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 8 1/2 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.

    The longest game ever played in U.S. National Hockey League (NHL) was in Montreal on March 24, 1936. It was game one of the semifinal round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs between Detroit and Montreal. It ended when Detroit’s Mud Bruneteau scored the game’s only goal in the sixth overtime period after 176 minutes and 30 seconds of game play.

    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 reporters. “I took a knock in the fifth overtime period and I’ve had cramp in the calf ever since.”

    (SD-Agencies)