Alabama hockey players skate 12 hours for cause

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Hockey players took to the ice for 12 straight hours Saturday at the Huntsville Ice Sports Center for a good cause.

Known as the Longest Game, around 120 players took the ice to raise money for the Russell Hill Foundation at the Clearview Cancer Institute.

For organizer Justin Lucas, the cause is personal.

“My mother had cancer, and she actually passed away from cancer about three years ago now, Lucas said. “For three years now, we’ve been raising money for the Russell Hill Cancer Foundation ’cause she actually was a patient at CCI.”

The game aims to raise around $20,000 for the institute. The money came from raffles, donations and power plays.

The power plays were opportunities for people to donate money and control what happens on the ice, like a goalie duel, giving the other team a squirt gun or even sending a player to the penalty box.

Those taking part in the event said they love getting to play hockey for 12 hours.

“When the game’s over, you have to stop playing,” Hudson Simons said. “But with this, you can get off, and then you can just get back on and keep playing.”

The event’s uniqueness of the event even caught Michigan native Austin Demull by surprise.

Men’s leagues, junior leagues, everything up there, and I’ve never seen the longest game or anything, and to see it down here is kind of cool,” Demull said. “My mom, she had kidney cancer twice, so as soon as I saw it, I said, ‘I got to be a part of something like this,’ so here I am.”

If you weren’t able to make the event, but still want to donate, you can do so here.