On March 24, 1936, the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Maroons played the longest NHL game ever. The playoff match reached a ninth period (six overtime periods) and, as you can imagine, both teams were exhausted and fatigued beyond comprehension.

Of course, by the ninth period it became more and more essential to keep fresh legs on the ice. Top players on each team were greatly fatigued and teams began relying more and more on inexperienced younger players as they had more stamina to continue the marathon. One of those rookies was Moderre Bruneteau, the youngest player on the ice that night.

At the 16-minute mark of the ninth period, Bruneteau gathered the puck in the Detroit zone. He centered a pass to Hec Kilrea who subsequently challenged the Montreal defense. He faked a return pass and then slid it across the blue line and behind the Montreal defense. Bruneteau swept in behind the defensemen and banged home the loose puck in front of Montreal goalie Lorne Chabot.

The rookie won the game, and became a hockey legend.

"Thank god," a relieved Bruneteau said. "Chabot fell down as I drove it in the net. It's the funniest thing. The puck just stuck there in the twin and didn't fall on the ice."

It was as if the puck was as tired as the players.

Detroit recovered from that marathon to sweep Montreal in the playoff round. They later faced the Toronto Maple Leafs and swept them in the Stanley Cup finals. The Red Wings had won their first Stanley Cup.

Mud Bruneteau, of course, will forever go down in hockey legend for ending the longest game in NHL history. Come playoff time, the media, be it in print or broadcast, always does a feature on his heroics. Often lost in the legend of Mud Bruneteau is the fact that he was a very good hockey player as well.

Mud helped the Wings win another Cup in 1937 but didn't blossom as a player until the Wings' third Cup championship in 1943. That season he led the Wings in goals with 23. He added five more in the playoffs, including a hat trick in Game One of the Finals against Boston.

In 1943-44, Bruneteau had a career high 35 goals in just 39 games.

Despite another solid year with 23 goals in 1944-45, Mud left the NHL by the 1946-47 season. Mud then turned to the Omaha Knights of the United States Hockey League where he played for two seasons before becoming the team's head coach. He led the team to the USHL title in 1950-51.

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