The puck dropped Friday morning in a backyard rink at the sixth World’s Longest Hockey Game, to raise money for pediatric cancer care.
It’s the sixth time Brent Saik has organized the marathon charity hockey game at Saiker’s Acres, east of Sherwood Park.
“This is a really fun time right now,” organizer Brent Saik said. “I’m waiting to see someone in the stands here that has a story to tell me at 2 in the morning, that’s my favourite time. That’s not adrenaline, that’s love.”
For ten days, the 40 players, 39 men and one woman, will play hockey around the clock – with the goal of raising $2 million for the Alberta Cancer Foundation to support Terry Fox Research Institute’s PROFYLE.
Organizers faced a major challenge before the game started – on Thursday, organizers found out about a change in rules officials at Guinness World Records, that required the game to have four officials on ice at all times, instead of two.
Plus, changes meant players will need to be on the ice for two hours in order to get a 10 minute break, instead of one hour.
Up until Friday, organizers were scrambling to secure volunteer officials – and volunteers quickly responded.
To break the record for the longest hockey game, they will have to play for a total of 250 hours, or more.
With files from Adam Cook
