June 5, 2004: The Calgary Screwjob

This photograph proves it: The puck was clearly over the goal line.

June 5, 2004: Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals is played. The Cup should have been awarded that night. It wasn't.

The Calgary Flames won the Cup in 1989. In 1992, the Tampa Bay Lightning began play. The NHL had never had a team based in Florida before. Nor had the World Hockey Association. They made their 1st Playoffs in 1996.

The "Bolts" went into the 2004 Playoffs with some previous Cup winners: Tim Taylor of the 1997 Detroit Red Wings, Darryl Sydor and Brad Lukowich of the 1999 Dallas Stars, and Chris Dingman and Nolan Pratt of the 2001 Colorado Avalanche.

However, their best players -- Russian goalkeeper Nikolai "Bulin Wall" Khabibulin, centers Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards, right wing Martin St. Louis, and left wing Dave Andreychuk had never won, or even been to the Finals before. And Andreychuk, who had scored 634 goals for Buffalo, Toronto, New Jersey and Tampa Bay, and was now 40 years old, had to be thinking this was his last chance.

John Tortorella had coached them to the top seed in the Eastern Conference. In the Playoffs, they beat the New York Islanders, the Montreal Canadiens and the Philadelphia Flyers, making the Finals for the 1st time ever.

But to win the Cup, they would have to beat the Flames, coached by Darryl Sutter, a former star left with with the Chicago Blackhawks. Martin Gélinas had won the Cup with the 1990 Edmonton Oilers, and had been to 2 other Finals. Chris Simon had done it with the 1996 Avalanche. Roman Turek had been goalie Ed Belfour's backup on the 1999 Cup-winning Dallas Stars. Krzyzstof Oliwa had won it with the 2000 New Jersey Devils, beating the Stars of Sydor, Lukowich and Turek. Mike Commodore and Ville Niemenen had been teammates of Dingman and Pratt on the '01 Avs. Stephane Yelle had won with the Avs in '96 and '01.

Turek would be backing up Mikka Kiprusoff, a star goalie from Finland. But the Flames' biggest star was right wing Jarome Iginla, the son of a father from Nigeria and a mother from Oregon. Ironically, he was born in Edmonton, home of the Flames' Provincial arch-rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, and grew up idolizing their goalie, Grant Fuhr, who became the 1st black player in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Iginla would become the 4th, following Willie O'Ree, the 1st black player in the NHL, and women's hockey pioneer Angela James.

To reach the Finals, the Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks (losing Game 6 at home in 3 overtimes but then winning Game 7 away in 1 overtime), the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings, and the San Jose Sharks. The Canucks had beaten the Flames in 3 overtimes in Game 6, but Gélinas scored in the 1st overtime to win Game 7. He scored in overtime again to win Game 6 to clinch against the Wings, and scored the go-ahead goal in Game 6 against the Sharks. He had scored the winning goal, or what amounted to it, in all 3 series.

The 1st 2 games were in Tampa, at the St. Pete Times Forum (now the Amalie Arena). The Flames won Game 1, 4-1. The Lightning won Game 2, by the same score. Calgary's "Red Mile" leading to the Saddledome and the "C of Red" inside it had become one of the most intimidating home-ice advantages in the NHL. The Flame defense shone, limiting the Lightning to 21 shots, all stopped by Kiprussoff, and the Flames won, 3-0. But Richards scored only 2:48 into Game 4, and that 1-0 lead held up all the way, tying the series.

Back in Tampa, Game 5 went to overtime, and at 14:40, Oleg Saprykin scored to give the Flames a 3-2 win, and a 3-2 lead. Game 6 would be at the Saddledome, and the C of Red would be in full voice.

With just under 7 minutes to play in regulation, and the score tied, 2-2, Gélinas appeared to have made it 4-for-4, and a 2nd Cup for the Flames, when, it appeared, he put the puck over the goal line before Khabibulin pushed it out with his stick. The officials did not give the goal. There was no instant replay provision in the NHL at the time. The TV cameras showed the puck over the line. The goal should have counted, ending the game and the season, and fulfilling the dream for Calgary.

It didn't, and the game went to overtime. Martin St. Louis scored 33 seconds into the 2nd overtime, and the Lightning won, 3-2. There would be a Game 7 in Tampa, 2 nights later.

