Eleven-day marathon underway in Buffalo
BUFFALO, N.Y. — For Mike Lesakowski and 39 of his hockey-playing friends, it’s game on.
And on and on and on. From the opening faceoff Thursday night to the final whistle set for the morning of July 3, the group of mostly 40-something Buffalonians plan to be on the ice playing one continuous game spanning 11 days — or 251 hours, to be exact.
Their goal is to raise $1 million for cancer research and break the Guinness World Record mark of 250 hours, 3 minutes, 20 seconds set during an outdoor game in Alberta in 2015.
If it sounds a little farfetched, Lesakowski won’t argue.
“Yeah,” he said with a laugh, “that’s a good way to put it.”
Teams are split into groups of about seven players (five skaters, a goalie and a spare), with each playing four-hour shifts.
Aside from countless aching bones and wornout skates, Lesakowski projects there will be more than 4,000 goals scored. And with referees and linesmen on hand they will have official scorekeepers logging stats, as required by Guinness.
“I’ll give myself 80 goals,” said Lesakowski, who played hockey at nearby Fredonia State College. “That’s a lofty goal. But you know what, so is a million bucks.”
As of Thursday, the marathon dubbed “The 11 Day Power Play ” already had generated nearly $800,000 in pledges.
Raising money for Buffalo’s Roswell Park Cancer Institute is what makes this personal for the 45-year-old Lesakowski.
He first broached the idea in 2009 after his wife was successfully treated at Roswell for breast cancer. Unable to put the plan in place then, he rededicated his efforts 15 months ago when his mother died of cancer.
He formed a committee and the Buffalo Sabres’ newly constructed two-rink HarborCenter complex agreed to host the event.
Lesakowski drew upon friends and fellow adult league players to fill about half the slots. The rest of the roster was filled through an application process. So many applied that players had to be turned away.
In selecting an older group of players, Lesakowski wanted to assemble a team of not merely hockey enthusiasts, but those able to commit to the mental and physical challenges as well as generate at least $10,000 in pledges each.
To form the right groups he drew on those who organized similar marathons.
“The biggest thing is make sure their passion’s in the right place,” Lesakowski said. “Because on June 29 at 3 a.m., you’ve got to find something in your belly that might not exist if you’re just in it to play a long hockey game.”
Once the marathon began, the rosters were set. Any player who backs out or gets injured can’t be replaced, meaning more ice time for others.
Former Sabres captain Michael Peca had to back out. His doctor told him that playing four-hour stretches would require surgery for injuries from his playing career.
“I liken it to a player who got injured right before a long playoff run,” said Peca, who is serving as an honorary coach. “Though you can’t be a part of it on the ice, you still want to make sure you’re a positive influence in doing everything you can to help out off it.”