Normie Smith will always be remembered for the first game of the Stanley Cup semi-finals in 1936 against the Montreal Maroons when he and his Red Wind teammates won the longest game in hockey history. After three regulation periods of shutout hockey, the game went into overtime--six overtime periods to be exact. The Red Wings finally scored at 2:25 a.m. and 176 minutes of game time. Smith earned the shutout by making 92 saves.
After a season in the minors, Smith had caught on with the Montreal Maroons and made his NHL debut playing in the 1931-32 season. He then spent the next few seasons in the minors before being dealt to St. Louis though would never play a game there. The team traded him to the Red Wings where he began in 1934-35. After a stint in the minors, Smith played his first full season in the NHL in 1935-36 leading the league in wins and backstopping the Wings to their first Stanley Cup.
The next season saw him named to the first all-star team and win the Vezina trophy as the league's best goalie. He helped the Red Wings defend their championship and win a second straight Cup.
Smith played until the 1938-39 season when he retired from the game. He returned to the Wings in 1943 to play for two more seasons. Smith hung up his pads for good in the 1944-45 season and worked for Ford before moving to Florida after retirement.
