Ah, the 1998-99 Playoffs have finally come to an end. Now's the time to reflect on a job well done. Here are the top ten most memorable moments from the postseason.

10. Sneaky Pete Bein' Sneaky: It was early in overtime of Game Four of the second-round series between St. Louis and Dallas. The Blue Note needed a win to even the series at two games apiece. That's when Pierre Turgeon made his move. Sneaky Pete hid in the weeds at center ice and lured Sergei Zubov into attempting a questionable cross-ice pass before leaping into action. Turgeon cut the puck, streaked into the Dallas zone, and, with backcheckers closing hard, wired a beautiful wrist shot over Ed Belfour's blocker to give the Blues a 3-2 win. I declare this goal to be awesome.

9. Nieuwendyk Knows Best: As great as Turgeon's goal was, it still wasn't as cool as the one Nieuwendyk scored in Game Two of the series. See, Nieuwendyk didn't have the benefit of a defenseman handing him the puck on a platter. Lemme tell ya, Joey made it happen himself. At 8:22 of overtime, Nieuwendyk barged wide on right wing and blistered a wrist shot over Grant Fuhr's glove into the top left hand corner of the cage. Fuhr never stood a chance. The shot was flawless.

8. Stumpy and Sundin Save the Day: Things looked bleak for the Maple Leafs. Not only had they been shut out in Game One of their first-round series against the Flyers, but they found themselves trailing 1-0 late in the third of Game Two and in serious jeopardy of going back to Philly down two games to none. That's when the man known as Stumpy went to work.

Mats Sundin by Meredith Martini

Steve Thomas swung wide on right wing and pushed a harmless looking backhander to the net from a painfully sharp angle that somehow found its way through John Vanbiesbrouck's pads. The goal came at 18:01 of the third. It was all the life the Leafs needed.

Just over a minute later, at 19:07, Mats Sundin used his freakishly long reach to find a puck off the left post and flip it into the top of the cage behind a bewildered Beezer and give the Leafs the thrilling 2-1 victory. Considering the reach, leverage, and skill needed, Sundin is the only player in the league that could have scored the goal. And he made it look easy. It was something special. It also stunned the Flyers and set the stage for Toronto's run to the conference finals.

7. Turgeon Tames Coyotes: Jim Schoenfeld put his job on the line. Schoeny said he expected to be fired if the Coyotes lost in the first round to the St. Louis Blues. Schoeny was right. Pierre Turgeon saw to that by scoring the lone goal in a 1-0 Game Seven classic. Grant Fuhr and Nikolai Khabibulin were locked in a goaltending duel until Turgeon deflected a Ricard Persson shot behind Khabby at 17:59 of the extra session to send the Blues into the second round and Schoeny to the unemployment line.

Mike Keane by Meredith Martini

6. Keane Claims Revenge: Two years ago the Colorado Avalanche and GM Pierre Lacroix decided they couldn't afford to keep Mike Keane, one of the emotional leaders of the '96 Cup winning squad, at a price tag of $2 million a year. Big mistake. Keane was worth at least that much for the Dallas Stars in Game Seven of the Western Conference finals, scoring a pair of goals in a four-minute span of the second period to eliminate his former teammates and lift the Stars to a 4-1 win. Keane's second goal was a thing of beauty. He carried the puck in on left wing on a two-on-one, lulled Adam Foote to sleep, and then cut to his backhand before dumping a shot behind his best buddy Patrick Roy. The goal gave Dallas a 3-0 lead and broke the spirit of the Avalanche. It also sent me to the bottle. But then again, what doesn't?

5. JAGR SHOWS HEART: The Pittsburgh Penguins needed to win Game Six of the first round against the Devils to stay alive. Jaromir Jagr had been in and out of the lineup with a groin problem, and I think we all know how painful that can be. People were starting to question the Czech Wonder Kid's heart. Question no more. Jagr not only showed up for Game Six, he scored the game-tying goal late in the third period and then won it for the Birds in overtime. Aw, that's clutch.

