From the Daily Southtown

Hooked on table hockey 

Game fans converging on Lemont for tournament 

Wednesday, August 13, 2003




By Jennifer Martikean
Staff writer


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When Jim Rzonca opened his Christmas presents in 1967,
he found a lifelong love.
"My parents got my brother and I our first table
hockey game that year," he said. "We would play it for
a couple of months, it would break, and we would get a
new one the next Christmas."

Rzonca, now in his early 40s, has been playing the
game ever since. For years, he played in his basement
with his brother or daughter. He spent time
refurbishing old games and decorating his basement to
look like a miniature hockey arena. 

He never realized there were other people out there
like him. But there are, and they will be coming to
Lemont for a table hockey tournament this weekend.

It was around Christmas two years ago that Rzonca
decided to start the Lemont Table Hockey League with
fellow resident Jerry Pytlewski.

"My son and I read an article in the paper that Rzonca
was a table hockey player and that he lived in
Lemont," Pytlewski said. "We wanted to find him so we
could talk about playing, but his phone number was
unlisted and we didn't know another way to get a hold
of him.

"My son, Scott, was working at Cog Hill golf course
and this guy came in around Christmastime to buy some
stuff for his brother for a present. He wrote a check
and my son saw the name on the check was 'Jim Rzonca,'
and he said, 'Are you Jim? Because my dad and I have
been looking for you.' "

The men formed a quick friendship and started the club
in Pytlewski's garage. 

After nurturing the league for two years, the men have
organized a tournament at the Lithuanian World Center
in Lemont on Saturday. The tournament is expected to
attract 30 to 40 players from the United States and
Canada and will influence worldwide player rankings.

Players will play for five minutes, with the one who
scores the most goals declared the winner of that
round. 

After a few rounds, the players will be divided into
three groups based on skill level and will compete
with other people in that group for trophies. 

The tournament will use a European-style of the game,
which is made by Stiga, a Swedish company. The Stiga
game is similar to the table hockey games in the
United States, with miniature hockey players
controlled by levers. 

But the players in the Stiga game are
three-dimensional instead of the flat plastic players
in the American version.

That may not seem significant, but Rzonca said the
European-style game takes a little more finesse than
the game he grew up playing.

"I get a rush from either game," he said. "You have to
have good eye-hand coordination and if you play like I
do, moving all around and getting into it, it's a good
physical workout."

Rzonca and Pytlewski don't have a specific training
schedule to prepare for the tournament, but they do
practice about a half-hour a day. They either battle
fellow Lemont Table Hockey League players, or practice
by setting up specific shots or working on their
passing skills. 

During the Lemont Table Hockey League's off-season,
Rzonca and Pytlewski play in the Chicago Table Hockey
League, which meets at a bar in Chicago's Bridgeport
community during the winter.

Rzonca has an elaborate setup in his basement so he
can practice the game. In one corner, he has a shrine
set up to hockey, with player's pictures lining the
walls, miniature banners hanging from the ceiling and
a table hockey game set up right in the middle. 

He also spends time looking for vintage table hockey
games and refurbishing them. The oldest he has is from
the 1940s, but he also has versions of the game that
he remembers from the 1960s and 1970s.

"I love this game. I mean, when you touch that lever
and move the player, it's like he is talking to you,"
Rzonca said.

The two men have invested a lot of their own money to
put on the tournament. They have spent countless hours
assembling a table for the table hockey games, as well
as buying 20 sets for about $75 apiece. Pytlewski said
several of the participants from Montreal, Canada,
will be sleeping at his house.

"It's all worth it to me because we want as many
players as possible to come out," Rzonca said. "We
want to make it nice so we can do it year after year."

The tournament is to run from about 10 a.m. to 10:30
p.m. Those who aren't competing are welcome to come
and see the action. The Lithuanian World Center is at
14911 127th St.

"I enjoy playing with the guys when everyone is
drinking some beers and having a good time," Pytlewski
said. "It's the only board game that's any fun."



