BUFFALO, N.Y. — At Harborcenter, the signs are up and volunteers were sorting through jerseys and getting last minute preparations taken care of Thursday morning, before thousands of players took the ice for the 11 Day Power Play's Community Shift.
Organizers recently celebrated surpassing the $8 million mark since the event's inception in 2017. The money benefits Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Oishei Children's Hospital, Make a Wish, and Camp Good Days.
Hearing about the return of the 11 Day Power Play may have you thinking, 'didn't they just get off the ice?' You're right. In November, forty players, including WGRZ's Pete Gallivan, raised more than $2 million and set a Guinness World Record for the longest hockey game ever, at 252 hours.
Co-founder Amy Lesakowski admits there was some concern about the short turn around from the world record game.
"We do the community shift every summer, and we needed to quickly turn around this past November event and open it up to the community quickly," she said. "It's been a challenge, but as always our players and our volunteers don't ever disappoint us. People are excited to be back here at Harborcenter in the summer and we're ready to go."
The skating will begin Thursday morning at 9 a.m. The official opening ceremony is set for Thursday at 6:30 p.m., with the world record-setting "Frozen Forty" teams from November playing the top fundraisers, then a rematch of Blue vs. White.
You can check out the full schedule here.