TORONTO (Sep. 26) - If you are old enough to remember the 1998-99 National Hockey League season - and you don't have to be very old; mid-20s should do - you'll recall it as a rather unique juncture in the game's history.
If you're a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, you'll remember it for being one of the most delightfully surprising seasons in the post-1967 era.
If you're a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, you'll remember it for being one of the most delightfully surprising seasons in the post-1967 era.
The NHL, that year, absorbed a couple of major body blows: Wayne Gretzky - considered, by many, the greatest player in hockey history - announced his retirement as a member of the New York Rangers in the final week of the regular season. He played his last NHL game on Apr. 18, 1999 against Pittsburgh at Madison Square Garden, an event I was privileged to attend.
More of an acute crisis was the triple-overtime goal scored by Brett Hull to win the '99 Stanley Cup for Dallas... ironically and, perhaps, mercifully infringing on the most contentious rule the game has known. I was present for that dubious moment as well - sitting alone in the high corner seats that served as an auxiliary press box at Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo (most others, writing on deadline, had long-before scattered to the press room downstairs). Hull scored the decisive marker below me with one of his skates (as an overhead replay demonstrated) planted on the lip of the goal-crease - the annoyingly-repetitive criterion for waving off such plays all season long.
In an effort to curtail the physical abuse of netminders, the league went to a silly extreme: a goal would be disallowed if any member of the scoring club infringed on the edge of the crease... even if the offending party was completely uninvolved in the play. A winger could be merely watching from the opposite side of the net as a teammate deked and scored a perfectly-suitable goal. If that winger unknowingly had a skate touching any portion of the semi-circular line that formed the crease, the goal was called off. This occurred in many decisive situations - obviously none more-so than the Stanley Cup clincher. By the time replays uncovered Hull's infraction, however, the Dallas players were furiously mobbing one another and an enormous throng of media had burst forth onto the ice for post-game coverage. No one in a position of authority - from commissioner Gary Bettman on down - saw fit to postpone the celebration and resume the interminable match.
Bryan Lewis, the unfortunate soul in direction of NHL officials at the time, was able to concoct a semi-believable vindication of the goal... emphatically stating his case in the arena press lounge well after 2:30 a.m. But, few people bought the explanation - particularly those in the Buffalo area, who felt the Sabres were bilked of an opportunity to force Game 7 in the Stanley Cup final. Less than two weeks later, the NHL announced a welcomed modification of the absurd rule.
More of an acute crisis was the triple-overtime goal scored by Brett Hull to win the '99 Stanley Cup for Dallas... ironically and, perhaps, mercifully infringing on the most contentious rule the game has known. I was present for that dubious moment as well - sitting alone in the high corner seats that served as an auxiliary press box at Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo (most others, writing on deadline, had long-before scattered to the press room downstairs). Hull scored the decisive marker below me with one of his skates (as an overhead replay demonstrated) planted on the lip of the goal-crease - the annoyingly-repetitive criterion for waving off such plays all season long.
In an effort to curtail the physical abuse of netminders, the league went to a silly extreme: a goal would be disallowed if any member of the scoring club infringed on the edge of the crease... even if the offending party was completely uninvolved in the play. A winger could be merely watching from the opposite side of the net as a teammate deked and scored a perfectly-suitable goal. If that winger unknowingly had a skate touching any portion of the semi-circular line that formed the crease, the goal was called off. This occurred in many decisive situations - obviously none more-so than the Stanley Cup clincher. By the time replays uncovered Hull's infraction, however, the Dallas players were furiously mobbing one another and an enormous throng of media had burst forth onto the ice for post-game coverage. No one in a position of authority - from commissioner Gary Bettman on down - saw fit to postpone the celebration and resume the interminable match.
Bryan Lewis, the unfortunate soul in direction of NHL officials at the time, was able to concoct a semi-believable vindication of the goal... emphatically stating his case in the arena press lounge well after 2:30 a.m. But, few people bought the explanation - particularly those in the Buffalo area, who felt the Sabres were bilked of an opportunity to force Game 7 in the Stanley Cup final. Less than two weeks later, the NHL announced a welcomed modification of the absurd rule.
For the Leafs and their fans, 1998-99 was a season to cherish. Having missed the playoffs the two previous years, the club made a couple of prime acquisitions in the summer of '98 that would shape its immediate future. Pat Quinn, the one-time Leafs defenseman, was hired as head coach, and Curtis Joseph - among the top four goaltenders in the NHL - signed with Toronto as an unrestricted free agent after a couple of splendid playoff years with Edmonton. Quinn and Joseph transformed the Leafs from playoff outsider to Stanley Cup contender. A cautious, low-scoring team with fading confidence in goalie Felix Potvin became daring and relentless in front of Joseph. Leafs vaulted 28 points in the standings and knocked off Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in the post-season, before losing to Buffalo in the Eastern Conference final.
Along the way, the club moved from the familiar confines of Maple Leaf Gardens to the spanking, new Air Canada Centre at the foot of the C.N. Tower. Both the final game at the Gardens (against Chicago) and the inaugural match at the ACC (against Montreal) were memorable events, enhanced - in-between - by a week-long commemoration of the team and its legendary players.
Among the biggest NHL stars in the late-'90s were Dominik Hasek, Jaromir Jagr, Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, Eric Lindros, Paul Kariya, Pavel Bure, Teemu Selanne, John LeClair, Mike Modano, Al MacInnis and the aforementioned Brett Hull. These players, and others, are pictured below on covers of The Hockey News in the 1998-99 season.
Along the way, the club moved from the familiar confines of Maple Leaf Gardens to the spanking, new Air Canada Centre at the foot of the C.N. Tower. Both the final game at the Gardens (against Chicago) and the inaugural match at the ACC (against Montreal) were memorable events, enhanced - in-between - by a week-long commemoration of the team and its legendary players.
Among the biggest NHL stars in the late-'90s were Dominik Hasek, Jaromir Jagr, Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, Eric Lindros, Paul Kariya, Pavel Bure, Teemu Selanne, John LeClair, Mike Modano, Al MacInnis and the aforementioned Brett Hull. These players, and others, are pictured below on covers of The Hockey News in the 1998-99 season.
JULY 1998
AUGUST 1998
SEPTEMBER 4, 1998
SEPTEMBER 11, 1998
SEPTEMBER 18, 1998
SEPTEMBER 25, 1998
OCTOBER 2, 1998
OCTOBER 9, 1998
OCTOBER 16, 1998
OCTOBER 23, 1998
OCTOBER 30, 1998
NOVEMBER 6, 1998
NOVEMBER 13, 1998
NOVEMBER 20, 1998
NOVEMBER 27, 1998
DECEMBER 4, 1998
DECEMBER 11, 1998
DECEMBER 18, 1998
DECEMBER 25, 1998
JANUARY 1, 1999
JANUARY 15, 1999
JANUARY 22, 1999
JANUARY 29, 1999
FEBRUARY 5, 1999
FEBRUARY 12, 1999
FEBRUARY 19, 1999
FEBRUARY 26, 1999
MARCH 5, 1999
MARCH 12, 1999
MARCH 19, 1999
MARCH 26, 1999
APRIL 2, 1999
APRIL 16, 1999
APRIL 23, 1999
APRIL 30, 1999
MAY 7, 1999
MAY 21, 1999
JUNE 4, 1999
JUNE 18, 1999
JULY 2, 1999
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