HAMAR, Norway — Joakim Jensen finally ended what is believed to be the longest game in hockey history, scoring in the eighth overtime in the Norwegian League playoffs.
More than 8½ hours after the game started — and after 217 minutes, 14 seconds of play — Jensen broke through to give the Storhamar Dragons a 2-1 victory over the Sparta Warriors early Monday morning. The game ended at 2:32 a.m.
Players kept energy levels up by eating pizza and pasta during breaks.
Storhamar leads the best-of-seven quarterfinal series 3-2.
Players will not have long to recover. The two teams meet again Tuesday night.
Jensen said he was happy to put the relatively obscure Norwegian league onto the world map.
“Now I’m looking forward to going home and going to bed,” he told Norway’s TV2 television. “I took a knock in the fifth overtime period, and I’ve had a cramp in the calf ever since.”
In the longest game in NHL history, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Maroons 1-0 in a 1936 Stanley Cup finals game on Mud Bruneteau’s goal at 16:30 of the sixth overtime.
