Arena: HarborCenter – KeyBank Rink

Location: Downtown Buffalo, New York

Game Attended: June 23 – July 2, 2022 Community Shift

Game Result: Team Blue 1,398 , Team White 1,286

Seat Location: Team Blue Bench

Overall Impression: One Goal, Two Assists, $2,300 Raised, and A Memory to Last Forever

I can’t imagine it was a pleasant experience getting the news. No, in fact, it was probably more like a dagger to the heart. I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like. For Amy Lesakowski, that news came in 2009 when she learned of her diagnosis: an aggressive form of breast cancer. 

It was surely not going to be easy for Amy, a wife and mother of three from Buffalo, New York. But thankfully she had supportive family and friends to help her through her battle. And even more thankfully, one of the best cancer research hospitals in the United States was in her backyard: the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

Roswell Park was founded in 1898 in Buffalo and was the first hospital in the country dedicated specifically to cancer research. For over 100 years, the Center has been a pioneer in researching and developing cures and alternative treatments for multiple cancers, including the aggressive breast cancer Amy was fighting. And thanks to new immunotherapies and a clinical trial, Amy successfully defeated her cancer.

In a 2020 interview, Amy recalled that her experience led her to give back however she could. “After that, I had gotten into fundraising,” Amy said. “Giving back to the cause. And, I did Susan Komen walks, I had participated in the bicycle ride from New York City all the way to Niagara Falls to raise money for cancer causes, and my husband kept saying from day one, we can fundraise so much more through the sport of hockey.” 

In 2013, Amy’s husband Mike’s mother fell ill to an aggressive lung cancer for which clinical trials weren’t available. In late 2016, Evelyn Lesakowski passed, leaving behind a legacy that still lives strong to this day. That legacy is the 11 Day Power Play. 

Ryan and I were a bit tired and cold and perhaps even a bit hungover from our Sabres game and post-game festivities at Southern Tier the night before. It was a typical fall Sunday morning in Buffalo: cold, some snow on the ground, with thousands of fans anxiously awaiting the 1:00 kickoff of the Bills game. My flight back to Charlotte wasn’t until 5:30 pm or so that evening. So Ryan and I ventured out to a delicious brunch then headed downtown to this cool brewery called Riverworks. It was a former warehouse converted to a bar/brewery/arcade, not unlike the many South End Charlotte bars and breweries I frequent. 

But at approximately zero bars in Charlotte do you have good food, plenty of TV’s to watch your favorite teams, AND two outdoor hockey rinks. And while exploring the venue before kickoff, I ventured upon a table filled with sky blue and navy blue merchandise. I think the hockey pucks caught my eye, as did the game going on outside. Especially the scoreboard, which at the time read 92-89. If you know anything about hockey, that’s a high score. 

What I didn’t know at the time is that there were still another 4,585 goals to be scored in that game. What I also didn’t know at the time is what this merchandise table and offensive juggernaut of a hockey game really meant. But what I learned was one of the coolest and most impactful stories I’ve ever heard. 

In 2017, the Lesakowskis set out to give back to the organization that saved Amy’s life. And so, with the help of Mike and 39 other brave souls, the “Frozen 40” descended on HarborCenter in downtown Buffalo to set the record for the world’s longest hockey game. Over 11 days, these dedicated players ate, slept, played hockey, rinsed, and repeated. And on top of that remarkable feat, the inaugural 11 Day Power Play raised over $1 million for Roswell Park. 

Following the success of the 2017 event, the Lesakowskis opened up the event to the public to come and join in the fun and fundraising. In 2018, the “Community Shift” was born, and has since grown to more than 2,300 players annually.

The event is usually held every summer at the indoor HarborCenter, but COVID delayed the 2021 event to November. That year, the “Frozen 40” returned to the ice for another marathon hockey game with a goal to this time officially set the Guinness World Record for the longest hockey game ever played. And they did it. They lived on site, they played in three-hour shifts. The Community Shift played their own slew of games for 11 days. 

Sometimes they played with friends and family watching. Sometimes they played with nobody watching in the middle of the night, with temperatures approaching single digits. Sometimes they played for local celebrities like Josh Allen from the Bills and Alex Tuch from the Sabres. 

