217 minutes and 14 seconds.
That’s how long the Storhamar Dragons and Sparta Warriors played hockey for in the quarterfinals of the Norwegian playoffs. Game 5 of their 7 game series went an astounding EIGHT OVERTIMES before Storhamar scored the winning goal.
The eight overtime game is now the new record holder for the longest game of professional hockey ever played. It surpasses the previous record set all the way back in 1936 in a game between the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Maroons that lasted 176 minutes and 30 seconds. That game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs was just a mere six overtimes. The new record set by Storhamar and Sparta went beyond it by a full two overtimes!
Here’s the video of the game winner by Storhamar’s Joakim Jensen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nu0BqKyBJA
You’ve just got to love that Norwegian goal song, don’t you?
According to NHL.com, the game featured a combined 189 shots and roughly one-fifth of the 5,000 plus fans who started the game in attendance were actually there by the time it was over. Maybe the most incredible factoid about the game is that local police apparently received several calls from concerned people about loved ones who attended the game and went missing. They had to clarify in these tweets that the game was still going on!
Flere henvendelser til politiet om dette. Til info så er ikke kampen ferdigspilt.
— Politiet i Innlandet (@politiinnlandet) March 13, 2017
Sparta and Storhamar played the equivalent of almost 4 consecutive hockey games in one evening. Maybe if Game 6 goes to overtime they should just play 3 on 3…
