The Wings featured some great players. Players like Syd Howe, Marty Barry, Herbie Lewis, Bucko McDonald and Ebbie Goodfellow.
But the man most synonymous with the 1936 Red Wings is a seldom used rookie nicknamed "Mud:" Modere "Mud" Bruneteau.In the semifinals against the defending champion Montreal Maroons, Bruneteau ended the longest game in NHL history with a goal at the unthinkable time of 176:30. It was the only goal of the game. 9,500 spectators witnessed Bruneteau's heroics in the sixth overtime. The game ended at 2:25 am.
Goaltender Normie Smith also deserves mention. He stopped an incredible 92 shots that night. He was incredible every night, as Detroit was out-shot in every playoff game. Smith stole the opener against the Maroons blocking all 90 shots as his team won 1-0 after 117 minutes of overtime. He followed up with 36 saves in a 3-0 shutout and was solid in every game against Toronto as he stopped 95.7% of the 281 shots that he faced.
Here's what Smith had to say about his amazing streak:
"Well, gee whiz, naturally everyone was tired when we started that sixth overtime in the first game for the league championship. My stuff - underwear, pads, everything - was getting heavier all the time. They fed us sugar dipped in brandy to keep us going, even though our coach, Jack Adams, was one never to touch a drop. I never did see Bruneteau score the goal that won that 1-0 game for us. But I did see the red light flash on. Everybody was so stunned there was like a ten-second pause and then they all broke loose. I had 94, 95 stops in that game, something like that. Then there was the shutout the next game, so now I had almost four hours of goaltending without a goal being scored against me. It went over four hours and then Gus Marker picked up a long pass and he came in on me and beat me to the top right-hand corner. To be honest, I had really forgotten how long the streak had been going, and really you couldn't expect it to go on forever. "
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