From the Lemont Reporter/Met

Lemont hosts table hockey tourney

By John Koys, Regional editor

Lemont residents Jerry Pytlewski, 55, and Jim Rzonca, 43, played table hockey
when they were youngsters, and since they still get such a thrill out of the
fast-paced game they decided to hold a tournament.

``We had a tournament last year in the garage,'' said Pytlewski, who along
with Rzonca, started the Lemont Table Hockey League two years ago.

``We found that they play competitively in Europe,'' Rzonca said.

They posted on the Internet a message that they would be holding a table
hockey tournament in Lemont and invited players from around the country and
Canada to compete.

Thirty-two table hockey enthusiasts took up the challenge and gathered in
Lemont Aug. 16 for ``Jerry Pytlewski's Big 55 Stiga U.S. Open.'' They came
from Canada, the Boston area, Colorado and Chicago, as well as several Chicago
suburbs.

Competing on 16 table hockey games in a room at the Lithuanian World Center,
the players faced off against each other in a series of 30 to 45 5-minute
games that went on all day until the champion was determined.

``It's the best little game there is,'' Pytlewski said of the Stiga game which
uses little three-dimensional players and is made in Sweden. ``It's the only
board game that's close to the real action.''

Pytlewski said he played table hockey with his father in his basement when he
was a child.

``A lot of these guys started playing in their own house with friends,'' he
said, adding the players were isolated until the Internet connected them.

The tournament started at about 11 a.m. with the simultaneous drop of little
pucks on all the boards. Players, ranging in age from a 12-year-old boy to
middle-age men, rapidly pushed and pulled rods to control the hockey figures
on the board. Frequently a puck would fly off a board and be quickly replaced
from a pile kept next to the games.

A scorekeeper would announce when there was one minute left to play, then 30
seconds left, then five seconds.

``It's a game we used to play as kids and we love it,'' said Gerry Butler of
Lemont. ``We're like one big family.''

Matt Soukup, 12, of Lemont, who has been playing table hockey for two years,
said many of his friends play electronic video games rather than the
mechanical table hockey.

``I play with my uncle, my cousin, Jim Rzonca. I like that you have to use
tricks,'' Matt said.

One of the players who has mastered the tricks is Kenny Dubois, 29, from
Millbury, Mass. He is ranked the No. 1 table hockey player in North America,
according to the rankings kept by various leagues.

``The whole game is finesse,'' Dubois said, after he handily beat a young
competitor. ``It's like anything else. You get out of it what you put into
it.''

Dubois has been playing since he was 3 years old.

Steve Puopolo, 17, flew to Chicago from Groveland, Mass., near Boston, with
eight other players. He said his group found out about the tournament in
Lemont on the Internet.

``About 5 years ago, my dad bought us a table hockey game,'' Puopolo said.
``We started a table hockey league in Groveland.''

Canada, where ice hockey is a national passion, had five citizens represented
at Pytlewski's table hockey tournament.

Ron Chesick, 52, of Montreal, said he has been playing table hockey for 34
years. He said there are certain skills required for the game.

``It's hand-eye coordination, speed, a little bit of will to win,
competitiveness and a love of the game,'' Chesick said. ``It's kind of
addictive.''

He added that after 30 to 40 games, fatigue may set in for some players.

``A lot of it is mental fitness,'' he added.

All participants played at least 30 games, including one playoff round, Rzonca
said. The champ was determined after 45 games.

Dubois lived up to his reputation and went undefeated. He took first place in
the Elite Division, followed by Bruce Turner of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada in
second and Bernard Kunzler, also of Kitchener, in third.

The first place trophy was a large wooden plaque with a medal hockey player on
it.

In the B Division, Dan Lord of Chicago captured first place, and in the C
Division Joe Puopolo of Groveland, Mass., finished first.

Rzonca said the Lemont Table Hockey League plans to hold a similar tournament
next year.