The fourth annual 11 Day Power Play is officially in the books with the 2021 event reaching all new heights.
For 11-straight days, 40 players - known as the "Frozen 40" - took to the ice in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the longest hockey game played at Buffalo RiverWorks.
In addition, the players taking part, along with other teams playing alongside the group as part of community shifts, were fundraising money for cancer research in Western New York. From the start, the goal of the 2021 event was to raise up to $2 million to support organizations such as Roswell Park, Oishei Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Program, Make-A-Wish and Camp Good Days.
On Monday, the ninth day of the event, the organization surpassed its $2 million fundraising goal. By Wednesday night, the event raised $2.1 million, which brought the fundraising total since 2017 to $7.3 million.
At around 5:50 p.m. EST on Wednesday, the "Frozen 40" officially set the new Guinness World Record, breaking the record set back in February of 2020 by a group in Alberta, Canada.
"I'm not even close to tired right now after that little celebration we just had. It's been great," said co-founder of the 11 Day Power Play, Mike Lesakowski. "They guys and girls that we just went through this with are really special people. It feels really great."
"I really don't have the words. I mean, it's just incredible," said Amy Lesakowski, Mike's wife and co-founder of the 11 Day Power Play. "The players worked so hard to get here. It's not just an 11-day hockey game. They prepared all the way from June through, and clearly we were prepared really well. We had minor, minor issues with the players, and here we are with the world record."
Both Mike and Amy Lesakowski founded the 11 Day Power Play back in 2016 after Amy was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer eight years prior. While Amy was able to win her battle with cancer, Mike's mother was not so fortunate, as she passed away in 2016 following a three-year battle with small cell lung cancer.
From there, the first 11 Day Power Play took place in 2017 with a similar format to the 2021 event, where 40 players attempted to set the world record for the longest played hockey game. That year saw more than $1 million raised for research programs at Roswell Park.
Since then, the local community has been able to take part in the 11 Day Power Play, with a number of community teams coming together and taking to the ice, while raising money toward cancer research in Western New York.
The 2021 event is the second time Mike has taken part in the grueling stretch of days playing hockey and living on site as one of the 40 players attempting to set a world record. While he knows the second go-around was a little easier to anticipate what happens with each passing day, Lesakowski knows the experience is a test of will.
"At the end of the day, we're here, we raised $2 million for the amazing beneficiaries that we have, so it feels great," Lesakowski said. "The feet will be sore for a couple of days, maybe a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months, but it feels really, really good right now."
After checking in near the halfway point of the event, the group of 40 players were pushing through with a few players banged up in the early goings. This included one player breaking his hand, but pushing forward towards breaking a world record.
By Day 11 of the event, many of the players are battered and bruised with sore feet and blisters, but it all matters naught with the true goal that was achieved in the end - raising money that goes towards a good cause for the community.
"It'll feel great getting out of these skates and sleeping for more than four hours at a time, but this group of guys... I think we could've gone for another 11 days, honestly," said WGRZ-TV's Pete Gallivan, who played as one of the "Frozen 40" players this year. "It's an incredible group of people, and the mix of hockey players - from elite to really muckers - coming out and coming together, and everyone's playing together. The wide-variety of people we've got here - you've got journalists (Aaron Mentkowski and myself), you've got engineers, you've got financial planners. This group of people, it's Buffalo. A cross-section of Buffalo coming together and for a single cause.
"We've all been touched by cancer. I lost my mom, my dad, my mother-in-law, my father-in-law, my grandfather, a really good friend from college. To be able to feel like you're doing something and making a difference, it's unbelievable."
As for Wednesday night's experience at RiverWorks, the community showed their support by filling the stands and cheering on the "Frozen 40" as the time counted down on their record-breaking achievement.
As the fans cheered on the players until the clock struck 0:00 for the final shift of the event, Amy Lesakowski took the time to reflect on the community's outpouring support not only during the event, but in the days and months leading up to the 11 days of hockey.
"It's a Buffalo community that gives back," Lesakowski said. "Am I surprised? No, because Buffalo is an amazing city that supports organizations that we support, and we're not going to stop. It's just an incredible event, and we're so happy to be here in Buffalo. I don't know that this event could do what we do anywhere else. We hope so, but just super proud of everybody involved - our sponsors, our volunteers, Excelsior Orthopaedics - our presenting sponsor - we would not have gotten through this event without them."