And for an hour or so, on a cold and dreary Sunday afternoon in November 2021, with the Bills firmly in the lead on the TV’s inside, the Frozen 40 of the 11 Day Power Play played in front of an amateur hockey player, blogger, and cancer fundraiser from Charlotte, North Carolina. 

There have been moments on this wonderful Tour that just seemed to appear out of thin air. Reading hockey blogs during a slow work day introduced me to Rob from Edmonton and sparked a passion for fundraising. Running into Tyson at the Charlotte airport led to an amazing group at the Capitals game. A podcast and a random dream led to the creation of this blog. And watching a Bills game at a bar led to a trip I’ll never forget. 

And so, with the blessing of Amy Lesakowski herself, I joined the 2022 Community Shift of the 11 Day Power Play and trekked over 650 miles from Charlotte to Buffalo. And it was the single best hockey experience of my life. 

I would be remiss not to recognize all of those who helped me fundraise for this event. All players for the Community Shift have to raise $225 in order to play in the event. Thanks to many generous friends, family members, hockey teammates, and colleagues, I raised $2,305 for the beneficiaries of the 2022 event. I could not have done it without all of your support, so thank you to all who helped out! Special thanks go to Ryan for his hospitality and great food recommendations and to Mom and Dad for making the trip up to see me play!

The event itself was fantastic. The “Frozen 40” didn’t play a marathon game this year; instead, the game spanned 11 days with different teams competing in 3-hour intervals. I was “claimed off the free agent wire” by the Red House Areas, a confusingly named group of awesome guys who took me in as one of their own. We were led by Mike Saletta, a veteran of the Power Play who’s friends with the Lesakowskis and has played in every event since its inception in 2017. 

These guys have all played in hockey tournaments and premier events like this in the past, so I’m sure they knew what to expect. But my hockey resume is far more limited and as I walked into HarborCenter, I’m sure my eyes lit up like children’s in a candy store. 

The arena itself is small, but very modern, having opened in 2014. The main rink seats 1,800 people and serves as the practice rink of the Buffalo Sabres and the home rink of Canisius College and the Buffalo Junior Sabres. Now there weren’t 1,800 people at the event, but there were probably give or take 100 fans or so at any given point throughout the day. Still, it would be the largest crowd I’d ever played for. 

And our game was equally fantastic. Our Red House Areas faced off against the “Lil Magills”, another local team from Buffalo. But there weren’t just New Yorkers on our roster: people came in from Erie, Pittsburgh, and even Greensboro to play in the event. Hey, at least I wasn’t the only crazy Tar Heel in the game!

Our game was evenly contested, with back and forth play spanning all three hour-long periods. No team ever led by more than 2 goals, and the play was very well matched. With our squad trailing by 2 with about 5 minutes to play, we pocketed a goal at the 4-minute mark, I assisted on the tying goal at the 2-minute mark, and our fearless leader Mike snuck the winner through with just 30 seconds left in the game. It was a thrilling experience and I felt awesome to be on the scoresheet.

Hockey aside though, the players were fantastic to play with. Charlotte has a decent hockey community, don’t get me wrong. But it pales in comparison to the religious experience of playing in a true hockey market like Buffalo. Some of the players in the event have 30-plus year hockey careers. Some grew up in Canada playing on ponds in their backyards. And a good proportion of my teammates are multiple-year veterans of the 11 Day Power Play. Sharing the ice with them (and not making a complete fool of myself in the process) was a privilege!

And of course, the whole goal of the 11 Day Power Play is to give back to those fighting cancer. Our team raised over $12,000 for Roswell Park, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Camp Good Days (for children battling cancer), and the Oishei Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Program. As a whole, the event raised a staggering $1,212,942, increasing the lifetime proceeds from the 11 Day Power Play to $8.4 million. If that’s not inspiring, I don’t know what is. 

Events like the 11 Day Power Play are why I’m here. This isn’t just an event or a hockey tournament or a fundraiser. It’s a community. It’s a special group of thousands of players and dozens of volunteers working together for a common goal. To share a game we all love. To give money and hope and inspiration to those battling the hardest. As Mike and Amy mentioned at this year’s opening ceremony, “We’re going to keep playing this game until there’s nobody left to play for. Cancer doesn’t stop, and neither will we.”

Truer words have rarely been spoken.