That night, before the game, ABC showed a computer simulation of Gélinas' shot, showing that it hadn't fully crossed the goal line. Except their own replay cameras proved that it had. ABC lied. The on-ice officials could be excused for having blown the biggest call of the season in the heat of the moment. But ABC had time to make a choice. Instead of telling the truth, they chose to tell a lie that justified the revenue that they, and the NHL, would receive from a Game 7 being played and broadcast.

Apparently, people will come out for hockey in Florida in June if they think their team is going to win. The Tampa Game 7 crowd wasn't as loud as Calgary's in Game 6, but they gave it their best. Ukrainian left wing Ruslan Fedotenko scored in the 1st period, and again in the 2nd. The Flames were never really in it, and even when Craig Conroy scored midway through the 3rd period, it never felt like the Flames would find an equalizer.

It ended 2-1, and a team from Florida had won the Stanley Cup. Commissioner Gary Bettman, always favoring the Sun Belt over Canada and other cold-weather places, was happy to present the Cup to the Bolts' Captain, Andreychuk. He finally won one.

Also winning one was Bill Davidson, owner of the Lightning from 1999 to 2007. Just 8 days later, for the 3rd time, the Detroit Pistons made him the owner of the NBA Champions. No other person, or group, has owned the NBA Champions and the NHL Champions at the same time.

Jarome Iginla never returned to the Stanley Cup Finals. He did, however, play on the Canada team that won the Gold Medal on home ice at the 2010 Winter Olympics. He retired after the 2017 season, with 625 NHL goals.

Through the 2021-22 season, the Calgary Flames have never been back to the Stanley Cup Finals. It wouldn't have been as bad had they simply been outplayed. They were not outplayed. They got screwed.

UPDATE: The Lightning have a team Hall of Fame. Their 1st inductee was Phil Esposito, already a hockey legend, who led the founding ownership group, served as the team's 1st general manager, and has remained a broadcaster. Also from their founding era, before their 1st Stanley Cup, they have inducted their 1st team Captain, center Brian Bradley.

From their 2004 Stanley Cup, they have inducted centers Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards, left with Dave Andreychuk, right wing Martin St. Louis, and broadcaster Rick Peckham. They have not yet inducted any players from their 2015 Stanley Cup Finalists.

Esposito, Lecavalier and Andreychuk have been elected to the Florida Sports Hall of Fame.

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June 5, 2004 was a Saturday. Former President Ronald Reagan died on this day, at the age of 93. At that point, he was the longest-living President of the United States.

Game 1 was played in the NBA Finals, and it was also a shocker, but for very different, and totally legitimate, reasons. The Detroit Pistons beat a Los Angeles Lakers "superteam" of Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and Gary Payton, 87-75 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. It was one of those finals where Game 1 set the tone, and the Pistons won in 5.

The Belmont Stakes was also held on this day. Smarty Jones, having won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, led this 3rd, last, longest and toughest leg of American thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown, but fell short in the end. I have a separate entry for this event. But he just lost. He wasn't humiliated like the Lakers -- or screwed like the Flames.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Texas Rangers, 8-1 at Yankee Stadium. Jon Lieber had a bad start. The only Yankee run came off a home run by former Ranger Rubén Sierra. Derek Jeter did not play.

* The New York Mets lost to the Florida Marlins, 7-6 at Shea Stadium. The Mets led 5-2 after 6 innings, with 2 home runs from Mike Piazza, but blew it. A 9th-inning comeback fell short.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-3 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. 

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 6-3 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Adam Dunn hit a home run to win the game in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-0 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Gary Knotts pitched shutout ball for 7 2/3rds innings, allowing only 3 hits. Two relievers didn't add any more.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 10-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City royals, 8-4 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants, 11-2 at Coors Field in Denver. Barry Bonds went 1-for-1 with 3 walks, 2 of them intentional.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 10-3 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-0 at Petco Park in San Diego. Ismael Valdéz pitched a 4-hit shutout.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Anaheim Angels, 3-2 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-0 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the McAfee Coliseum). Tim Hudson allowed 8 hits, but kept the shutout.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-2 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

* And the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were rained out at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 5. The O's swept, 4-2 and 8-2.