Second thoughts

Kuntar and 39 other Buffalo, N.Y., recreational league players — many of them in their 40s — overcame injuries, illness and countless blisters to unofficially set the record. It happened shortly after 7 a.m. when the official time clock mounted in the stands overlooking center ice hit 10 days, 10 hours, 3 minutes and 21 seconds. The time surpassed the previous mark recognized by the Guinness World Records of 250 hours, 3 minutes and 20 seconds, established during an outdoor game near Edmonton, Alberta, in February 2015.

Fans stood, cheered and hollered, and play was stopped briefly as players hugged on the benches and on the ice. They played for about 32 more minutes before the final buzzer sounded for a game that began at 9 p.m. on June 22 and ended with Team Blue beating Team White 1,725-1,697.

Organizers must submit the full-length game video and official 54-page scoresheet to Guinness for verification.

A far more important tally came afterward when player and organizer Mike Lesakowski announced they had raised more than $1.2 million for Buffalo’s Roswell Park Cancer Institute, surpassing their goal by $200,000.

The two teams were split into mostly seven-player groupings (five skaters, a goalie and one substitute), which rotated playing four-hour shifts. Play stopped each hour for 10 minutes while the ice was cleaned.

Many were forced to take additional shifts to fill in for those who became sidelined by injuries and illness because rules prevented teams from adding replacements once the game began.

AP/JEFFREY T. BARNES was among a group of 40 players, most of whom are well into their 40s, who played a continuous hockey game spanning 11 days to raise more than $1 million for cancer research.