BUFFALO, N.Y. -- This year's 11 Day Power Play at HarborCenter raised more than $1.2 million for cancer research. 

More than 1,500 players took the ice, rotating through games in four-hour shifts. Our teammate, sports anchor Kevin Carroll, trained for weeks and took the ice a few days in.

The bigger goal was raising money for cancer research. Like most families in Western New York, the event’s organizers, Mike and Amy Lesakowski, have been touched by cancer. She’s a cancer survivor and he lost his mother to the disease.

“We’ve exceeded our goal by far, and we’ve had so much of the community and so many stories behind these walls of this rink that have brought all of us together," Amy said. "We’re just so happy.”

All of the money raised will benefit the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Camp Good Days and Make-A-Wish Western New York.

Planning has already begun for next year's 11 Day Power Play.