The match went to overtime in Queenstown, after finishing 5-5 at the end of regulation, and then to a dramatic penalty shootout.
The Stampede camp felt robbed after Canterbury import Valery Konev's 360deg trickery before his goal left two referees debating whether the puck had continuous forward momentum.
It was the fifth shot, after the home side had missed two of its own and the Red Devils had converted through Chris Eaden, so when Konev's goal went in but was then ruled out, there were minutes of confusion.
Eventually, referees Jerome Raateland and Braden O'Loughlin ruled the goal would stand, by which time the visiting side had already cracked open the bubbly.
Stampede coach Steven Reid was still convinced yesterday his team had received a poor refereeing decision.
"He stopped the momentum and put it in," Reid said.
"Hey, I could have lived with that if the puck was moving. The first referee was right there and he waved it off with no hesitation."
Reid claimed the league's refereeing calls had been "questionable" all year long.
"Not being consistent over the season, it definitely hurts. The boys are gutted. They just feel like they got robbed."
Elated Canterbury coach Anatoly Khorozov said the goal was awarded fairly and any doubt coming from the Stampede was unwarranted.
The Stampede started with hunger, peppering stand-out Canterbury goalie Michael Coleman with good shots.
However, the Red Devils opened the scoring through James Kirkwood and Ryan Chramtchenko to lead 2-0 after 10 minutes.
Ice Blacks captain Bert Haines slotted in a superb goal for the home side, and American import Brian Horwitz scored a second, but Canterbury still held a 3-2 lead at the first break.
The second period featured more physical tussles than scoring, a highlight for the crowd being the ongoing rumble between the league's two biggest men, Stampede import Matt Schneider and the Red Devils' Gabe Yeung.
Canterbury clung to a one-goal lead until Brett Speirs produced a goal 20 seconds before the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
Neither side could convert in sudden death and so a penalty shoot-out was required.
Canterbury's Eaden was named the league's most valuable player. Speirs was named Stampede MVP, and rising Stampede star Aston Brookes was named best goalie.
Andre Robichaud (Dunedin Thunder) was named rookie of the year and team-mate Mike Morrison best defenceman.
