NHL Axes Video Replay Rule

June 21, 1999 / 8:33 PM EDT / AP

Less than two days after the Stanley Cup finals ended in controversy, the NHL said it will no longer use videotape replays to decide disputed goals.

Commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday's rule change had nothing to do with the goal scored by Brett Hull that won the Stanley Cup for Dallas against Buffalo in triple overtime early Sunday.

The Sabres, who lost the game 2-1, said a replay showed that Hull's goal should have been disallowed because his skate preceded the puck into the crease before he shot it past Dominik Hasek.

Bettman said the league was more concerned the game would lose some of its spontaneity when play is stopped for a video review of a goal. He said the video replay situation had been discussed by the league's Board of Governors about a week before the controversial Game 6.

Â"We're relying too much on replayÂ" for goal decisions, Bettman said.

Bettman said the man-in-the-crease rule will stay in place, but on-ice officials will decide whether goals count without using replays. The rule usually disallows a goal if an offensive player has any part of his body in the goal crease.

Other than saying Â"the absolute right callÂ" was made on Hull's goal, Bettman would not address the Game 6 controversy. He left that up to Colin Campbell, director of hockey operations, and Bryan Lewis, the NHL's supervisor of officials, who planned to discuss the issue at a news conference Tuesday.

Â"The rule (on Hull's goal) was absolutely, correctly applied,Â" Bettman said. Â"Everyone understands it was the right call.Â"

Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said after the game that to reverse a goal that decided the title would be a Â"nightmareÂ" for the league.

Bettman said he was unaware of any official protest by the Sabres.

The official response from the league after the goal was that it didn't matter that Hull had his skate in the crease, but that he had full control of the puck. Lewis said officials looked at the play probably six or eight times.

The rule, which was drawn up to protect goaltenders from injury, has been disliked by many skaters. Many goals have been disallowed even by infractions that are purely incidental to the play, such as a teammate's skate in the crease away from the action.

Campbell Â"is going to work on the interpretation over the summer,Â" Bettman said.

In other action, the board approved a change in regular-season overtime in hopes of having a better chance to decide games that go past regulation.

When teams are tied after regulation, they will each receive a point in the standings. Then a five-minute overtime period will be held, with each team using four skaters instead of five. A winning team would receive another point.

The format was used by the American Hockey League this season on an experimental basis, and the league was satisfied with the results: Of the 44 games that went into overtme, 27 (or 61 percent) had the ties broken.

The board also approved an increase in the number of games officiated under the two-referee system to 700 from last season's 270,

The governors also approved the expected transfer of ownership of the Washington Capitals to a group composed of Ted Leonsis, Jon Ledecky and Richard Patrick from Abe Pollin.