the GM), 1991. The North Stars lost in 6 games to Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup Finals. After the 1993 season, the North Stars moved to Dallas, and their name was changed to the Stars.

See also

• 1998–99 NHL season
• 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs
• List of Stanley Cup champions
• Super Bowl XXVII and Super Bowl XXVIII - both also won by a Dallas team over a Buffalo team

References

• Diamond, Dan (2000). Total Stanley Cup. NHL. 
• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 1-55168-261.