Andrew Case is ‘Making a difference’ one Shift at a time

Andrew Case doesn’t waste his life thinking about what fate has taken away from him. He is too busy being thankful for all of the good things, and people, in his world.

Case, 52, is a Buffalo native who laced up his skates to play in the 11 Day Power Play Community Shift at HarborCenter in Buffalo July 5-15. The Community Shift is the sequel to last summer’s 11 Day Power Play that saw 40 men raise $1.2 million for Roswell Park Cancer Institute as they attempted to break the record for the world’s longest continuous hockey game.

The Community Shift opened the game to the public and welcomed more than 1,500 new skaters into the war on cancer.

Case takes a great deal of pride and humility in being one of the original 40 who pioneered this game plus the honor of taking the ceremonial opening faceoff in both games.

“It touches me deeply to be asked to do the opening faceoff for the second year in a row,” Case said. “To have Emmett Jakubowski, our ambassador, drop the puck and my good buddy Pete Merlo on the other side (again), those are memorable moments that you cherish. Good memories. Coming around with a second year in a row, different format, different concept, builds on the 11 Day Power Play brand. I’m very happy for the (11 Day founders) Lesakowskis, Mike and Amy, the board of directors. They’re going in such a good direction with this by opening it up to the community. I think every player that’s part of this is getting great enjoyment out of this and they’re planting seeds for future yearly events. And I think it’s a great idea to do it this way.”

This July, Case played in the opening night game that featured the original 40 as well as a Saturday afternoon shift with a team comprised of old friends from the Buffalo Public School’s Explorer League.

Since day one, the primary mission of the 11 Day Power Play has been to raise money for Roswell Park, one of the world’s leading cancer treatment centers. As of press time, the 11 Day Power Play has raised a combined $2.5 million in two years.

“It goes to show you what you can do when you keep yourself striving for making a difference,” Case said. “I know that’s a cliché, but I think it comes down to life can be very rewarding and it doesn’t take a lot of money to do so — if you just try to be useful to others. And you can be so useful to others by helping out in many ways. This is one way, fighting cancer by generating funds for cancer research. That builds character. That builds meaning in your life by taking your energy and putting it toward something that makes a difference for people.”

For Case, the war on cancer has been a very personal one. His adopted dad, Raymond Case, passed away from cancer when Drew was less than 2 years old. Cancer made a devastating return into Case’s world when mesothelioma claimed the life of his stepfather, Huburt “Herb” Peace, in 2015.

“I don’t want other families to go through loss of parents like I did, my dad and stepdad,” he said. “To see your mom experience two great men being taken from her, those are the hardest moments, when you realize your mom is going to go through it again.”

Though fate has dealt Case two heartbreaking losses, he refuses to let those losses defeat him in life, because he knows nothing good comes from bitterness. Regretting what you have lost is simply no way to life. Chris Evancho, who grew up on the same street as Drew, said Case always has been the kind of person to see the good in the world. From playing in sandboxes to playing together in both 11 Day Power Play formats, Drew and Chris have always been there for each other.

“Andrew is always on the side of goodness,” Evancho said. “It was unfortunate that his dad (Herb) was sick with mesothelioma, but I think he would have done (11 Day) anyways. He’s on the right side of everything that I can think of.”

Case and Evancho are products of growing up on a tight-knit street in a sort of extended family where father and mother figures were everywhere they looked. The youngest of four, Drew said he and his siblings John, Carol and Christine had the blessing of being raised by a strong woman in their mom Rhoda Peace, who taught her children that no loss can beat you down if you refuse to let it.

“I think it’s amazing what you can do as a human being when you have a good mom who loves you and sets you up to survive and make it,” Case said. “She, in a way, insulated us from the heartache she was feeling from the loss of her first husband. A kid who has a good childhood, that sets them up for a good chance to make it in life. She’s iconic to me because she gave me so much love and the rest of my brother and sisters, too. We had a normal life, and not something that was based on loss.”

Drew Case has definitely embraced life to the fullest. Not only passionate about the game of hockey, he is an accomplished musician who is the lead singer of a local band called the Outer Circle Orchestra. Case is also a college professor and practices medicine as a physician’s assistant.

“I experienced a great 40 years with my stepdad (Herb), a great provider. Very rock solid, stable. Loved my mom. You can tell they had a great relationship, and that set me up to see a great example of what marriage is,” Case said. “I love my wife, Hilary Lochet, very much. One of the reasons, I think, why we have such a good relationship is we had a model. We had example from our parents, her parents too. That’s how you do it.”

Rhoda, watching from the stands during Drew’s shift with his old high school pals, beamed with pride as she talked about the kind of man Drew has become, and how deeply the 11 Day Power Play cause means to him.

“He took (the first 11 Day) very seriously,” Rhoda said. “That’s why his jersey number is 67. That was the year his father died.”

Case was among a handful of players who told their stories during a powerful PSA video about the first 11 Day Power Play. Case said he has always had a strong, loving support network that kept him from collapsing into a world of darkness and self-pity.

“Despite loss in life I’m extremely fortunate to have a great life,” Case said. “You gotta keep going. You gotta keep moving. You can’t hang your head down and say, ‘Oh I wish he was alive.’ They don’t want you to live like that. They want you to know I’m with you. Keep going. I’ll always be with you. Chase your dreams. Do things for people and make life meaningful.”

‘POWER PLAY’ YEAR 2 ($1.25 M) RAISES THE BAR FOR CHARITY

For the second year in a row, Mike and Amy Lesakowski were simply in awe of the city of Buffalo’s generosity.

The second version of the 11 Day Power Play, dubbed the Community Shift, held at HarborCenter July 5-15, raised an astonishing $1.25 million.

That number is sure to be even higher as additional donations and merchandise sales were still being compiled as of press time. The amount surpassed the $1.2 million raised last summer by the first 11 Day Power Play, in which 40 men from Buffalo attempted to break the record for the longest continuous hockey game. “It speaks volumes about the city of Buffalo and the surrounding area, how generous people are,” said co-founder Mike Lesakowski.

Without the allure of the same 40 men trying to break a world record, the Community Shift didn’t draw the same number of spectators. But the Community Shift put up the numbers where it mattered most — in the fundraising department. The proceeds will be split between Roswell Park Cancer Institute (80 percent), Make-A-Wish of WNY (10 percent) and Camp Good Days & Special Times (10 percent).

The Community Shift opened the game to the general public as more than 1,500 players from ages 11 to 72 laced up their skates to play for loved ones.

Fittingly, opening night featured all but one of the original 40 players plus some additional players who had made the original 40 roster but were unable to play last summer. One of those was former Buffalo Sabre Michael Peca, whose doctor told him playing for 11 consecutive days without proper rest would be too much strain on his surgically repaired knee. For Peca, who played opening night and on two Sabre alumni teams, the Community Shift represented a second chance to say thank you to Roswell for the care it gave his wife, Kristen, after she was diagnosed with melanoma.

“It’s pretty cool,” Peca said. “Obviously nobody was more disappointed than myself that last year, with my previous medical experiences, I just couldn’t get through it.”

The final day of action featured an exhibition game between members of the Team USA sled hockey team. The last three shifts were one-hour games pitting the three top fundraising teams against teams comprised of Sabres alumni and members of the NWHL’s Buffalo Beauts.

The Lesakowskis said that 11 Day will return in 2019.