The 11 Day Power Play is now underway with its third year of raising money for cancer research, via an uncanny effort of continuous hockey play. The 11 Day Power Play all started when Mike and Amy Lesakowski set out to break a world record for the world’s longest hockey game, which they accomplished in 2017. Not only did they break the record, they also managed to raise $1.2 million. Seeing that the initial event – eleven days of marathon hockey play – was such a formidable community effort, the Lesakowski’s decided to do it again. The second installment was held in 2018, which brought the fundraising tally to $2.5 million. Now, teams all over Greater Buffalo are getting ready to do it a third time.
Not only is there a battle on the ice during the 11 days, there’s also a competitive effort leading up to the event. While the 11 Day Power Play takes place in July, teams are already well on their way towards raising funds. One team in particular, The Mighty Pucks, is currently leading the pack, and setting a precedent for others to join in on the fun. It was team captain Hannah Lockwood who started the team, and who is rallying her teammates to raise a whopping $20,000 dollars towards this year’s effort. Hannah is playing for her father, who beat cancer, and her grandfather who passed away from colon cancer. You can see the results of the campaign, and support their drive by clicking here. Or you can follow all of the herculean efforts that are being made, by tuning into this Twitter page.
“Multiple kids hockey teams are coming together to play hockey and raise money for cancer research,” said Hannah’s father, Ken Lockwood. “In January, my 13 year old daughter Hannah made a decision to assemble and lead a team of 30 kids to play in a marathon long hockey game to put cancer on ice. Our team (The Mighty Pucks) is comprised of kids and young adults ranging in age from 14-24 who are passionate about hockey and even more passionate about supporting worthwhile causes that affect our community and in some cases… and directly affect these kids’ lives.
“When we first learned about this event, the kids enthusiastically said ‘let’s play’… and ‘let’s help the community.’ To date, our team is leading all fundraising ($11.3K) and need all of the help we can get to continue leading. We think that having a team led by young girls (teen/pre-teens) for this cause, would help raise funds and set them as role models in the community. The Mighty Pucks are made up of players from multiple Western New York hockey teams, who often compete against each other. Right now, they are setting aside their rivalries to become one team, with one common purpose – to raise as much money as they can for Roswell Park, Make-A-Wish WNY, and Camp Good Days.”
The Mighty Pucks game is on July 10 at 9am, at Harborcenter.