BUFFALO, N.Y. — So much has changed during the past 25 years, but one thing remains constant: How the Buffalo Sabres and their loyal fan base feel about what happened on June 19, 1999.
Any Buffalo sports fan probably doesn't need the reminder about what happened when the Sabres hosted the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in Marine Midland Arena, now known as KeyBank Center.
Down 3-2 in the best-of-7 series, the Sabres lost 2-1 when Brett Hull scored a goal deep into the third overtime, sending Stars fans into a frenzy. The term "no goal" was quickly added to Buffalo's tortured sports history.
At the time, NHL rules said that if any part of player's skate was in crease when a goal was scored, it wouldn't count.
"Countless goals were called back during the regular season because of the rule," longtime 2 On Your Side sports reporter Stu Boyer said in 2019. "Before the playoffs started, the league communicated with teams that the rule was changing, that it wouldn't be called the same way in the playoffs that it was during the regular season."
In this case, the league said because Hull had possession of the puck prior to entering the crease, the goal stood.
Hull discussed that play during his Hockey Hall of Fame induction speech in 2009.
"We all knew that they had changed the rule, but obviously the NHL decided they weren't going to tell anybody but the teams. ... They changed the rule to say if you have control in the crease, you can score the goal, and that's exactly what it was," Hull said. "But nobody knows that. You can tell people that a million time and they just will not listen."
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