You won’t have to if you walk into Munn Ice Arena at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 18. 

Munn Ice Arena will host a 24-hour hockey game from April 18-19, featuring over 80 hockey players, including Michigan State University students. The event is a fundraiser for families affected by pediatric cancer, sponsored by LivFree, a nonprofit organization. 

Doors will open at 12:15 p.m. on April 18, before an opening showcase from 1-2 p.m. The event will also feature a meet-and-greet and skills competition with hockey content creators. The game will run 24 hours from 2 p.m. on April 18, and even for its participants, the concept sounded crazy at first. 

“I thought it was a crazy idea,” said future freshman Gavin Thomas, who will compete in the game as a goaltender. “24 hours. How are you going to get that many people to play for that long? But I'm excited."

Communication sophomore Joaquin Robinson was also surprised by the idea. He learned of the event through his cousin but initially thought it was a scam. 

“I did some research into it, and seeing how real it was and how they've done in the past, it just made me want to do it that much more,” Robinson said. 

All players will receive the same amount of ice time — seven hours — but the game will be split into three divisions, based on experience level. There are divisions for D1-D3 college experience, D3-club experience and less experience. 

Robinson has played hockey since he was three-years old and is a goaltender on MSU’s D3 club team. Members of MSU’s ACHA D1 women’s hockey team will also compete for part of the game, due to prior team commitments. 

“It is such an amazing way to bring the hockey community together to all support something so important,” said chemical engineering senior Claire Leonard, captain of the D1 women’s team. “I have done day-long, 3-on-3 tournaments, but never a full 24-hour hockey marathon.”

LivFree will provide food and water throughout the 24 hours, as well as rest areas, athletic trainers and music to keep up the energy. 

Thomas said he likely will not sleep at the event and Leonard said she thinks the team will be too excited to worry about the challenge of extended ice time.

“We usually skate two to three times a week and have games on the weekend,” Robinson said. “So that's only about 10 hours of ice time max throughout the whole week. It's 24 hours, seems like a lot, and I'm very excited to do it and be a part of something bigger than myself.”

The world of hockey is strongly associated with fighting cancer as the NHL and NHL Players Association founded the Hockey Fights Cancer initiative in 1998. For Thomas and Robinson, the cause hits close to home. 

“When I was playing for Jackson United, one of my friends that was on the team was Jacob Burbank, and in the middle of our season, he ended up being diagnosed with cancer,” Thomas said. “He had beat it and then gotten it back, and unfortunately passed away due to cancer. That was a couple years ago. But yeah, that's a big reason why I did it too.”

Similarly, Robinson was motivated having lost all of his grandparents to cancer. He also recently learned that his bosses’ grandson was diagnosed with a form of pediatric cancer.  

While the ice time will be a physical challenge, fundraising has come with difficulties too. Participants in the game are required to raise a minimum of $1,000 to support a family affected by pediatric cancer. Whatever is not raised must be paid out of pocket.

Robinson said he does not know other participants, adding that people were nervous about raising enough money. Robinson is far off from his goal with about a week to go. 

“I'm trying to squeeze in as many donations as I can,” Robinson said on Tuesday. “I personally will have a tough time paying it. I'm paying for my own college, everything on my own. It's pretty expensive out here, but I would pay for it 10 times over. I'd pay the full $1,000 amounts. It just means so much to me.”

Thomas was also nervous about the fundraising component, but is closer to his goal than Robinson. 

“$1,000 seems like a lot of money, but if you reach out, and you reach out to enough people, that's only 100 people giving you $10 each,” Thomas said. “That’s honestly, not that much.”

Leonard has first hand experience with the challenges of fundraising as her team funds itself. 

“As a team, we know how challenging it can be to fundraise for ourselves, so we are putting in as much effort as we can to contribute to something that truly matters,” Leonard said. “At the same time, events like this allow our team to inspire younger girls who are interested in hockey or just being a female in sports.”

Leonard said LivFree was kind enough to let her team participate without reaching the goal of $1,000 per skater, since it is not competing in the entire event and struggles with funding itself to begin with.

Robinson, Thomas and Leonard have invited family, friends and teammates to the event, which will be their first hockey game in about a month. Tickets for the event are $11 for adults and $5.86 for kids.