The first goal came after the great Alexei Kovalev singlehandedly broke the New Jersey trap and moved the puck to Jagr at the Devil stripe. The league's leading scorer barged over the blue line, backed Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer off, and chipped a pass through to German Titov driving the right wing. Stevens, who had been beaten on the play, was able to reach in and momentarily poke the puck away from Titov as he bore down on Martin Brodeur, but the Penguin winger recovered as he was swinging behind the Devil cage and stuffed a shot into Brodeur's pads. Niedermayer had left Jagr to cover up for Stevens, but the Devil captain was slow to switch. That was all the time Jagr needed to swoop in and smack the rebound between Brodeur's pads to tie the score 2-2 with 2:12 remaining in regulation.

Cut to overtime. Marty Straka, the li'l Czech Dynamo, blows right around Niedermayer along the left wing boards, leaving the fleet-footed Devil defender a tangled mess on the ice. Straka then cut his way to the net and drew the attention of both Stevens and Brodeur, only to fire a bullet of a pass through the slot to a cutting Jagr who buried the game-winner with a snap shot over the lunging Diablo goaltender.

It's always cool when superstars come through when their teams need it most. Mario Lemieux used to do it. Wayne Gretzky used to do it. Jaromir Jagr does it.

4. MODERN DAY MARVEL: If Game Five of the Colorado-Dallas series wasn't the most entertaining game in the history of hockey, it's gotta be pretty damn close. Colorado eventually prevailed 7-5, but it was 60 minutes of nonstop back-and-forth action waged by two extremely talented and determined teams. If you missed this game, feel free to beat yourself senseless with the nearest blunt object.

3. FORSBERG FREAKS WINGS: Not only is Peter Forsberg the best player in the world, he turned in the best goal of the playoffs. It came during the third period of Colorado's monumental second-round series against Detroit. With the Wings trailing 4-2 and clinging to their playoff lives, Forsberg put 'em out of their misery with one of the great individual efforts in recent memory.

Peter Forsberg by Meredith Martini

The Wings were pressuring in the Colorado zone when Chris Chelios pinched along the right wing boards to keep the play alive. Igor Larionov supported his blueliner like a pro and circled behind to man the right point and collect the puck. Forsberg applied some token pressure and Larionov panicked; trying to force a diagonal, cross-ice pass down low. Forsberg blocked the pass with his skates and it was off to the races.

With Chelios now caught along the wall and Mathieu Dandenault having carried the puck deep to start the whole play, it was up to Larionov to try and stop Forsberg. That's grief. Petey fought through Larionov, raced in on Chris Osgood, and abused the Detroit goaltender with a backhand deke before slamming home a forehand shot and crashing into the cage. Thanks for playing, Detroit. Enjoy the parting gifts.

2. DETROIT GOES HOME: Watching the Red Wings shake the hands of the Avalanche and skate off the ice a beaten team really warmed the heart. Seeing such a great, proud team give it their all in defending their championship was truly... aw, who am I kidding? (Sunshine) you, Detroit! Chris Osgood? (Sunshine) you! Kirk Maltby? (Sunshine) you! Martin Lapointe? (Sunshine) you! Slava Kozlov? (Sunshine) you! (Sunshine) the whole (sunshinin') lot of you, ya (sunshinin') (sunshiners)!

1. BRETT HULL SCORES CUP WINNER... SORT OF: I'm really happy that Brett Hull gets credit for winning the Stars the Cup. No one deserves it more. He's a great guy. But the goal shouldn't have counted.

Brett Hull by Meredith Martini

Just to recap, it was at 14:51 of the third overtime of Game Six that Hull, left skate planted firmly in the crease, swatted home a loose rebound to give the Dallas Stars their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. The NHL and other prominent jagoffs are trying to say that it was a good goal because Hull had possession of the puck. And if you have possession of the puck you're allowed in the crease. Yeah, that's swell, except for one thing, Hull didn't have possession.

The play started when Jere Lehtinen threw a shot on net that Dominik Hasek stopped but didn't control. Hull, parked at the edge of the crease, was doing his best to find the rebound when Brian Holzinger came flying through the crease attempting to bump number 16 out of the play. Holzinger missed, barely grazing Hull at the same time the puck slipped free from Hasek. Hull, still outside of the crease, kicked the puck with his left skate, and I'm not even sold that he did it on purpose. It looked more accidental than my baby brother. Aw, I'm just kiddin', Larry. Everybody loves you, buddy! Wait a second. I don't have a little brother. Then who is that kid and why is he eating my pretzels? Anyway, as the biscuit was still loose, Hull's left skate ventured well into the paint. A second later the Golden One reached out and swatted the puck home for the winning goal.

Since when is kicking the puck in a mad scramble in front of the cage possession? What if Hull kicked the puck and then never touched it with his stick? You know the first thing everyone would say? "Aw, what a chance for Hull but he just couldn't control the puck." Possession didn't occur until he had the puck on his blade. If he would have established control, taken the original shot, kicked the rebound with his skate, entered the crease, and scored the goal I might be able to let it slide. But Hull never touched the puck until he booted it with his skate. And that's not possession. If some really smart journalism guy out there would go through old video of disallowed goals from the past three seasons, I guarantee he'd find at least a dozen exactly like Hull's.

The goal shouldn't have counted. I know it. You know it. The league knows it. But the NHL is too yellow to admit it. They'll lie and cheat to cover their ass just as long as they don't have to admit they made a mistake. It also doesn't hurt that the southern hockey market gets a boost in popularity does it there, Gary? It's a garage league, pure and simple.

Need more proof? This past Monday, just one day after the Cup was "won", the NHL announced that video replay will no longer be used in cases of crease violations. Let me get this straight. The rule stays the same as it is now, meaning no tolerance whatsoever, but the officials can't use replay to make sure? What the hell is wrong with these people? Don't they understand this is just going to create more controversy?

The officials may not be able to use replay, but you damn sure better believe all the networks will. How long before Kerry Fraser waives a goal because he thinks someone is in the crease and then the home audience gets to see a replay that proves he was wrong? And you know there are going to be goals scored where guys are in the crease and the refs are going to miss it. It's only natural with the speed of the game. So next year we'll have some goals that count when guys are in the crease, and some goals that won't. It'll be a crap shoot. Come to think of it, I'd rather shoot craps than watch the NHL next season.

And I don't even want to get into that garbage about the four-on- four in overtime. Why not just play four-on-four the whole damn game then? Oh, you know why? BECAUSE THEN IT WOULDN'T BE HOCKEY! Four-on-four is not hockey. Why not just play three innings of baseball to decide a tie game? Or how about we play one man aside? There will be plenty of chances then, sort of like that old "Hat Trick" hockey game for Atari. Or we could just take the goalies off the ice, line guys up at center, and see who can hit an empty net the most times in 30 seconds. The NHL's (sunshinin') retarded.

The league needs leadership and vision. Someone with character who will do what's best for the game and not his wallet. I'd put Wayne Gretzky in charge, but if he doesn't want to do it, I'll be glad to step in. What the hell? I'll have the free time.

First thing I'd do is kick Gary Bettman's sorry corporate ass. Then I'd return the crease to its old half circle self. Not only did it look cooler that way, goaltenders should be entitled to the ice at the side of the net. Otherwise it screws up their angles. Just ask Olaf Kolzig.

And the reason I'd make the blue area bigger is that I'd be getting rid of the punk-ass goal crease rule. I don't care if you're in the crease taking a nap, as long as you don't interfere with the goaltender the goal stands. And you know how we'd settle arguments? We'd put a monitor in the score keeper's box at ice level and allow the referees themselves to watch the disputed play in question. If Stripes says there was interference, then no goal. But I want the guys with the orange arm bands making the call, not some dork in a suit 300 feet away from the action.

And tie games? We play until someone scores. Oh, you don't like that? You think it would screw up travel plans? Too damn bad. I don't see baseball teams having trouble booking flights after extra inning games. There were 157 ties this season. That means we could have seen 157 more overtime goals. Just think of all the excitement that would bring to the sport. And if a coach feels the game is running too long, he can feel free to only play four guys if he wants. It's his call. But we're playing until someone scores.

That's how I see things. I'll get off my soapbox now. But feel free to trip over it on your way out and break a hip.

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